Quote:
Originally Posted by Mcmarkrazz
First camper and i know a power converter lets a battery run plug apliances but thats it...
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Not really. The usual piece of equipment called a converter supplies 12V DC power when the trailer is plugged into outside 120V AC power; essentially, it takes the place of the battery, and may also charge the battery if you have one. It lets you use 12V DC stuff (such as
lights, water pump,
furnace fan, ventilation fan, etc) if you don't have a battery, or if you do have a battery then without running the battery down. This Starcraft can only supply 3 amps, which is enough for two old-style
light bulbs, and nothing else.
A device which takes 12V DC power from a battery and produces 120V AC power like in your house is called an "inverter". While these are becoming more common, they didn't exist when that Starcraft unit was likely built.
The
AC outlet on the Starcraft looks like just an outlet for your convenience, connected directly to the incoming AC power circuit; the converter doesn't convert this power at all. The
switch on the Starcraft is labelled "
BATTERY" and "
TRANS", presumably meaning that it selects whether power comes from the battery, or from the converter (which is not much more than a transformer, thus the label). It also has a
fuse for the 12V DC output power, and a
circuit breaker for the AC power that can pass through it to that convenience outlet.