13' Casita Patriot deluxe 12V battery optional?

[flaco]

Hi! A friend of mine is fixing up an older Casita Patriot Deluxe 13'. She and her boys cannot find where the battery is located which typically, I think, would be mounted on the A frame near the hitch. Is there another possible location or is it possible that one would not necessarily need one if you just ran an extension cable from the plug on the tow vehicle to the camper and ran the tow vehicle while using electric in the camper? That is how I used to run my old Coleman popup but I only had to run the water pump and lights. Thanks in advance. Dave 🍻😎👵🏿

[Casita Greg]

It's under the rear seat/berth cabinet on the right side. The 13 footers don't have the exterior battery access hatch. And, FWIW, it's a real pain to get to and to service it where they stuck it. That's why a lot of 13' owners have moved them out onto the "A" frames in front. It was a ridiculous place to install them IMO.

[WaltP]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

It's under the rear seat/berth cabinet on the right side. The 13 footers don't have the exterior battery access hatch. And, FWIW, it's a real pain to get to and to service it where they stuck it. That's why a lot of 13' owners have moved them out onto the "A" frames in front. It was a ridiculous place to install them IMO.

Actually I'm pretty sure it's on the left (driver) side but I agree with the rest.
And the 13s tend to be tongue light so moving the battery to the tongue shouldn't cause weight problems.
And BTW, there are inexpensive, waterproof battery boxes available to make that mod easier. They are available at Walmart among other places. The battery is a group 24 but moving it to the tongue opens up the possibility of upgrading to group 27 with a lot greater capacity, especially useful when boondocking.

Walt

[flaco]

Hey you were right! Battery was right there. Pia to remove that big cover. Black wire goes to positive and green and white wires go to negative which seems counterintuitive to me. Is that correct?

[Arthur II]

Unfortunately, you are at the mercy of whoever
designed the wiring. Or perhaps what wire colors
they could spend the least amount of money on.
Black, white and green are typical of what you
normally see in AC house wiring.

You are probably used to a Red for positive and
Black for negative as used on your vehicle battery.
Some RV's may follow that color code.

Others can actually use Blue for positive and Black
for negative/ground.


Bottom Line ... When it comes to an RV .. You never know.
They can even swap colors at the fuse box.


Just always be aware of how "your RV" is wired when
adding or modifying the wiring. Purchase and learn to
use a voltmeter or multi-meter.

.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by flaco

Hey you were right! Battery was right there. Pia to remove that big cover. Black wire goes to positive and green and white wires go to negative which seems counterintuitive to me. Is that correct?

It is wired correctly according to ours. Seems wrong but when we got our Casita new from factory in 2007 that is how it was. We actually wrote on the door of the battery area I permanent marker so we wouldn't second guess it.

[Bing M.]

Bottom Line ... When it comes to an RV .. You never know.
They can even swap colors at the fuse box.


When I was doing RV repairs I had a new motorhome that I had to correct some factory goof up electrical. From the dash to the rear of the unit the colors changed SEVEN (7) times! Even inside a wire loom. Talk about frustrating. That was only one of the flubs I saw. Dead short on trailer brakes, etc. There are times the RV techs really earn their money.

[Arthur II]

Originally Posted by Bing M.

When I was doing RV repairs I had a new motorhome that I had to correct some factory goof up electrical. From the dash to the rear of the unit the colors changed SEVEN (7) times! Even inside a wire loom. Talk about frustrating. That was only one of the flubs I saw. Dead short on trailer brakes, etc. There are times the RV techs really earn their money.

I know EXACTLY what you're talking about.
Worked on everything from pop-ups on up during my younger days.


[Decided not to say what I started to say here. LOL]


.

[WizWid]

Originally Posted by flaco

Hey you were right! Battery was right there. Pia to remove that big cover. Black wire goes to positive and green and white wires go to negative which seems counterintuitive to me. Is that correct?

That is correct.
It is a house, not a car.
Black is the "hot" wire in your house.....

[ZachO]

They're fairly standard. I mean I don't necessarily disagree with what others have said, but it's not like builders are throwing any random wire color at the battery connection. Yes it can be random inside the trailer, but the battery connections will be one of a few standard options, not just random colors. My camper is black and white. Unless someone actually screwed up, it helps if you can remember that white can never be positive according to electrical regulations. It's always has to be ground or neutral. That makes it easier to remember what black is.

All the same, I put a bit of red tape around the black, positive wire going to my battery to make sure it was obvious.

[WaltP]

That's a common color coding on some household appliances like lamps: green ground, black hot, white neutral.

Walt

[billgo]

Does anyone have photos of how they secured a mount for the battery out on the tongue?