1987 Jayco Sportster 9 1/2 electrical questions

[Mel McKay]

I have a 1987 Jayco Sportster 9 1/2 slide in truck camper. Everything in it is original, and just needs a little work to be in almost new condition.

The camper has the original converter in it, and I have ordered a WFCO 8725 power center. Should the truck battery provide power to the converter when not plugged in to 120 volt shore power?

I also plan to add a battery to the camper itself.

[nbhybrid]

It should I guess while running but I would be concerned about when your truck wasn't running that it shuts the 12V down. You may have a dead truck in a short time.

[teejaywhy]

Technically speaking, the battery isn't powering the converter, just providing an alternate source of 12VDC power. Without 110V AC, the converter is cold and silent.

The converter uses 110V AC power to produce 12V DC power to run lights, water pump etc.

When not plugged into 110V AC power, the 12V DC is provided by a battery, usually a deep cycle type, sometimes called the "house battery." This would NOT be your truck's starting battery which is not designed to be repeatedly discharged.

All the DC appliances are routed to the converter fuse panel. The WCFO 87xx series converters will auto switch between the converter output and the battery output and will also charge your (house) battery when plugged in to 110VAC.

Hope this answers your question.

[Polk]

1987, cool. Got any picks?

[Acamperlife]

We just came by a 9 1/2 sportster slide in and it is pretty clean and all works great on shore power. It does not have a house battery. Is there a site I can look at that will assist with adding the house battery and perhaps solar later on? The truck alternator is one of those smart ones that has variable output depending on the load to the alternator- so I guess similar question to McKay-