Wiring for lights

[rhltechie]

Hey..thanks! Yes, you are correct in what I want to do. I stole..eerr..got the idea from mary K I think that's what mine said..yours is just way prettier! i didnt include the ground on mine either...so thanks for that. Also, my reading lights do have their own switches attached is why i wasnt too worried about that portion.

thanks a lot!

[tinksdad]

Just an aside to think about when you start wiring your trailer. Many many moons ago, at a GM training session the instructor threw out this tidbit for 12volt (it holds true for GM, but I can't say for all vehicles.... but it stuck with me).... "All ground wires are black; but not all black wires are ground".

Do as you please; but in my trailer all ground wires are black (regardless of size). My hot wires (coming from the fuse block) I color coded according to size.... a different unique color for each gauge (size) plus I added tape tags at both ends identifying what it is for. Just to keep this befuddled chronologically challenged brain from hooking the wrong wire to something.

[rhltechie]

This is all excellent advice. I had thought I would def label the wires as you suggested since i think i killed all the brain cells that hold short term memory when i was younger

I will also stick to what you said about all black being ground...i need simple...very simple.

thanks again

[wlooper89]

Trailer and RV wiring is often different. In those I believe it is common to use black for positive and white for ground. This was the case with my converter and also some of my 12V lights. It can be very confusing because other systems such as solar power use red for positive and black for ground. I believe this is also true to some extent in automobiles. Perhaps it is better to confirm the polarity initially by some means other than wire color.

Bill

[Larwyn]

Trailer and RV wiring is often different. In those I believe it is common to use black for positive and white for ground. This was the case with my converter and also some of my 12V lights. It can be very confusing because other systems such as solar power use red for positive and black for ground. I believe this is also true to some extent in automobiles. Perhaps it is better to confirm the polarity initially by some means other than wire color.

Bill

Yep, on my RV wiring, black was positive. As it was built by a major manufacturer, I would assume this is normal. I have also worked on other RV's where black positive/white negative held true. It gets even more confusing in electrical substation DC control circuits when working for different utility Companies. Some use black neg/red pos, most use black positive/white negative, but when the black/white cable is not readily available and they end up with black/red cable most will stick with the black positive (which is normal) leaving them with red for negative which confuses the **** out of anyone who ever hooked up set of jumper cables......

[mechmagcn]

Actually it is in the RVIA code to use the black/positive and white/neg for electrical systems when both AC and DC systems are present in an RV. I guess they figure it will be less confusing for the techs who work on them.
I come from a background of automotive and equipment repair, so is is confusing for me, I always thought red was positive and black negative Now I are a RV tech and have to relearn things

[tinksdad]

I only based my suggestion on color coding from the way I did mine. I realize that 110 wiring the colors are reversed..... black hot, white common..... but my trailer is going to be 12V only. If I feel the need for 110 on this trailer, I'm going to carry an extension cord and a power strip. As far as color coding the hot wires on mine, it was more or less to make sure I was tying into the right size fuse for the circuit *.... and all the ground wires a common color (in my case...black). I may do it differently on the next trailer.

* 14 guage..... 15 amp 12 guage....20 amp main between battery and fuse block.... 30 amp

That's one of the reasons I read all the posts in the forum..... to get varying opinions and thoughts as the build progresses.

[BPFox]

Color coding can be one of the most confusing things to deal with simply because there is no set standard in dc systems. On most of the equipment I work on all of the wires are white. Each circuit is numbered. Boy a test light sure comes in handy. Some of the older equipment was wired much like a automobile in that circuits were identified by the color of the wire. Just like most everything on your trailer, when it comes to your 12 volt wiring you can pretty much come up with your own system. Personally, I'm not a fan of using a black wire for 12 volt positive. I think it is better to use colored wires (excluding black and white) to identity the different circuits. This is more expensive since you have to buy more wire. If you happen to have a ton of wire in one color, that's ok to because you can buy wire number kits and keep your circuits straight that way. I would reserve white for tow vehicle negative and us black to trailer negative. As always, your ac wiring should be black for hot, white for neutral and green for ground. In my case, my second ac circuit will use red for hot. Bottom line here is there are several ways to do it right. Just make up a wiring diagram when you are done and put a copy in the trailer near the fuses and you should be ok.

[Larwyn]

Hi all,

I was doing some sketches last night and had a question about the wiring of the TD. I will be having a few lights spread out throughout the cabin and then some porch lights. My question is this, I have never daisy chained anything when doing wiring for speakers or data networks, its always been a no no for me. I could have sworn I saw somewhere on the site where people are daisy chaining their lights and not doing what I call “home runs” for every light. Is there some good reason to daisy chain other than your TD lights going out not being the end of the world?

TIA,

R

The "no big deal" factor is valid. Running less wire means less work, less weight and less cost as well as fewer wires to route through the limited space. Just keep the ampacity higher than the load and all will be well.