Mystery wire

[DremStremer]

When I removed the battery tray on my '70 Safari I saw this red wire underneath. One end was connected to the the rear compartment door frame but the other end was not connected to anything. In the picture, it's the thin red wire with blue connectors on each end. I assume it's a ground wire for something. Does anyone know what it should be connected to?

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by DremStremer

When I removed the battery tray on my '70 Safari I saw this red wire underneath. One end was connected to the the rear compartment door frame but the other end was not connected to anything. In the picture, it's the thin red wire with blue connectors on each end. I assume it's a ground wire for something. Does anyone know what it should be connected to?

I can't tell from the picture, is the connector for the door at the top of the picture, not connected now? The other end that is just laying on the floor by the hole, that is the end under the battery tray, right?

It seems odd to me that a red wire was used for a ground, but then maybe that's all the PO had. [The connector color just indicates the size of the wire the connector is to be used for. It could be yellow, red or blue, for small wires.]

If the one end wasn't actually connected to anything on either end, I might guess that it was possibly power for a rear camera or maybe power to a radio in the AS so it would keep its memory. As a ground wire, I don't have any guesses, since it wasn't connected to the negative battery terminal and the connector is too small for that anyway.

In any event, I would just remove it. The PO didn't have it connected to anything so even he/she no longer needed it.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by richw46

It seems odd to me that a red wire was used for a ground, but then maybe that's all the PO had.

The thicker red wire connects to the + battery terminal and thicker white to - correct?

The blue crimp on connecters are not oem and added by a PO.l I agree a red wire would be strange as a ground, but I think the Univolt was grounded to the frame, so it is possible. Another possibility is a lead to the compartment light or polarity light.

There are a lot better converters now than the single phase original Univolt. Also looks like you have a bit of floor rot.

[DremStremer]

Originally Posted by richw46

I can't tell from the picture, is the connector for the door at the top of the picture, not connected now? The other end that is just laying on the floor by the hole, that is the end under the battery tray, right?

It seems odd to me that a red wire was used for a ground, but then maybe that's all the PO had. [The connector color just indicates the size of the wire the connector is to be used for. It could be yellow, red or blue, for small wires.]

If the one end wasn't actually connected to anything on either end, I might guess that it was possibly power for a rear camera or maybe power to a radio in the AS so it would keep its memory. As a ground wire, I don't have any guesses, since it wasn't connected to the negative battery terminal and the connector is too small for that anyway.

In any event, I would just remove it. The PO didn't have it connected to anything so even he/she no longer needed it.

One end of the wire is still connected to the bottom of the door frame. Yes, the part of the wire laying on the floor was under the battery tray. I had to pry the battery tray off the floor. So if the wire was connected to it I might have knocked it loose.

[DremStremer]

Originally Posted by Lumatic

The thicker red wire connects to the + battery terminal and thicker white to - correct?

The blue crimp on connecters are not oem and added by a PO.l I agree a red wire would be strange as a ground, but I think the Univolt was grounded to the frame, so it is possible. Another possibility is a lead to the compartment light or polarity light.

There are a lot better converters now than the single phase original Univolt. Also looks like you have a bit of floor rot.

Correct, the thicker red and white wires are the leads to the battery. I taped of the ends when I removed the battery.

My Safari has the typical rot in the rear. The last foot of the floor is rotted right through. I'm in the process now of removing everything inside the trailer so I can replace the floor. There is some frame damage as well that will need repair. I plan on replacing the old Univolt during the restoration, but it is working for now.