I have a 1999 Viking popup camper. I recently bought it and been working out the bugs. The previous owner converted the camper by taking out the axle and placing the camper on a 26 foot car trailer. The wiring for the camper is not conected to the new trailer. Therefor the battery is not being charged while in tow or conected to my vehicle. My question is though, when the camper is plugged into my house or a campground with powere everything works fine. But when I run the camper off of the battery, everything works but the outlets do not. The lights and water pump work great but I can not get any of the outlets inside or out to work. I checked the three fuses and the the two breakers in my power box and they are fine. Also I could not reset my GFCI breaker outlet. I replaced the GFCI but still can't reset it. Also there is no power going to the GFCI when running on battery. Any ideas on how to fix this or what my next step is.
No power to outlets when running on battery power
- Thread starter Aukauma
- Start date
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The outlets are 120 volt a/c, and the battery is 12 volts d/c. The camper is working as designed. The outlets will only work when you are plugged into a 120 volt a/c source. The only way around that is add a LOT more battery capacity and use an inverter to power the 120 volt outlets.
Molaker
Well-known member
For the outlets to work when not plugged in requires an "inverter" which makes 120 vac from the 12 vdc battery power. Even then, the necessary wiring and controls to switch between shore power and battery power can be rather complicated (read "expensive"). It is not difficult or particularly expensive, however, to add an inverter that can power AC devices connected directly to the inverter. The built-in camper outlets would still not be powered. The caveat is doing so can put a heavy load on the batteries and drain even good ones rather quickly. When using an inverter like this, it is best to connect only very light loads (phone chargers, laptops, etc.). Powering heavier loads such as toasters, coffeemakers, electric skillets is not recommended unless you have a very good battery bank.
Thank you for informing that my camper is functioning properly. In glad I didn't take it somewhere and been charge an arm and a leg. With that said, i switched all of my lights to LED. I have a set of lights that hang outside but I am not able to use them with out using the outside plug. The only reason I need the plugs to work off of battery is to charge a phone or two and to charge flashlights or to use the hanging lights outside. Should I just get a small inverter and run a line from the battery or is there a better way to do it.
HappyWanderer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2014
- Posts
- 2,967
It doesn't make sense to use an inverter to convert 12 volts DC to 110 volts AC, so you can plug in a phone charger that will convert the AC voltage back to DC to charge the phone.
There are plenty of 12 volt chargers and lights that will work directly from the battery.
There are plenty of 12 volt chargers and lights that will work directly from the battery.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Usually there is at least one 12v outlet (aka cigarette lighter plug) inside. If not, running the wires and installing an outlet is easy enough if you can figure out a path for them. That, of course, depends on where the battery is and where you want the outlets. You can buy wire and 12v outlets in any auto parts dept or marine store, as well as in RV stores.
robertusa123
Well-known member
I have 3 strings of led outdoor lights.. glorified Christmas's light . I run them on a small 20$ 100watt inverter. Work just fine.
