Will shore power run equipment when battery is dead?

THe answer depends on many things. PRIMARLY the make and model of your power converter

Converters. for this discussion, come in 3 flavors.

Very low power ones that are designed to charge the battery but only when not everyting is calling for power.. THey can't provide for all the needs. WIth this type of converter if the batteries are very hungry they may (For at least a few hours) Suck it all up and not leave anything for the "House".. Solution wait 2-4 hours.

Converters that sense the presence of a battery and if none. SHUT DOWN.. Solution, charge with a different charger'

Conterveters that have teh OOMPH to overcome totally dead batteries (Mine are 80 and 100 amp.. The 80 is still working, and can do that for most loads)

FInally there is the defective converter


Test.. Disconnect NEGATIVE battery cables and see if things work. IF so it may just be too small a converter.. (Lights only for testing please)

Finally two ways to wire the converter


Battery--Fuse--Switch--Fuse block--Converter
Converter-Fuse--Switch--Battery-Fuse----Fuse block

NOTE that jacks (On 5th wheels) often connect to the BATTERY side of the switch,

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Battery DEAD.......converter in overload mode (shut down due to high amp draw for dead batteries)

That is one possibility.
Knowing MY would help. Over the years converters/chargers come with several different technologies.
Older would run RV on 12 VAC and only small circuit with DC power would go to radio and battery charging. At the time refrigerators would work with no electric power.
Later converters have one circuit for RV and other for battery charging and floating switch will send the power where it is needed.
Than you will find converters who are actually chargers paralleled to the battery.
So when battery shortening older converters would not affect lights in RV, the dead battery can overload newer converters.
Always disconnect dead battery before turning the power on.
Usually chargers can take such overload, but this it testing your luck.
My camper will operate with no battery on 40 amp converter, but trying using the jacks, it will power 1 only.
Once I try to move all 4 jacks at the same time - converter will go to overload.

If the battery is dead but serviceable then you should be up and running as soon as you plug in.
If the battery is shorted or very bad shape the converter may overload and the battery may get hot and eventually explode.
Or somewhere between those two.

Battery DEAD.......converter in overload mode (shut down due to high amp draw for dead batteries)

Check that 120V AC power is available to converter (circuit breaker or outlet)
Turn of CB or unplug
Disconnect battery POS cable at battery (tape off so it doesn't make contact)
Then turn on AC power to converter....DC output S/B 13.2V minimum or converter is bad

SHOULD provide DC power for all of dc system........replace battery (dead/discharged probably will not recover....can try to charge using a portable charger)

If the battery ios dead, chances are it won't charge back up either. Battery time.

My converter will run the 12v things when my battery is disconnected. Sounds like another issue.

When you say nothing will turn on, do you mean the 120v things too (fridge on AC and the microwave eg, or just the DC things?

If the 120v things work, that should include the converter, which should run the DC things with no battery.

If the MW works but the receptacles don't, you might have water in the outside receptacle that will pop the GFCI, which might also stop the converter if it is a plug in type.

So need more info!

"Do I need to wait for the battery to fully charge?"

The battery will never fully recharge. It may have some capacity left but after several months... Did you check the water level before trying to recharge?