One wire left for the converter??

[Lothlorian]

I took a picture of my fuse box wire and color coded and taped all the wires. everything went back together perfectly except one of the white wires. I put the one where it was supposed to be on the converter and I think the other one was screwed to the wall. It has a clasp on it and there was one screwed to the wall. I am pretty sure it is the correct spot for it, but I would like to see a picture because I cannot read schematics, and I don't want to make a mistake

SIU Bound

Brian

[Zeppelinium]

White sounds like a ground. If you don't have the negative of the converter wired to the shell, you need to do so. Where's your photo?

Zep

[Lothlorian]

You can see the wire I attached to the wall. I think that is where it goes.

SIU Bound

Brian

[markdoane]

I would recommend asking someone who can read a schematic and can work through this with you.

Usually white is a ground, but what if the last guy couldn't read a schematic and used white instead of red? The worst thing that can happen is you need to buy a new converter.

Sorry to be blunt.

[bibbs]

there should be a lug on the converter that is a ground [not a power wire]it grounds the box of the converter to the shell

Bibbs

[HowieE]

There should be 4 wires on the convertor. The AC plug that plugs into AC power, a positive feed to the batteries (most likely a red terminal), the negitive wire to the batteries(most likely a black terninal), and a bare terminal ( this is the ground wire that goes to the trailer frame). In some newer convertors the ground wire may have a green notation.

The positve and negitive wires coming from the batteries will be quite large. The ground wire going to the frame will most likely be a bare #12 copper wire. This copper wire shoud go to the frame and not just the inside skin of the trailer. This wire is the safty for the 120 volt AC side of the convertor and wants to make the best connection possible to the frame to insure it is through out the trailer.

[69AmbassFl]

On my 69 Ambassador I had the 110 wire coming into one side of the convertor,which the ground bolted to the box. The other side had a red and a white that came out the side( both 8 Gauge wires) both going to 40 Amp fuses then on to the battery. Red to pos and white to neg.

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by markdoane

I would recommend asking someone who can read a schematic and can work through this with you. ...

Always good advice--these "surgery by telephone" threads are high risk. That being said, all the previous posts about the ground terminal on the converter frame are correct. But your electrical system must also have the negative side grounded. This is because a lot of the small lights don't have a negative return line--their negative side is connected directly to the shell. This negative ground line doesn't have to come right from the converter terminal, it can be from a lug on your fuse block that has a negative bus on it.

By the way, have you powered up your converter with that wire unattached? If so, I bet everything with a negative lead works, eg, radio, water pump, but that some of the lights don't. If so, there's always the "smoke test." Turn on a light (that doesn't work) and momentarily touch the white wire to the shell to see if the light comes on.

If you followed your photos faithfully, I think you are in good shape. That means your batteries are all wired up and happy. This is a pretty good indication that your wires are correct, so far.

Zep

[HowieE]

The neutral wire od the batteries should be attached to the frame and is the ground path for ALL ITEMS in the trailer. A DC circuit only has 2 wires (Positive and Negitive) The ground wire no the convertor is the Ground for the AC supply and should be attached to the best place possible, the frame of the trailer and should be attached with a good solid wire at least a #12. This wire is your life saver against electrial shock. Current housing codes, while they don't apply here yet, call for that wire to be the same size as the netural when used in a home so don't skimp on it.