Confused .. Battery wiring ...help!! (1 Viewer)

Bebe

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May 22, 2013
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On our Burstner. Our two leisure batteries sit side by side. On the left post was the brown leads connected and with the black and blue leads into the right post of the battery. On taking our leisure batteries off we noted to our surprise the brown wires were connected to the negative posts and the black and blue wires were connected to the positive terminal. Surely this is wrong????


Could anybody help please.:Confused:
 

lee52

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Oct 13, 2013
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On our Burstner. Our two leisure batteries sit side by side. On the left post was the brown leads connected and with the black and blue leads into the right post of the battery. On taking our leisure batteries off we noted to our surprise the brown wires were connected to the negative posts and the black and blue wires were connected to the positive terminal. Surely this is wrong????

Could anybody help please.:Confused:

I know the yankies use black for live:Doh: and white for neg for housing electrics

so might of had a yank working on your Burstner:cry:.saying that i wouldnt just swap leads :Eeek: but me i would be having a look to see how its wired
 

jonandshell

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If it worked, put them back the same way!!!! Sod the cable colours!

Hymer useblue for positive on their vans too, don't worry about it!::bigsmile:

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estcres

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Oct 9, 2007
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See if there is a wiring diagram in the User Manual. This should tell you the colour coding.
If not Google it and see if anything comes up.

Vehicle wiring colours are completely different to Domestic systems.
 
Sep 23, 2007
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Brown is negative on my Burstner. If you trace the black you should find it connected tona fuse on the battery box wall.
 

lee52

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Oct 13, 2013
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See if there is a wiring diagram in the User Manual. This should tell you the colour coding.
If not Google it and see if anything comes up.

Vehicle wiring colours are completely different to Domestic systems.

vauxhall have used brown for earth for years

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dave newell

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Oct 31, 2008
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German converters use brown for earth on the basis that it is the colour of earth, or at least that is what I was told. Fact: German vans tend to have the negative side of leisure electrics wired with brown wires. Interestingly Sargent who make most of the wiring setups for lots of British converters use white/orange for earth. Don't rely on colour of wires for anything till you've double checked it with a meter!

D.
 

estcres

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Oct 9, 2007
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German converters use brown for earth on the basis that it is the colour of earth, or at least that is what I was told. Fact: German vans tend to have the negative side of leisure electrics wired with brown wires. Interestingly Sargent who make most of the wiring setups for lots of British converters use white/orange for earth. Don't rely on colour of wires for anything till you've double checked it with a meter!

D.

Interesting comment.

The European Standard for earth (ground) is Green/Yellow.

The Line and Neutral colours vary by country.

Having taught electrical installation at a F/E college for several years, many youngsters in the UK think that Brown is earth because, as you say, earth is Brown.
 

pappajohn

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Aug 26, 2007
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as Dave said...always check with a meter and dont rely on wiring colours.

connect as was then check polarity at a 12v socket with a meter.

you will find it is correct as if it was wrong you will be buying a lot of electronic components that blew their tops.......12v TV's, electronic control panels and fridge/heater circuit boards wont tolerate reversed 12v polarity.

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Jan 28, 2008
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domestic wiring was all changed in the sixties to the colours we use now, the slogan at the time was "lord george brown is a real live wire "
 
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Bebe

Bebe

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See if there is a wiring diagram in the User Manual. This should tell you the colour coding.
If not Google it and see if anything comes up.

Vehicle wiring colours are completely different to Domestic systems.

Nothing in the user manual and the reason we became more confused was by a google answer by someone saying their van had reversed polarity ?
 

jonandshell

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Interesting comment.

The European Standard for earth (ground) is Green/Yellow.

The Line and Neutral colours vary by country.

Having taught electrical installation at a F/E college for several years, many youngsters in the UK think that Brown is earth because, as you say, earth is Brown.

Dave meant the DC chassis negative, commonly called 'earth' in automotive circles.

The AC earth is always green and yellow and, confusingly, also connected to the chassis as well as the earth pin of the hookup socket!::bigsmile:

Of course the EU should have harmonised AC live and neutral by now, brown for live, blue for neutral.
Our old standard was red for live, black for neutral.

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estcres

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domestic wiring was all changed in the sixties to the colours we use now, the slogan at the time was "lord george brown is a real live wire "

Not quite correct,

All flexible cords changed in the mid sixties to Live = Brown, Neutral = Blue, Earth = Grren/Yellow.

BUT

Domestic wiring systems did not change until 2005, until then Live = Red, Neutral - Black and Earth = Bare with a Green/Yellow Sleeve.

This needs pointing out as over 90% of UK buildings are still wired in the Pre 2005 colours and will remain so until they are rewired at some stage. If new wiring colours are installed in an existing system a warning notice must be placed at the Consumer Unit/Distribution Board.

