Electric question

[Phil]

I just got a 1977 Apache Ranger pop up trailer and it has a converter in and I am trying to figure out just what it does. It is connected to a battery on the tongue of the trailer. Does the converter convert 12volts to 120volts or does it just clean up the 12volts to run lights etc. It does have a switch on it for 12volts or 120volts but is that so you can switch the output? I am confused. This would be a lot easier to figure out if I could set up the trailer but the weather is to bad right now.

[Angel]

could you post a pic of the electrics ? I can't find a lot of info about those on the internet.

Usually a converter ('Inverter") will change 12vdc to 120vac for plugs inside the trailer - its a safe bet that if there are 'house -style' electric outlets in the trailer, then they are connected to an inverter somewhere. 12v outlets will look different than whats in your house.

If it has an inverter, there will be en electric box somewhere with wires going into and out of it, most inverters have fans on one side of them and cooling fins. Look for a wattage rating (500w, 1kw stuff like that)

-John

[KarTek]

If it's like my Coleman, the box is essentially a battery charger/12v power supply. The interior lights of the camper are 12v but the outlets and AC unit are 120v.

You can run in 2 modes:

Standalone, with a battery running the interior lighting and the refrigerator running on gas.

Shore power, 120v running AC and refrigerator and being converted to 12v for the lighting.

I've never run in standalone mode so I'm not sure if there's any manual switch to go that way like some of the older campers from the '60 and '70's. On yours, it sounds like you put the switch on 120v for shore power mode and 12v for standalone.