What is a “converter”?
I see it referenced a lot on RV sites and groups, in the context of an electrical system component. I have no idea what it refers to, however. Is this a battery charger, inverter, charge controlle...
Forum Discussion
mkirsch wrote:valhalla360 wrote:
It's a battery charger. Never made sense why RVs use a different name.
Yes, you can draw off it directly but you can do that with a battery charger too.
That is not entirely correct. You cannot (safely) draw directly off of a battery charger because it is not regulated. A battery charger's output varies depending on load. It can start out at 19V or higher with a very light load (or on the high-Amp charge setting) and drop to below 11V with a heavy load.
IF what you are trying to run isn't terribly voltage-sensitive, then sure. However sensitive electronic devices looking for a 12V input are going to have problems on raw 19V+ from a battery charger.
A converter has a regulated voltage output. It is called a converter because it CONVERTS 120VAC to 12VDC, the opposite of an inverter which INVERTS 12VDC into 120VAC. Not all converters are battery chargers, as pointed out above.
If you are talking about the really old RV systems which might not have incorporated a battery...they didn't have voltage sensitive devices, so it was largely irrelevant. Any new RV has a battery in the system, so it's irrelevant. It's a battery charger for all intents and purposes.
As far as the name, you could as easily say an inverter CONVERTS from 12vDC to 120vAC and it's true ...inverter is at least consistent with usage outside the RV industry. If you ask someone with a cruising boat about their "converter" they will look at you funny until you explain you are asking about their battery charger.