This is comply with The ICT Regulations 2011
 

estcres

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Dave meant the DC chassis negative, commonly called 'earth' in automotive circles.

The AC earth is always green and yellow and, confusingly, also connected to the chassis as well as the earth pin of the hookup socket!::bigsmile:

Of course the EU should have harmonised AC live and neutral by now, brown for live, blue for neutral.
Our old standard was red for live, black for neutral.

Yes, you are correct but, having read the original post again, it would appear that he was expecting Brown on the Live Terminal and Blue on the Negative. Ie, AC system as opposed to a DC system.
 
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Bebe

Bebe

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May 22, 2013
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Thanks everyone for your replies. At the Lincoln Show our leisure batteries went dead, even though solar panel working, affecting our electronic panel. We had a chap from the show check and he said he thought two wires had shorted it out, reprogrammed our panel and it all seemed to be ok. Low charge was showing afterwards and we thought new batteries were needed.

Hubby asked me to buy two batteries. Looking at the battery I saw brown at the left and so presumed positive (red post) at left. I went everywhere for two new batteries with lips for connecting together. I waited for 3 hours in a store for two to be delivered express delivery from a depot 60 miles away. Unfortunately they sent the wrong ones. ( positive at the right hand side, which apparently now is the right way ). Confused!!! I asked the forum for any good battery retailers and was advised to go online. Finally had two delivered and we have gone to fit them and then saw this confusing sight. Brown wires to negative.

Anyone want to buy 2 gel batteries? as you can guess ... We know nothing about batteries. Well we thought it was simple ... Brown is live. Thanks for your help everyone. Bet everyone reading this is as confused as me now. :Eeek:

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Bebe

Bebe

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May 22, 2013
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Brown is negative on my Burstner. If you trace the black you should find it connected tona fuse on the battery box wall.

Thank you. Yes the fuse is to the black. So wonder if it means all Burstners must be ... brown lead is negative terminal.
 

rainbow chasers

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Glad to see you got it all sorted out now!

Don't get household wiring colours confused with Automotive, they are widely different. There are no hard and fast regulations throughout Europe for automotive electrics.

German wiring makes a lot of sense when you understand it - if you don't, then disregard colours and test.
Main power is red, brown earth. If a secondary circuit it will be white and black, a tertiary circuit will be blue and green. Some systems have traced versions to differentiate power flow on the circuit. None of this is guaranteed, however - firstly because converters do things their own way, and secondly most foreign conversions have been adapted/added to in some way in a different country.....ie your vehicle may have come direct, or via france - so any adapted wiring may not follow the rules you think they would.

French vehicle systems make life easy in theory - there are no set colours, all wires are numbered to designate every connection, item and location within the loom - which is fantastic.......if only they didn't change it every three months! So no diagram or wire numbers match the vehicle - you end up cross referencing for hours, throwing the diagrams out the windows and start chasing wires!:Doh:
 
Aug 4, 2013
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Thanks to Bebe and replying funsters for this discussion as a newbie this info really important ....... Forewarned is forearmed! :Eeek:

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Bebe

Bebe

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May 22, 2013
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Glad to see you got it all sorted out now!

Don't get household wiring colours confused with Automotive, they are widely different. There are no hard and fast regulations throughout Europe for automotive electrics.

German wiring makes a lot of sense when you understand it - if you don't, then disregard colours and test.
Main power is red, brown earth. If a secondary circuit it will be white and black, a tertiary circuit will be blue and green. Some systems have traced versions to differentiate power flow on the circuit. None of this is guaranteed, however - firstly because converters do things their own way, and secondly most foreign conversions have been adapted/added to in some way in a different country.....ie your vehicle may have come direct, or via france - so any adapted wiring may not follow the rules you think they would.

French vehicle systems make life easy in theory - there are no set colours, all wires are numbered to designate every connection, item and location within the loom - which is fantastic.......if only they didn't change it every three months! So no diagram or wire numbers match the vehicle - you end up cross referencing for hours, throwing the diagrams out the windows and start chasing wires!:Doh:


Well I think rather confusing and I won't make the mistake of thinking brown is live on a vehicle again. On ours black is live and also blue. So the two new 5 year guaranteed gel batteries we have bought will have to be turned around and the wiring will have to be at the back! Or we'll have to buy two more if we can't get them in like this. A back breaking job in itself I think as the battery locker is low down.

Like all Burstners they are a lovely van but hard to do anything on. When we have an oil change our van looks like it has gone into the medical centre and is on a drip. That is the only way to change the oil. It has to have a drip type stand with a long tube into the engine, with the oil fed into her.

Will let you know how we get on. Hubby can only do jobs at the weekend so I think he will not be taking my word for which side is positive and will check himself from now on. We both have learnt from this :cry: :Doh::Doh: and thanks for everyone's help. :thumb:
 

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