No power to outlets when in battery mode.

a word of caution on charging devices from a 12V cigarette lighter outlet. My experience is with the 14/16 ga wiring and usually pretty long runs in trailers the outlets are good for charging cell phones, etc. Where you can run into trouble is trying to charge a laptop or sometimes run a CPAP. My laptop charger draws 10A on 12V, enough that the voltage drop is enough to turn off the charger. CPAP with humidifier can be the same issue on 12V. So, if these give you trouble, best thing to do is run a dedicated short 12V run to an outlet with some #12 wire.

rmauk wrote:
Thank you for this information. I was unaware that our converter did not convert 12VDC to 120V. We were only looking to charge cell phones and the like. also, a CPAP machine.

Correct, it is rather confusing that the RV industry decided to call the battery charger/power supply a "converter". While it does "convert" 120V to 12V in some respects it should have been called a battery charger since that really was the prime reason for the converter to exist.

For cellphones, tablets and even laptops you simply can use a 12V power port (AKA Cig lighter jack) to charge them.

Cellphones, tablets or any other 5V "USB" type charging port, any 12V power port charger can be used in a RV if you have a power port.

Looks like this..



If no power port is in your RV, you can add one pretty easily and you can also buy 12V USB chargers that hard wire into your 12V system.

Looks like this..



For a laptop, you can often find generic universal power supplies which are designed for 12V power ports. These power supplies are multi voltage and multi amperage design and you select the correct tip that connects to your laptop charging port and voltage and amperage is automatically selected by the tip selection.

For CPAP, there are CPAPS available that operate from 12V, yours may have a power supply "brick" external to the unit, if so there may be a 12V power port adapter available for yours.

Otherwise, if no direct 12V connection, you can buy a small 300W 12V to 120V inverter just for your CPAP unit. Be aware, if you need the humidifier support it is going to require additional battery capacity..

A good way to charge phones and other electronics devices is a USB receptacle

We do NOT have an inverter, only a converter. I thank everyone for the education.

Most CPAP machines can run on 12 volts with an adaptor cord like this
Respironics version
as to charging phones etc, do you have any of the round cigar lighter plugs in the trailer? If so one of these usb charger should handle it.

Do a search in this site for the cpac machine use on battery, lots of discussions already that you can read over.

Charge your phones off the DC outlet, not the AC recepticle.

In general, when not plugged in or on a generator use DC power things. Even if you have an inverter it is best to use DC straight off the battery. Usually your laptop will need the inverter of course and few other must haves, but some RVers just never use AC while camping off-grid.

Your battery, batteries, will have a life span and the more they get used the faster they will die. Some RVers get 2 years out of battery, some get 7 or more. Deep power consumption that is often associated with a lot of inverter use will kill a battery quicker than typical DC only use.

Keep thin in mind.

It is possible to rig an inverter up to supply your AC outlets (not AC unit or propane fridge or electric water heater or electric space heater), but if you can limit the AC appliances then it is easier to just plug straight into the inverter's outlets and not do all that electrical work to wire up another system.

We do NOT have an inverter, only a converter. I thank everyone for the education.

Thank you for this information. I was unaware that our converter did not convert 12VDC to 120V. We were only looking to charge cell phones and the like. also, a CPAP machine.

rmauk wrote:
We have an inverter. Thank you for the clue. We do not plan to run A/C on battery, I just included it for information on what works and what doesn't.

Are you sure you have an inverter? Or do what you really have is a converter? Give the brand name and model number of your inverter and or converter to find the real answers and get help on resolving your problem(s); if any.

According to HERE you have an Ultra Light Weight 18ft expandable Travel Trailer.

What you are seeing is correct and normal for not having trailer plugged into a power company powered outlet, there is nothing wrong with your trailers' 120V electrical system.

In general, most RVs do not supply 120V power to the outlets when not connected to the power grid or your own generator.

Some RVs like Motor Homes often have built in generators and/or a large battery bank and a 12V DC to 120V AC power inverter.

It takes a lot of battery power to run large draw items like A/C, hair driers, Microwave ovens, coffee makers.

Your Trailer has a "converter" which is really a 120V AC to 12V DC power supply and battery charger, that unit cannot power 120V outlets as it is designed to charge the 12V battery and supply 12V to all your trailers 12V items when plugged into commercial power.

To power the outlets when no commercial power is available, you will need your own portable generator and for small low wattage 120V loads you can buy and install a 12V DC to 120V AC "Inverter" and you will need to add more batteries to your trailer.