Trailer Batteries Were Uninstalled. How Do I Know How To Re Wire Them Correctly?

Question:

I uninstalled my batteries but did not take a picture of how it was wired. Now I do it I either get no power or sparks flying. I have two 6 volt batteries and need help please.

asked by: Artin S

Expert Reply:

The first thing we recommend doing is taking each cable and tracing it back as far as you can. This will help you narrow down exactly what each cable is for. At first glance is seems like there are a lot of cables in your picture, at least more than we typically see on a trailer. The sparks may be due to the way you were connecting the cables, but it might be worth checking each battery with a volt meter and making sure they are both still good and charged.

Since you have two 6v batteries they were likely wired in series. If the batteries are wired in series, the positive terminal of one battery will be connected to the negative terminal of the other. This would double the output of the batteries. Two 6 v batteries wired in series will provide 12v of output. You may find the diagram below helpful. If you can wire them in this way, and determine the function of each cable you should be able to get everything hooked up the way it was before.

expert reply by: Jesse M