CONVERTER

THE MOUNTAINEER TRAVEL TRAILER HAS AN ELECTRICAL CONVERTER. WHAT DOES A CONVERTER DO?

The converter in your RV basically does two jobs.

1) When you are plugged into electricity it converts a portion of the 120 volts coming into the RV down to 12 volts so all of the 12 volt devices like overhead lights and fan motors will operate without draining the RV battery.

2) It has a battery charger built in the converter to keep the RV battery charged (topped off).

The noise you are hearing is most likely the fan on the converter. The converter gets warm when it is on so the manufacturer adds a fan to help keep it cool. Some are very noisy. You DO NEED the converter on when you are plugged in. If the converter wasn't on, or wasn't operating properly you would run the RV battery down because you are using the 12-volt appliances and devices.

THE CONFUSION IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CONVERTER AND AN INVERTER. WHAT DOES AN INVERTER DO?

Inverters take 12V DC from the batteries and changes it to 120V AC so most 120 Volt AC electric items may be operated without "plugging in" or running a generator.

WE DON'T HAVE AN INVERTER IN OUR TRAILER, SO IF WE AREN'T PLUGGED IN, ALL WE HAVE IS A SINGLE BATTERY TO RUN OUR 12 V SYSTEM WHICH INCLUDES LIGHTS, THE FURNACE BLOWER, AND THE IGNITER FOR THE REFRIGERATOR TO BE ABLE TO RUN ON LP. NO MICRO WAVE, NO AIR CONDITIONING, NO TV, ETC. IF WE'RE BOONDOCKING AND NOT PLUGGED IN.

THE OTHER DAY WHILE PLUGGED IN HERE AT BLACKSTONE RV PARK, WE LOST OUR 12 VOLT LIGHTS INSIDE AND THE FURNACE WOULDN'T RUN. HOW CAN THAT BE? THE MICRO WAVE, A/C, AND ALL THE ELECTRICAL PLUGS WORK JUST FINE. TO MAKE THE LONG STORY SHORT, WE NEEDED TO REPLACE OUR ELECTRICAL CONVERTER.

WHERE IS THIS MAGIC BOX, THE CONVERTER? THE ELECTRICAL STUFF IS LOCATED IN A FUSE BOX THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS.

ALL THE FUSES, BOTH 12 VOLT LIKE IN YOUR CAR, AND 110 VOLT BREAKERS LIKE IN YOUR HOUSE ARE IN THIS CASE.

SO HERE IS THE CONVERTER UNDER ALL THE THE FUSES AND BREAKERS.

LOOKS KINDA COMPLICATED DOESN'T IT? YUP, AND IT'S NOT CHEAP TO REPLACE EITHER. HERE IS THE TECH JUST FINISHING UP.

THERE IS A LESSON TO LEARN HERE. THE REASON MY CONVERTER DIED IS BECAUSE I LET MY 12 VOLT BATTERY GO DRY, TOO MANY TIMES. PROPER BATTERY MAINTENANCE NOT ONLY PROLONGS THE LIFE OF YOUR BATTERY, BUT SAVES YOUR EXPENSIVE CONVERTER. CHECK YOUR BATTERY WATER OFTEN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE CAMPING IN DESERT THE SOUTHWEST WHERE THE WATER EVAPORATES QUICKLY.

"SUNNY & 80"

THE PUNCH LINE
"The economy is so bad that today on Oprah Winfrey's show, she gave everybody in the audience a car . . . company." - David Letterman