airforceguyiniowa
New member
Hello, I have a 2014 Forest River 27 DBUD. Does the 12V battery have to be hooked up while connected to house power for things to be working properly, besides just to charge the battery?
12V Battery
- Thread starter airforceguyiniowa
- Start date
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John From Detroit
Well-known member
Generally no.. On a 2014 I would expect the converter to power everything without need for the battery.
There might be exceptions.. but I've yet to hear of one.
There might be exceptions.. but I've yet to hear of one.
A battery is needed when towing to power the emergency breakaway switch so that you have electric brakes if the trailer should break away and to meet legal requirements. If you do not have a battery all should work well from shore power, but if you lose shore power your refrigerator, water heater and furnace will not work on propane because it takes 12 volts to run the circuit boards.
HappyWanderer
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The converter probably won't power high current demands of things like the slide motor or an electric jack.
Riverdog
Well-known member
It depends on what you are trying to operate. Most items run on both 110 & 12V, however not all items. For example, in my TT the slide is exclusively 12V.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Actually, hardly anything in an RV runs directly on 120v - just the a/c and the 120v mode of water heater and fridge. Just about everything else is 12v only, and even the 120v appliances still need 12v for their circuit boards and the a/c thermostat. People think it runs on 120v cause they work on shore power, but that's what the converter is there for - it makes 12vdc from 120va shore power so that everything continues to work.
Alfa38User
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It think whether or not you can run without a battery while camped depends entirely on the converter itself. Some will function well and others, not so much. Some things, like slides for example, require a lot more current than many converters, depending on the model, can supply and a good battery or batteries, will furnish that for the short period required. They would then be recharged slowly by the converter.
I would like to think like, JFD that in a new machine, a suitable converter would be included, but I am NOT convinced it is always the case. If you are towing, you definitely need that battery as RVFixer stated.
I would like to think like, JFD that in a new machine, a suitable converter would be included, but I am NOT convinced it is always the case. If you are towing, you definitely need that battery as RVFixer stated.
Mopar1973Man
Well-known member
Regardless it always best to have a battery in the RV to operate any of the 12V loads. Some things like slide motors and jacks might put way too much strain on the converter. Also towing a RV without a battery is a safety issue being the breakaway system will not work because there is no battery to power the brakes.
weewun
Well-known member
As well as the reasons stated in above Replies, the Battery provides additional filtering for the Converter thus providing cleaner DC power.
Hoosier Daddy
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If you do remove the battery, tape or cap the leads or make some allowance they will not contact each other.
When you plug in shore power the leads are energized and if they touch can short out your 12v system causing damage or a fire.
When you plug in shore power the leads are energized and if they touch can short out your 12v system causing damage or a fire.
I think so, but not entirely sure but believe the battery is always needed when operating anything requiring DC in or out of the coach. I believe the converter serves to charge and regulate the charge to the battery. Most converters are putting out 6-10 amps depending up the requirements of the battery at any given time or when needed. If you are running all your interior lights (DC operated) the converter charges the battery at maximum rate, if less is needed by the battery it charges at lesser rate. It is the battery that actually delivers the current required by the load such as lights, etc. Not certain but probably is unsafe for your converter to try and operate without battery being connected. I think the converter operates just like a high grade battery charger since it has it own microprocessor inside to regulate current to and from the battery.
weewun said:
Sorry, but it's quite the opposite way. Had a career in electronics. DC is DC from a battery. Can't get cleaner than that. For all the electronics buff, that means there is no ripple (AC) superimposed on the battery voltage. On the converter it's quite the opposite. Most RVs these days have a very nice on board converter capable of generating something very close to pure DC which is what it sends to the battery to charge it. But even with a super microprocessor when the converter (converts the AC sine wave to DC) there is still a very small amount of AC left over which is what we call ripple current. You cannot detect it on the output with simple equipment but it can be detected with more highly sensitive electronics equipment. Bottom line between the battery vs the converter the battery puts out pure DC whereas the converter puts out something very close to pure DC but not as good as the battery. Sorry, long story from a former electronics person.
Mopar1973Man
Well-known member
Very true. Even good alternator on vehicles have AC ripple. This little AC ripple can cause all kinds of weird issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGaHaIXZioA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGaHaIXZioA
John From Detroit
Well-known member
Some things said above by various people which need correction.
Current output of the Converter. Generally the converter can put out the last two digits of it's model number. Example a Progrssive Dynamics 9245 or a Prallex 7345 or a Magnetek 6345 peak output for all 3 is 45 amps, however in the case of the last one that is on the LOAD side for lighting and such.. Battery charge is just a few amps The rest of them full output is there for charging.
AC Ripple. I have a very senistive radio hooked to the power distribution (12v) panel in my RV and neither I nor the person I am talking to can tell if I'm running on Battery, Converter, or both The filtering is that good on the converter.
But that said. I do agree that a battery is a very good filter. My original (Smaller) power supply for a smaller radio used a battery as filter. Worked very very well.... I findally designed and built a power supply for it that did NOT use batteries as filters but did use a fairly large Capacitor.. about 2x what the size of the converter called for. That worked well too.
Current output of the Converter. Generally the converter can put out the last two digits of it's model number. Example a Progrssive Dynamics 9245 or a Prallex 7345 or a Magnetek 6345 peak output for all 3 is 45 amps, however in the case of the last one that is on the LOAD side for lighting and such.. Battery charge is just a few amps The rest of them full output is there for charging.
AC Ripple. I have a very senistive radio hooked to the power distribution (12v) panel in my RV and neither I nor the person I am talking to can tell if I'm running on Battery, Converter, or both The filtering is that good on the converter.
But that said. I do agree that a battery is a very good filter. My original (Smaller) power supply for a smaller radio used a battery as filter. Worked very very well.... I findally designed and built a power supply for it that did NOT use batteries as filters but did use a fairly large Capacitor.. about 2x what the size of the converter called for. That worked well too.
