charging battery in use

thanks guys ill be digging into it after the tots bedtimes this week. I'll grab some pics asap. Just to clarify I am not boondockig I am camping with shore power and looking to maintain my 12V systems while doing so. I missued the term invertor I am looking for converter issues. Thanks.

Go to your load center, the place that holds the 120V circuit breakers and 12V fuses. Look for the name and model # and post back to this thread. We'll be able to tell you how big the converter is and what charging volts you should be seeing.

A 1991 Prowler would have definitely been equipped with a converter.

BTW, 10a or 12a is NOT a fast charger.

Bigbird65 wrote:
I would recommend that you buy a good inverter to take care of your 12v systems and charge your battery. If interested I can recommend a good one. If you haven't changed out your incandescent bulbs to LED, you should do that to save power.

Pretty tough to recommend a "good one" when what you're talking about (or should be) is a converter, not an inverter. :R Good point about LED bulbs though.

You absolutely should have a built in charger. If it died it is easy to replace. It could be as simple as a blow fuse.

Look for any metal panel that has a flop down door. A small plastic latch can be turned by hand or a coin. It should be easy to find this thing. Once you do, take a picture and post or if not able to post then PM one of us and we can share the info with the group.

Post the year and model of the TT and we may be able to sort it out that way.

Just FYI, as these terms seem to be getting mixed up

Inverter = drains battery, provides AC power, requires DC input
Converter = charges battery, provides DC power, requires AC input

Hesitant to write this, but... if you have a high-end Inverter (Magnum, Trace, Xantrex, a few others), it will have a charger built in, which assumes the role the converter, while on shore power or generator

Bigbird65 wrote:
I would recommend that you buy a good inverter to take care of your 12v systems and charge your battery. If interested I can recommend a good one. If you haven't changed out your incandescent bulbs to LED, you should do that to save power.

Unless the OP is boondocking (which it doesn't sound like from his post), this would be a waste of money and effort. Even a small converter/charger will easily keep up with 12V loads if plugged in.

To the OP, check the cables coming off the battery. You should be able to follow them back to the converter. Even if the previous owner did a lot of customization, it would be very odd to totally eliminate charging capability but retain the 12v devices.

I would recommend that you buy a good power converter(corrected). to take care of your 12v systems and charge your battery. If interested I can recommend a good one. If you haven't changed out your incandescent bulbs to LED, you should do that to save power.

battery is fine. works fine and holds a charge when charged at home. I just know that when I plug into shore power there is no spike at the battery. even a dead battery should show additional voltage when plugged in if its being fed a charge

Jebby14 wrote:
I read roughly 12v post to post on the battery. when I plug in shore power should that not jump up a bit if it was accepting a charge

Fully charged battery on it's own should read ~ 12.7 volts but when being charged you should see a minimum 13.2 volts. You sure this battery isn't well past it's useful lifespan? :@