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04-26-2019, 05:37 PM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 94
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Ground wire on 12V system
1998 SMB VAN. I removed the fluorescent fixture above the sink in order to retrofit to LED. (I had to drill out some rivets in order to remove the ballast cover and that's easier done on my bench.) Now, I'm not certain which wire is ground; red or white. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Terry
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04-26-2019, 09:18 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 4,198
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I’m almost positive the red wire is hot. (Bad pun intended.) I have a 98 Ford Indiana built SMB.
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04-26-2019, 09:25 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
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Get a test light. Put one wire of the light to ground and the other on each wire you’re testing. The positive wire will light up the light, the negative will do nothing.
.....but....the answer to your question is red is positive and white is negative.
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04-27-2019, 12:28 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Longwood, FL
Posts: 1,560
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Terry, all of the 12 volt lighting ground wires in my old 1997 van, and in my current 2003 van, were and are white.
__________________
Greg
Old van: 1997 E250 EB30 (Stolen)
New van: 2003 E250 EB10
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04-27-2019, 06:16 AM
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#5
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 94
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Thanks everyone. red is hot and white is ground.
86Scotty, I need to buy a test light. It's long overdue.
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04-27-2019, 06:53 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
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Don't buy one, buy 3! They're very cheap. Just as easily you can make one out of two wires and any auto bulb. Just solder the wires on to the leads. Crude, but it will probably outlast the Harbor Freight version.
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04-27-2019, 07:24 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 144
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ARRRG! I hate it when people mix color code standards! One standard is "black is hot, white is neutral", used mostly in 120VAC systems, but also used in a fair number of 12V systems.
The other standard is "red is positive, black is negative", which is the real standard for low voltage systems like 12VDC.
But to mix the two? UGH!
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04-27-2019, 07:24 AM
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#8
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 94
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Three it is.
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04-27-2019, 07:50 AM
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#9
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 94
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wowbagger
ARRRG! I hate it when people mix color code standards! One standard is "black is hot, white is neutral", used mostly in 120VAC systems, but also used in a fair number of 12V systems.
The other standard is "red is positive, black is negative", which is the real standard for low voltage systems like 12VDC.
But to mix the two? UGH!
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Exactly, and I thought I had read somewhere that white was hot, but after searching could not find it, but at any rate, I was sure SMB used an 'alternate' standard.
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04-27-2019, 07:59 AM
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#10
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Site Team
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wltrmtty
... I was sure SMB used an 'alternate' standard.
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Could easily be the case, but with a 20 year old van, there's a good chance there've been a number of mods over the years.
Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
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