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Old 06-25-2019, 11:40 AM   #1
drschaaf
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Battery disconnect switch wiring

I recently purchased a 2019 High Country 305RL.
Like so many others I wanted to add a "true" battery disconnect switch to be able to kill all power draw for when the trailer is at the storage facility.
I bought a typical rotator style switch that I wanted to install on the bulkhead inside the basement opposite of the Convenience Center to keep all of the utility access in basically one location as opposed to putting a knife switch on the battery itself.

I thought I could run a wire (black) from the negative terminal up to the switch
and another wire (black) back from the switch to the frame. Basically replacing the current black wire that runs from the neg terminal to the frame. My hope is that will serve to interrupt all power sources when the switch is used.

My concern is that the battery has a second cable on the neg terminal of a red cable that runs off to another connection somewhere and I'm not exactly sure how to handle that (pictures attached). If I leave it attached to the battery I assume I am not really getting all the loads disconnected.

Has anyone already done a battery disconnect on a similar battery setup or any suggestions on how to proceed?
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:45 AM   #2
Ram Montana High Country
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M.O.C. #19944
Is it my imagination or does the crimp on the second + wire look like it's burnt? Kinda like it's been arching under yellow cover
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:48 AM   #3
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I think you're correct, the second wire will complete a circuit - really depends on what is hooked to it. Is that factory or DIY added?
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:48 AM   #4
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Could the positive and negative wires be for the solar collector.
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:50 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjlamb View Post
Could the positive and negative wires be for the solar collector.

Tracing is needed, seems it is post factory add, especially with in-line fuse
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:59 AM   #6
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The added cables look like they are for solar or an inverter.

Recommend keeping your disconnect switch in the battery compartment and disconnect both cables on negative side. You want to keep the cables short to prevent line loss.
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Old 06-25-2019, 12:19 PM   #7
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First find out if the dealer added a red and black wire to the negative. Then 2 reds to the positive If so get them to fix it! (I cleaned up the post and used "them")

For the disconnect, remove both wires from the terminal. Add an appropriate sized wire from battery to disconnect and put the 2 wires removed on the other side of the switch.

I would be livid if they did to me.
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Old 06-25-2019, 02:21 PM   #8
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Thank-you for all the posts so far.
So a little background. I bought this unit from an out of state dealer 5 months ago so I don't know how much luck I will have trying to find out what they did that's not OEM.
When we got back from the purchase I was having difficulty with the jacks and traced it to one of the wires had pulled out from the spade at the battery. Not worth driving it 1000 miles back to the dealer so I re-crimped it myself and problem solved. Three months later the other end of the same cable pulled out of it's spade and I then had to re-crimp that end. At that point when I took the unit in to a local dealer for other warranty work I showed them the cable and said I wanted it replaced since the workmanship was obviously defective. They fixed it saying Keystone covered it under warranty. It looks to me like they probably just re-crimped the existing ends and applied black heatsink to make it look reasonably factory, I think the "arcing" you see is just a dirt smudge.

I didn't add anything DIY and am not aware of any solar collector options, but I could be wrong. As far as keeping in the battery compartment I am talking about mounting on just the other side of the wall so probably won't add more than 3' to the total run.

jeffba your comment on one wire from battery to the switch and the two wires that were on the battery go on the other side of the switch (assuming I have enough length) seems like the way to go.
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Old 06-25-2019, 02:24 PM   #9
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Does your rig have an inverter?
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Old 06-25-2019, 02:37 PM   #10
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That's an interesting question and I'll confess I don't really know. If I understand correctly an inverter converts 12V battery power to run 120V AC appliances? I have never been able to use any of our 120V things like the ceiling fan when just on battery.
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Old 06-25-2019, 02:42 PM   #11
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Assuming you have an RV fridge vice a residential would assume you don't have one.
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Old 06-25-2019, 03:48 PM   #12
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Do you have an Inverter in your 5er it mite be the ground for it.
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Old 06-26-2019, 10:33 AM   #13
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I don't have a residential fridge, mine runs on propane/ac. To the best of my knowledge I don't have an inverter. I could be wrong, but from other posts I have seen it sounds like there are typically fuses for an inverter on the circuit panel. My panel justs has breakers/fuses for the usual components (see pic).

Just a couple of more notes. The second red cable that has the black heat sink coating on it that's attached to the positive post - is the one that pulled out of its spade that was causing the problems with my jacks to error out, so I'm guessing they are fed directly from the battery via that connection.

The second red cable on the negative post goes back through a hole in the bulkhead. I would have to figure out a way to get at it to see where it goes, but I'm wondering if that might be to complete the circuit for the jacks?
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Old 06-30-2019, 01:26 PM   #14
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I have a 305 RL . I believe the wire you're referring to (with an inline fuse) goes to the solar panel plug in convenience center.
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Old 06-30-2019, 01:31 PM   #15
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First, the question about an Inverter are invalid. The gauge wire is not heavy enough for an Inverter.

Next, the paired red wires are probably to power your leveling system control board mounted on the roof of the front storage area.

Back to the original question, you will need the break the circuit to the battery for both the red and black wires on the negative battery post. Remove both negative wires, Mount a insulated post as a terminal to connect those two wires, the wire to chassis ground and a wire to your switch. Run the other switch wire to the negative battery terminal. While both circuits are grounded, the battery is not when the switch is open.
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Old 06-30-2019, 01:38 PM   #16
drschaaf
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Ah you're talking about the black Furrion connector at the bottom right of the CC. I actually never paid much attention to that in the past since I wasn't using it so I had forgotten about it. If possible I will see if I can trace that back to the battery when I have the basement panel off. Thanks.
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Old 06-30-2019, 02:00 PM   #17
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Yes, the black furrion connector has a red wire that goes direct to battery with a 10 Amp in line fuse. I had to trace this wire after plugging in a portable solar panel that had reverse polarity and blowing the fuse.
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Old 06-30-2019, 02:17 PM   #18
drschaaf
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Thanks shiggs68, I agree the paired red wires are probably related to the leveling system because when the red lead pulled out of the positive terminal that is when I had problems with the jacks.


I'm sorry I didn't quite follow your instructions 100%, but I think what you were trying to tell me was that my original plan of removing the two existing wires from the neg post and attaching them to one side of my switch and running a wire from the other side of my switch back down to the neg post was flawed.


So lets see if I can restate what you are telling me. Take the existing two wires from the neg post and attach them to a new terminal (bolt) grounded to the frame. Add a new third wire from this post to one side of my switch. And then take another wire from the other side of the switch back down to the neg post of the battery. I hope I got that right. thanks.
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Old 06-30-2019, 03:17 PM   #19
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I installed a new disconnect next to my battery bank (4 Trojans.) I left the factory disconnect in place and it stays in the on position.

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Old 06-30-2019, 05:43 PM   #20
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A 'true disconnect'? Just disconnect the negative wires on batteries.
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