Hello, please excuse my ignorance, but can I remove my battery and hook up the pos and neg connecting terminal wires directly to still have access to a/c power in my outlets?I realize the battery is needed for some functions like lights and what not, but I am interested in keeping the a/c power to wall outlets to run electronic mouse/bug repellants thru the winter.Is there any danger in doing this and what so? Can what I am asking just be accomplished by turning off the breaker for the invertor and if so, would it be listed in my fuse area? Thank you for your help.Dave

Your post is a bit confusing?Are you saying you will be connected to shore power? If so, why not leave the battery in place. It won't freeze if kept charged. Are you concerned about theft of battery?You said inverter, but maybe meant converter? Is your converter a smart model, with float charge? A different type of rodent deterrent may be a better option?Jerry

The battery has NOTHING, whatsoever, to do with the 120v wall outlets.Removing the battery and hooking the positive and negative wires together WILL give the converter/charger a direct short and blow the fuses. Hopefully, that is all it will do. If you are lucky.Removing the battery, and NOT hooking the positive and negative wires together, is OK, maybe. (Be sure the positive wire is isolated and not touching ANYTHING.) It depends on which converter/charger you have. Some of them require a battery in the circuit, and some do not.

on edit: IN THE ABSENCE OF A RED WARNING STICKER STATING OTHERWISEIf the RV is plugged in, the battery can be removed. All systems (both 12v and 120v) will work.And yes a few items might be connected direct to the battery in addition to the main cables. These items need to be connected to the main cables to function.

time2roll wrote:If the RV is plugged in, the battery can be removed. All systems (both 12v and 120v) will work.And yes a few items might be connected direct to the battery in addition to the main cables. These items need to be connected to the main cables to function.NOT ALWAYS!!!This is a blanket statement, that is not true for all RVS.

You would just leave the battery connections loose (protect the + terminal). Then you could do as you ask. I wouldn’t leave the battery in with the built in charger all winter. Those converter/chargers are cheap and will over charge and boil the water out of the battery. Now you could disconnect the battery and put a battery tender on it.

bypassing the battery | Good Sam Community

19 Replies

StirCrazy
Moderator
Nov 22, 2021
time2roll wrote:
on edit: IN THE ABSENCE OF A RED WARNING STICKER STATING OTHERWISE

If the RV is plugged in, the battery can be removed. All systems (both 12v and 120v) will work.

And yes a few items might be connected direct to the battery in addition to the main cables. These items need to be connected to the main cables to function.

not even then, if your power center doesn't have dc filtering you should not run with out a battery as the 12V coming out will be all over the board and it is hard on lights, the sterio and anything else 12V light the furnace and water pump.. even older ones like what my truck camper came with were even worse, no warning sticker on them either.. Most newer ones should be ok, althought with the track record I, and friends have had with WFCO converters I wouldn't.
StirCrazy
Moderator
Nov 22, 2021
I am still wondering the answer from the first question asked, if your leaving it pluged in why do you want to remove the battery? My last set uf batteries lasted me 14 years being pluged in year round, the only time they wernt pluged in was when we were camping ... if you have a less than ideal converter, just make sure you check water levels, if it is a battery that you can, and top them up once a mont. I check mine every 3 months and a couple days before each trip.

Steve
pianotuna
Nomad III
Nov 21, 2021
time2roll,

The old Magnatec converts used the battery to stabilize the voltage. That's why they were so low in charge capability. Without the battery the voltage went pretty high. Not so bad in the old days--but with modern chip based controls--not so good for the devices.
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 21, 2021
time2roll wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
And SOME TTs DO require a battery in the circuit for ALL systems to work.
I had one. A 2001 Wilderness. And it did not have an inverter/charger combo unit.
I am intrigued. What did not work? What was the potential damage from no battery?

There were red warning stickers on the cabinent about it. I did not experiment to see what would happen if I ignored the warning.
time2roll
Nomad
Nov 21, 2021
Huntindog wrote:
And SOME TTs DO require a battery in the circuit for ALL systems to work.
I had one. A 2001 Wilderness. And it did not have an inverter/charger combo unit.
I am intrigued. What did not work? What was the potential damage from no battery?
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 21, 2021
time2roll wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
time2roll wrote:
If the RV is plugged in, the battery can be removed. All systems (both 12v and 120v) will work.

And yes a few items might be connected direct to the battery in addition to the main cables. These items need to be connected to the main cables to function.
NOT ALWAYS!!!
This is a blanket statement, that is not true for all RVS.
We are in the Travel Trailer section.
Yes if your travel trailer came with an inverter/charger combo unit, the system may require a battery.
I am aware of what section we are in.

And SOME TTs DO require a battery in the circuit for ALL systems to work.
I had one. A 2001 Wilderness. And it did not have an inverter/charger combo unit.

Please refrain from blanket statements. When you do not even know what TT the OP has.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Nov 21, 2021
Turn off the breaker for the converter

Disconnect the positive cable. Wrap it with red electricians tape.

The electronic devices don't seem to work too well. I think the rodent's get used to the noise. They also draw very little power--so they are not very loud.

Put some poison in a tall (24 inch) pail. The rodents will be attracted to it and then are unable to climb out. This works with food items as well. DAMHIK
MFL
Nomad II
Nov 21, 2021
CA Traveler wrote:
Just for information: We picked up a rat in Flagstaff AZ and tried every device known to man to catch him while he had a steady diet of apples, peanut butter, bacon etc and chair cushion for comfort. We did not want to use poison and deal with a dead rat that we couldn't find. He stole the mouse trap bait, ate his way out of the biggest glue traps? Electronic repelant devices were like music to him. Rat trap? Nope, he read the label "Danger rat trap" and totally avoided it. We finally caught him in a live trap in Denver, CO.

No experience with the electronic repellant devices, but heard they are a JOKE amongst rodents (gives them a good laugh)! However, as someone mentioned, using an extension cord through an opening (such as slide seal) would give power.

Otherwise, I'd cross out "danger rodent trap", and add "try it, you'll like it", for best results!

Jerry
time2roll
Nomad
Nov 21, 2021
Huntindog wrote:
time2roll wrote:
If the RV is plugged in, the battery can be removed. All systems (both 12v and 120v) will work.

And yes a few items might be connected direct to the battery in addition to the main cables. These items need to be connected to the main cables to function.
NOT ALWAYS!!!
This is a blanket statement, that is not true for all RVS.
We are in the Travel Trailer section.
Yes if your travel trailer came with an inverter/charger combo unit, the system may require a battery.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Nov 21, 2021
OP, do a little more reading and LOOK at your camper and learn the electrical system.
Can you remove battery and still have AC on shore power? Yes.
But your post sounds scary and sort of like a future repair bill ….