Surburban Heater

[Steve B]

Was wondering if the blower only works off the battery or can it work off of AC being pluged in? I have actual removed the battery and I'm storing it inside for the winter. However, I've never used the heater and was trying to get it to work today. I am pluged in and have interior lights, however I can't get the blower to turn on for the heater and thus haven't turned on the gas to the heater. Thought the 1st step was to make sure the blower was working. Does the battery need to be in place for the blower/heater to work or can it run of AC being plugged in? I've got to get the battery charged up before I use it again. Kids/ or me left a light on so the battery is dead, dead, dead.

[Russ Harris]

Steve, I believe they are only powered from the 12Volt circuit. I have had mine out and the wires are not connected to any of the 110 system.

[Brian B-P]

...but if the trailer has a converter, that will supply the required 12VDC (normally to everything which uses 12VDC power) when the AC power is plugged in - if it is working. Most travel trailers seem to have converters.

[Steve B]

...but if the trailer has a converter, that will supply the required 12VDC (normally to everything which uses 12VDC power) when the AC power is plugged in - if it is working. Most travel trailers seem to have converters.

It's interresting, I've only had this Scamp since May of this year, so I'm still learning about it. There are certain lights that work when pluged into AC and certain lights that only work off the 12V. The outlet for example only works when pluged into AC. The outside light and two inside lights only work off the 12V. There are two flurescent that only work when plugged into AC.

So my thinking (at the moment) is the Fan to the heater will only works off from 12V. I'll find out tomorrow. I've had the battery on the charger since Sat afternoon and i'm leaving on a trip tomorrow. We'll see what happnes. If I am plugged in I'll use a small oil heater rather than the propane heater. Just want to make sure the heater works if get to a State park and the electric is not on or all electic sites are taken.

[Frederick L. Simson]

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Does the battery need to be in place for the blower/heater to work...?
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My Fiber Stream works in the same way. While the converter will power the lights and Fantastic-Fan with the battery removed, The battery MUST be installed to power the heater's blower motor and the water pump.

[Brian B-P]

Steve, in your description it seems like the things which work when only AC power is supplied run directly on the AC power, and the DC stuff is not being supplied by a converter. Basic converters produce pretty rough DC power when no battery is connected, and that power might not work for Frederick's motors (furnace and water pump), but it would work for lights... so I think it's time to look for a converter and see if there is one, and if it is turned on and working.

Hey, Scamp people: can anyone describe the location and appearance of the converter in a 1987 Scamp 13', and maybe hints for what switches, fuses, etc. need to be checked if it is not working?

[Byron Kinnaman]

The factory mounted converter in my 13' Scamp is mounted under the street side dinette seat. There's a door that opens where you'll find the fuses and circuit breakers. Circuit breakers for AC power and fused for DC power. I would start there.

[Pete Dumbleton]

My 1991 S13's converter setup was different from Byron's -- All the 120VAC stuf was mounted to the outside wall under the sink, the converter and all the 12VDC stuf was mounted under the left rear bunk and the converter had a plug on a cord to plug into a 120VAC outlet below the breaker box -- The shore cable 120VAC cable was connected directly to the breaker box. My old Jayco 16' was wired in a similar manner.

In other words, there was no 120VAC service hardware in the converter -- We had some confusing discussions on Yahoo Scampers until we figured out that there are two basic converter arrangements...

If Steve's is arranged like mine, the first thing to check would be that it's actually plugged in and the breaker is on.

[Byron Kinnaman]

My 1991 S13's converter setup was different from Byron's -- All the 120VAC stuf was mounted to the outside wall under the sink, the converter and all the 12VDC stuf was mounted under the left rear bunk and the converter had a plug on a cord to plug into a 120VAC outlet below the breaker box -- The shore cable 120VAC cable was connected directly to the breaker box. My old Jayco 16' was wired in a similar manner.

In other words, there was no 120VAC service hardware in the converter -- We had some confusing discussions on Yahoo Scampers until we figured out that there are two basic converter arrangements...

If Steve's is arranged like mine, the first thing to check would be that it's actually plugged in and the breaker is on.

Same goes for the setup of mine. It appears to me that the major difference is location of AC breakers.