Hi there, Hope anyone can help me on this, I am new on the camping world. I just bought a 97 Elkhorn TruckCamper (cabover), it was working good, but when I am not plugged to the wall the AC outlets, air conditioning and refrigerator does not work. When i plug it it all works. So I think there is something wrong with the wiring maybe? something is not letting the current from the battery flow to the AC outlets. A car mechanic told me that maybe it only works when you are plugged, but I imagine that the Camper has a built in DC/AC converter right?Hope anyone can give me some info on what to check. Also if you have a technician that know how to fix this things would be great. I am around LA and going south in a couple of days. I have found that the RV service centers are very expensive, but any recommendation on a cheap one would be nice. Thanks!!Peter

120 volt AC items require connection to shore power.The air will not operate!The refer needs to be set on "auto" this way it runs on 120 volts AC when available and switches to LP when no 120 volts AC is available.Most rigs have a built in "converter" that changes the 120 volts AC shore power to 12 volts DC.Information: An inverter converts 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC. Most rig especially campers do not have inverters.

A/C outlets are just that.. A/C. You must be plugged into shore power or a generator form them to work. Air conditioning, microwave, etc, also require A/C power from pole or generator to work. They are not 12 volt. Most fridges do work on gas/or A/C and some even work on 12 volts, but not for long. All 12 volts appliances, lights etc require a well charged 12 volt battery to operate. Is your battery well charged?

petervicich wrote:A car mechanic told me that maybe it only works when you are plugged, but I imagine that the Camper has a built in DC/AC converter right?Hi Peter,Your mechanic is correct. The camper has a AC to DC CONverter, which charges the camper battery (if it has its own battery.)To go from DC to AC, you need an INverter. A small one could plug into your cig lighter socket and let you run a TV, dvd, etc... To run the aircon without being plugged in you'll need a decent sized generator.

Here is a typical 30AMP Power configuration for the RV trailers that might help...Power inverters to operate your high wattage appliances like the Air Conditioner and/or the Microwave will require alot of battery capacity to operate the inverter.If you want to operate the high wattage items when off the power grid then the proper sized generator is probably the best bet but then you may into generator run time restrictions where you like to camp at. Always a double edged sword it seems.Roy Ken

Thanks everyone for all the info and the quik answer, awesome!I think got everything clear now, so there is nothing wrong with the camper. I have a brand new battery and the old one is still OK, so i am going to hook them up together and will get a 1000 wats inverter to plug it on the 2nd battery so I can run a toaster, blender, etc. without having to be plugged to shore power.

AC Not running unplugged | Good Sam Community

23 Replies

GordonThree
Explorer
Feb 13, 2014
petervicich wrote:

A car mechanic told me that maybe it only works when you are plugged, but I imagine that the Camper has a built in DC/AC converter right?

Hi Peter,

Your mechanic is correct. The camper has a AC to DC CONverter, which charges the camper battery (if it has its own battery.)

To go from DC to AC, you need an INverter. A small one could plug into your cig lighter socket and let you run a TV, dvd, etc... To run the aircon without being plugged in you'll need a decent sized generator.
robsouth
Explorer II
Feb 13, 2014
A/C outlets are just that.. A/C. You must be plugged into shore power or a generator form them to work. Air conditioning, microwave, etc, also require A/C power from pole or generator to work. They are not 12 volt. Most fridges do work on gas/or A/C and some even work on 12 volts, but not for long. All 12 volts appliances, lights etc require a well charged 12 volt battery to operate. Is your battery well charged?
enblethen
Nomad
Feb 13, 2014
120 volt AC items require connection to shore power.
The air will not operate!
The refer needs to be set on "auto" this way it runs on 120 volts AC when available and switches to LP when no 120 volts AC is available.
Most rigs have a built in "converter" that changes the 120 volts AC shore power to 12 volts DC.
Information: An inverter converts 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC. Most rig especially campers do not have inverters.

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AC Not running unplugged

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