Why Does OptiBrite ILL06COB Not Match Wire Colors of Battery

Published 08/17/2016

Question:

Wires from light fixture are black and white. Battery is black and red. Im a bit confused over being required to connect the black of the fixture to the red+ of the battery while the white fixture wire is connected to the battery - negative. I would have thought it was black on black?????? Also, I plan to put three of these units maybe four in parallel on 16awg wire. I am assuming that this is well within tolerances?

asked by: David

Expert Reply:

For the Opti-Brite LED Dome Light part # ILL06COB that you referenced the white wire is the ground and the black is power. RV interiors are typically wired with house interior wire colors and that is why the colors of your battery are different. Batteries like yours are wired more like automotive applications where the red is power and black is ground.

The power draw of each of these lights is .48 amps. That would be fine to have four of these on 16 gauge wire as that would be less than 2 total amps.

expert reply by: Jameson C