Do I need a battery?

Trailers and 5th wheel RVs have a dead man switch that engages the brakes when the tow veichel and Rv decide to go their own separate ways. If you don't have a battery and this happens, there will be no breaks. If you are ever stopped by the highway patrol, they have a nasty habit of testing this little switch by pulling on it and activating it. They might not let you continue your traveling if the test fails. The short and long of it you need the battery.

THAT CONVERTER.
1: Needs either a battery or a battery simulator (more on a second)
2: Killed your battery and thus needs and upgrade.

Recommended upgrade, Progressive Dynamics 4600, This is a "Drop in" replacement for the electronics portion of the 6300 it is also one of the best 3 stage + converters on the market, I will not say The Best, but that is only because there are several competitors that are too close to call.

HIGH end car audio stores have great big whomping capicators, used with high end high power audio amps, you know, for the car you can hear 5 miles away that shakes your building as it drives by.

Those.. are battery simulator replacements.

According to the manual, there's a Linear type and a Float type. The Linear type can drive the 12v loads directly from the converter. It's not clear to me that the "A" model is a Linear.

tuna fisher wrote:
does it need a battery to operate?

Have you tried it?

Thanks guys, I guess I need a battery, thought so....

Sorry for the wrong place, thanks for moving to the right..

IT DEPENDS (Where have you seen this before?)

If the trailer has grown roots that's one thing, but if it ever is going to hit the road, it's quite another. Every alternative should be predicated on that crucial yes/no response you'll provide...

If you do add a battery be prepared to check it and add water often.
Those older units like to overcharge and boil the water out of batteries.

The Magnetek 6300 series converters use the battery as a filter to help regulate one section of the 12-volt output. Devices fed from that section can see voltages as high as 20 volts without a battery connected.

6300 should have a battery due to poor voltage regulation and high ripple.
Consider spending the money on a modern converter that needs no battery.

Yes, the Magnetek 6300 series converters require a battery for control of ripple. However, if all your using it for is lighting then all the noise on the 12V won't make any difference.

Moved from Forum Technical Support