Battery wiring

[GandG]

Hi,

I have a battery wiring question that I would really appreciate some help with.

From the picture below, are the load wires correct? (I thought 2, 12v batteries setup in parallel should have one load wire coming off one of the battery's negatives and the other load wire coming off the other battery's positives.)

Also, can anyone tell me what the small black wire is? Is that a ground?

And lastly, when charging in parallel, do I hook up to the same spots where the loads are placed to charge both batteries at the same time?

The photo below, is how the batteries were rigged when I bought it. But before I go and start breaking things, I would really appreciate your help.

Thanks so much!!!

[lewster]

Originally Posted by GandG

Hi,

I have a battery wiring question that I would really appreciate some help with.

From the picture below, are the load wires correct? (I thought 2, 12v batteries setup in parallel should have one load wire coming off one of the battery's negatives and the other load wire coming off the other battery's positives.)

Also, can anyone tell me what the small black wire is? Is that a ground?

And lastly, when charging in parallel, do I hook up to the same spots where the loads are placed to charge both batteries at the same time?

The photo below, is how the batteries were rigged when I bought it. But before I go and start breaking things, I would really appreciate your help.

Thanks so much!!!

You are correct! The load cables should be from the positive of #1 battery and the negative of #2 battery. You should also upgrade the parallel cables, as the 6AWG are woefully inadequate. 4AWG should be minimum and 2AWG or 1/0AWG even better!

Charging is applied to the properly connected load terminals as detailed above.

The small black wire (10AWG) is the positive power for your jack.

[vintagemotor]

Welcome to the forum!

Most of us split the connections (red/black) between the 2 batteries, red on positive on one battery and black on negative on the other battery. Although it makes no difference and how it is connected now is fine.

Yes hook up your charger black (-) to black and red (+) to red.

The little black wire connected to positive is the power lead for the tongue jack.

You are about to here a ton about what battery to use and how to connect it, everyone has their own opinion about this, just remember parallel is how you want to hook up 12V.

[GandG]

lewster, I appreciate the extremely quick and clear response!

Thank you very much for the help!!!

[GandG]

vintagemotor, thank you very much for the reply as well!

I have only been an airstream owner for about a week and am already very delighted by the extremely welcoming and helpful community.

Thanks!