dilli
PA
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We have a 23 ft. Layton Travel Trailer we use as our camp in the hills. Right now we don't have electric so our furnace runs of the marine battery. The furnace is 12 volt. If we get electric installed will we still need the battery or will a converter work?? We are really dumb about these things!!!! We do know the trailer is wired for 12 volt for the lights but also has electric lights wired up too. Any info appreciated!
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JJBIRISH
Butler, PA, USA
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Joined: 10/06/2002
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your furnace will work off the converter, but if the power isn't reliable I would keep a working battery in it...
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Eycom
Fl to NY
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12 volt side of life
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Rolling Condo
South Carolina
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I would keep a battery installed. There are many electronic boards used (refrigerator, furnace, water heater, control panel) and the battery will actually work like a surge arrestor to protect them from voltage spikes.
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YC 1
Yuba City Calif.
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Rolling Condo wrote:I would keep a battery installed. There are many electronic boards used (refrigerator, furnace, water heater, control panel) and the battery will actually work like a surge arrestor to protect them from voltage spikes.
Ditto !
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dilli
PA
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The furnace is actually the only thing we were worried about. We don't have water/sewage and the fridge will work off of the electric. We just weren't sure if we could do away with the battery altogether since the furnace is 12 volt. We know there is a converter in one of the storage boxes underneath the trailer but it doesn't look like it is plugged into anything. Thanks for the info!
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nny12972
NY
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Joined: 10/25/2006
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Your charger may NEED the battery---post the make and model?
Your AC/LPG fridge still needs 12V(minimum 11.7V to be exact) to run the control circuit....as does an AC/LPG HW tank.......AND, it's very doubtful that your charger/converter puts out enough current to run your furnace---as a matter of fact, trying it without a battery could seriously shorten the life of---or kill, your furnace blower motor.
LEAVE THE BATTERY IN THE RIG! (at least 'til you KNOW how much the charger puts out---and/or whether your charger NEEDS the battery.)
J
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dilli
PA
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We stopped at a camper sales place today. The guy there says we can buy a 30 amp inverter for about $200. He claims we can then run all our 12vt stuff off of the electric and have no need for a battery. Does this sound right??
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mosseater
Dillsburg, PA
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Ok, deeeep breath.......I sense a long thread coming on. Hold on to your electrons.......
Im` not the expert on this, but I`m going to take a crack at it.
Your Shore power cord that plugs into 110v powers your "converter" to charge your battery so you can have adequate amp draw available to run all your 12v needs. I know a lot about electricity but almost nothing specifically about the output of converters. I`m guessing they aren`t, for the most part, intended to run ALL the 12v needs of a modern trailer. They`re basically battery chargers. The battery has much higher amp draw-down capacity for higher and varying loads and the converter is supposed to charge the battery at a given rate over time as the battery is depleted. Since most trailers have a battery, common sense tells me they aren`t intended to run straight off the the converter, even though they can. As stated, you may overload the converter and damage it.
An "inverter" changes 12vdc from a battery into 110vac house current. It works through a series of electronic circuits to make a sine wave similar to what comes through the wires on the pole outside your house, though, on a much smaller scale. That`s why they are only intended for smaller loads. Heat is created as a waste by-product in all of these gizmos and needs to have some place to go or they can overheat. That is why they have cooling fans. They should not be in an enclosed space without ventilation.
If it were me, I agree with the others, I would get a battery and connect it the way it was intended. The first time you have a need for 12 volts and don`t have a place to plug into 110vac, you`ll wish you had that battery. And when you have a need to run a small 110vac load without a power source, that battery and your inverter can supply it. Great for watching tv after quiet hours when running the generator is not allowed, or just to plug in the cell phone charger so it`s fresh the next day. It sounds like your trailer doesn`t, hasn`t, and isn`t going to move off the spot. That doesn`t change my answer. I would not want to depend on the converter alone. Hope this helps. Feel free to correct me if I`m wrong.
"It`s not important that you know all the answers, it`s only important to know where to get all the answers" Arone Kleamyck
"...An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
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