2013 Trail Lite Electrical Question

I checked the fuses and they were good.
I checked output at battery and it was not charging. the gentleman that is selling it took it to local shop to have everything looked at. I appreciate all of the input. We are new to rving so I think this is going to be a great place for information.

Chris Bryant wrote:
That is not normal for that rig- or any built in the last decade. Your converter is bad.

There's some variation in electrical system design. Occasionally the converter is connected on the battery side of the disconnect switch, rather than the load side, presumably for reasons of simpler or shorter wiring. That's how it is on my '98 Coachmen--not built in the last decade, admittedly, but it's not that old or esoteric either.

I suspect the converter on the load side is the most common arrangement, and should be practically universal when the converter is part of the power center. Deck mount converters can be hidden most anywhere convenient (for the builder, if not always for the user or serviceman).

I believe that model will have 2 40 amp fuses on the main fuse panel- out of line with the branch circuit fuses. Check those.

1Wheeldrive wrote:
If you take the battery of of the circuit, there is no way for the 12 volt DC power to get to the lights, fridge, furnace or water pump.

SIGH.
Absolutely and totally wrong.

MOST converters are designed to provide perfectly good 12 V power with or without a battery in place. Some will not.

The OP needs to hook up to shore power and then check the voltage at the battery, with a good battery in place......to see if the converter is working at all or not. As other posts indicated, probably not, as evidenced by seeing the same voltage at the battery whether or not the shore power is connected.

The model is a wf-8955-PEC. This is a travel trailer I have at the house I'm considering purchasing. The reason the battery is off is due to it being dead when we got it to house. we had to replace shore power cord and receptacle. Now we noticed that when battery was disconnected you have no power in trailer.

I should add that it could be as simple as blown reverse polarity fuses- depending on the converter model, they will either be on the converter itself or on the fuse panel- they will be 2 or three fuses, usually 30 amp.

Chris Bryant wrote:
That is not normal for that rig- or any built in the last decade. Your converter is bad.

Agree... And, other than storage there really is no good reason to ever disconnect the battery.

That is not normal for that rig- or any built in the last decade. Your converter is bad.

gwgautney wrote:
I was curious about my 12 volt lightning. If I disconnect my battery while hooked to shore power my lights will not work. Does my battery have to be hooked up to complete the cycle or do I have another issue. I was under the assumption that everything should work strictly off of shore power. Also the refrigerator light cuts off when I disconnect the battery.

Thanks

Might be normal but it is odd by current standards.

What exactly are you disconnecting off the battery terminal?
Or are you using a switch?
Does the converter or 12v fuse panel have a make and model number?

The battery is part of the electrical circuit for all of the devices using 12 volts. The converter converts 110 volts AC to 12 volts DC to charge the battery. Any devices using 110 volts AC (typically TVs, microwave ovens) are powered by a separate 110 volt circuit from the converter.
Basically, shore power goes to the converter, some of that power is "split off" and converted to 12 volts DC to charge the house battery, and the rest of the 110 passes through to power the 110 AC devices. If you take the battery of of the circuit, there is no way for the 12 volt DC power to get to the lights, fridge, furnace or water pump.