Quote:
Originally Posted by adwizard
Hi, I plan on hooking up my battery to my Jayco 1006 pop up. Other than hooking it up, is there anything I need to do. Look for power inverter switch? Any other switches? Lastly, what can I expect from using the battery? TWhat can it actually power? Thanks, I appreciate your answers.
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I have a '96 Jayco 1006. I have a deep cycle battery in the rack on the tongue inside of a marine battery box for protection from the elements and my own protection from the battery.
My trailer has a "CONVERTER" NOT an "Inverter". It's located in the back wall of the interior, so the top kinda needs to be up to access the converter. It will convert 120V AC electric to 12V DC to operate the interior lights, the porch light on the side, the refrigerator on 12V (switch inside the external refrigerator access panel on the left side of the trailer) and the heater. There is a switch behind the magnetic cover panel on the converter which is marked "Bat. / Off / Convert." You must flip that switch to operate the electrical system. If you are plugged in to 120V cord at home, at a campground with a 120V supply, or with a portable generator, then the switch must be at "Convert." Dome lights will work, porch light will work, refrigerator will operate on 120V, heater will operate. If you are unplugged and want the interior lights to work, then you must have it switched to "Bat." Then the refrigerator needs to be switched to 12V or to Gas. The electrical outlets will NOT work. The refrigerator will shut off if it's set at 120V and the converter is switched to "Bat." If you're not using the electrical system, then the converter switch should be set at "Off".
Note that the interior lights, the porch light, and the heater all operate on 12V. Either from the battery, or from the converter. Even if the switch is set at "converter and the trailer is plugged in to 120V.
My converter charges the battery and does a pretty good job of it.The battery also charges from the tow vehicle.
The refrigerator takes a LOT of power if running on 12V. It will kill your battery in a hurry unless you're hooked up to a running tow vehicle. Once you park and set up the trailer, it's best to operate the refrigerator on propane.
In sub-freezing weather, the heater, even set at 50° (lowest setting on the thermostat) will run quite a bit and might drain a full battery overnight. We camped in the Sierras at the end of September/start of October a while back, the camps all closed the day we left (Columbus day) and got 6" of snow 3 days after. The boondock camp had no power and I hated to use our little portable generator. Ours was the quietest in the camp though. Sooo....
Other year model or size trailers may have different converters which may operate differently than mine.