Trailer Use Without Batteries .

[poorboycjs]

Hi . I have a 1978 Excella 500 with 2 bad batteries. It is parked in a Airstream travel park with full hookups. Can I operate on the 110 volts ,without the batteries in place ? It would be ocassional usage as I have other things to work on. I want to make sure I dont trash the Univolt charger & any other related parts. My reason for not getting 2 batteries yet is I do not intend to move the trailer or operate self contained . I have the old batteries ,that I could install if that would help. I tried charging them externaly for days with no sucsess. Thanks In Advance. Great forums ,with the greatest people. Poorboy.

[TomW]

From the Parallax website:

Q. I have read that I must leave my battery connected to my ferro-resonant converter. Why is this important?
A. The ferro-resonant type converter output is not a filtered DC output. Therefore, any DC load circuits that need a “pure” DC voltage will not operate properly unless the battery remains connected. Examples of some items that may require filtered DC would include the 12 VDC TV, radio, computer power ports, and some fluorescent lights. You may add our optional SB100 “Simulated Battery” to the system in the event you wish to take your battery “offline” for extended periods. One or more SB-100 units may be required depending on the rated converter amperage output.

The SB100 is nothing more than two, 50,000 mfd, 16-20 wvdc, electrolytic capacitors wired in parallel. I currently have a pile of old electrolytics wired in place of my battery, and it works fine - The filtering the capacitors provide makes the lights burn brighter as compared to running without anything in place of a battery.

Tom