Electrical system

[FLYIN HI]

Hi, my husband and i are new to this site and to our camper..lol.. Does the 2002 sunline solaris tt have a recharge system that runs from the 112 to the battery? Does both the battery and shore have to be connected always. Even plugged in to our shore line the battery drains and we loose all except outlets. Want to get on the road.

 

[PanamaRvers]

I am by no means an expert. To me it sounds like the convertor does not work. When connected to shore power it should charge your battery as well as supply power to lights. Hopefully it may be a fuse. I am not sure of your floor plan, but near your refrigerator or bathroom doo you should see a black panel. That is a door to your convertor. You should see some fuses there. Good Luck.

 

[krazedave]

It also sounds like a converter problem. Check and make sure all 110 breakers are in the on position. One of them should be marked converter. If all are on start checking fuses starting with the 2 30amps. If all of the above check good it sounds like a bad converter.

 

[mainah-SUN]

The battery should not drain when you are plugged in and all the 12 volt stuff should work lights, pump, fans etc. The first thing I would do is have the battery checked some converters are fussy about having good batteries. After that there are fuses in the converter circuit and the converter is powered by line voltage so it may have it's own breaker.

 

[Jim McDonald-SUN]

Hello,
A couple of electrical questions; can I plug my 2003 Solaris T-1950 into a regular 110 outlet if all I want to do is charge the battery and have interior lights...or is a 30 amp circuit required (I wouldn't run the A/C when plugged into the 110)?

Also, should I turn off all electric items - especially the frig, water heater - when traveling?

And should the 12 volt battery always be connected even when I'm plugged into shore power?

Thanks for responses.

Jim

 

[JohnGB]

Jim,

some answers inserted below

Hello,
A couple of electrical questions; can I plug my 2003 Solaris T-1950 into a regular 110 outlet if all I want to do is charge the battery and have interior lights...or is a 30 amp circuit required (I wouldn't run the A/C when plugged into the 110)?

It is OK to plug into a 15 or 20 amp standard wall outlet. They sell a 30 amp to 15amp adapter that plugs onto the shore line cord so you can do just this.

Just do not use the microwave, the AC or the electric portion of the hot water heater (all higher power devices) and you can run the rest OK.

Also, should I turn off all electric items - especially the frig, water heater - when traveling? Yes, turn the hot water heater off, the pump off, other electrical things you bare not using towing down the road. they are not needed then. The fridge is a topic all by itself. Some tow with the fridge on using LP gas. Others do not want the open flame risk and turn it off and use freezer block in the fridge to keep it cool while towing.

We tow with the fridge off and use the freezer blocks.

And should the 12 volt battery always be connected even when I'm plugged into shore power?

Always is a all encompassing word. I'll give some examples of when to leave it connected and when not to.

YES, when camping connect the battery, it will recharge off the power converter.

YES, when towing down the road, leave the battery connected. The truck will charge it and it is required by most all states for the battery to work the emergency break away switch to stop the trailer in the event it becomes unhooked from the truck.

When you are at home not camping, and you are plugged into shore power, and the camper is stored, not using it for a few weeks, as long as your power converter has float mode, then yes you can leave it hooked up. If the converter does not have float mode, unhook the battery so it does not get boiled out.

When you are storing the camper and not plugged in to shore power, YES unhook the negative terminal so the battery does not get drained dead over a few weeks or days pending what is on inside. The propane detector is wired live all the time. The radio and the roof antenna is often left on.

We say to undo the negative terminal as it is safer and less chance of a spark if your tool strikes the camper sides etc. Several folks have added a battery disconnect switch to make it easier to turn off the battery when appropriate.

Thanks for responses.

Jim

Hope this helps

John

 

[tim_NJ]

John-

Thanks for writing that out for dummies. I had been asking around if the battery would charge if the switch was off & got a lot of head scratching.

Thanks!
Tim