Help to verify 12V and ground in 6-pin connector on Toad

[Webman9113]

Hey, all -

I’m adding an RVi Towed Battery Charger Plus to my Jeep, and was hoping someone could help confirm that my plug wiring is correct (or not!), as RVi’s customer service won’t be in before we have to take off tomorrow on the first leg of our trip.

I’ve got a 7-to-6 pin Blue Ox cable. I plugged it into the RV, and with the multimeter on the 6-pin (toad) end of the cable I got 12V+ with the red lead in the 2 o’clock socket and the black lead in the 10 o’clock socket - I didn’t get any voltage in any other combination of sockets. (NOTE: for some reason the photo showing the MM leads is rotated 90D counterclockwise, so the left edge of the photo is actually “up.”)

The Battery Charger Plus needs both 12V and ground, so I assume that 12V is the pin on the Jeep’s socket that corresponds to the red lead in the cable (2 o’clock), and the ground corresponds to the black lead (10 o’clock). This seems to match up with what’s shown in the RVi troubleshooting video (screen caps attached), although there’s no voice over, and how it’s shown there is how I’ve wired mine.

So, I’d appreciate it if someone could let me now if I’m on the right track. I’m a total noob at 12V systems and don’t want to blow anything up, when I plug it in, lol! 🤓

[arcaguy]

The only way to make absolutely sure is to test it with a meter which it look like you have. It does look like you're on the right track. The only other thing I would do is to check the other pins to see what they do. I got some wiring diagrams from etrailer but you never know how someone else wired something. The diagram I got from etrailer shows +12 in the middle and GND at the 2 o'clock position, but this would be 10 o'clock on the RV end if I'm turning it around in my mind correctly. The only other thing I can think of is to disconnect the wire you think is the hot lead in the six pin and then make sure everything else works OK. If it does hook the loose wire back up and you should be good to go. If not repeat the process until everything work and the wire that is off is your hot lead.

[Ljwt330]

You are on the correct path.


The towed end of the Blue Ox cord (six holes) tests + at the 2 o'clock position. You just need to be certain that the socket pin on the Jeep at the 10 o'clock position is for 12+. Same with the ground, only the positions of the holes and Jeep pins are reversed.

[Webman9113]

Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. I can’t test it until tomorrow morning when we pull out, as I can’t get the Jeep close enough to the rear of the rig for the cable to reach.

Also, I thought I had mentioned this (sorry - not enough coffee!), but the socket on the Jeep and wiring harness for the lights were installed at an RV dealer and had an earlier version of the charger that only needed the 12V, and that was pinned to the same place as the “12V” in one of the attached pics. Also, FYI, there isn’t a wire on the Jeep end in the center pin.

Originally Posted by arcaguy

The only way to make absolutely sure is to test it with a meter which it look like you have. It does look like you're on the right track. The only other thing I would do is to check the other pins to see what they do. I got some wiring diagrams from etrailer but you never know how someone else wired something. The diagram I got from etrailer shows +12 in the middle and GND at the 2 o'clock position, but this would be 10 o'clock on the RV end if I'm turning it around in my mind correctly. The only other thing I can think of is to disconnect the wire you think is the hot lead in the six pin and then make sure everything else works OK. If it does hook the loose wire back up and you should be good to go. If not repeat the process until everything work and the wire that is off is your hot lead.

[Webman9113]

Understood. Also, at the 2 o’clock position looking at the Jeep socket (which I’m hoping is the ground), there’s a brown wire already there, but I’m not sure what that goes to - as I mentioned above, I can’t hook up the Jeep to the RV until we pull out of the site tomorrow AM.

Also, aside from the originally installed wire that I think was for 12V to the old charger, the 10 o’clock/?12V? (looking at Jeep socket) pin didn’t have any other wires going to it.

Originally Posted by Ljwt330

You are on the correct path.


The towed end of the Blue Ox cord (six holes) tests + at the 2 o'clock position. You just need to be certain that the socket pin on the Jeep at the 10 o'clock position is for 12+. Same with the ground, only the positions of the holes and Jeep pins are reversed.

[SmokyIak]

The connectors and plugs are marked as to the proper wire placement

[Webman9113]

Smoky - Unfortunately, the diagram you posted doesn’t match what’s on the Jeep. HOWEVER, I just found the Blue Ox wiring diagram on eTrailer:



So, I think I have it right, but the wiring the RV dealership guys used on the Jeep when they added the plug doesn’t match the Blue Ox diagram color-wise. They have a brown wire instead of white for the ground, a red one instead of brown for the tail light, then the green and yellow wires reversed for left and right tail lights. Oy!

Despite that, I think I’ve got the 12V and ground wires in the right sockets on the Jeep. We’ll find out tomorrow when I plug it in!

Thanks for your help, folks!! 😊

Originally Posted by SmokyIak

The connectors and plugs are marked as to the proper wire placement

[SmokyIak]

The connections are pretty much standardized with one exception being the electric brake wire when going from 7 to 6 pin or vice versa

If you look the right, left, turn and tm are always in the same location and any good tech uses the proper color wires per standard protocol

Unfortunately some do not

Good luck

[Dutch Star Don]

I like to print out and keep this copy of trailer wiring from Etrailer. If you scroll down through the below link, you'll see all the wiring configurations in color. I print those and keep them in my tool box.

I ALWAYS WIRE TO THE STANDARD, SO THERE IS NEVER AN ISSUE.

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx

[milkman55]

I have the RVI battery charger and the Blue Ox cable. 2 o’clock is the right pin.

Once you start your RV and have everything connected, you should see a flashing light on the RVI charger showing it’s working.