The box is your CONVERTER. It converts alternating current (aka shore power) into direct current (12 volt for lights etc.) And charges your trailer batteries so that they can continue to give you DC for lights and running the furnace and refrigerator fans when you are not hooked up. There are fuses and circuit breakers in the converter. The converter runs a fan when it has a heavy load and heats up. My main breaker flipped three times in one day when the temp. Was 94 degrees and I was momentarily confused and worried until DUH! I looked and realized the bedspread was hanging almost to the floor and keeping the fan from cooling the breakers and the rest of the converter. Tucked up the bedspread, pointed a small fan right at the converter and after resetting the breaker, everything operated flawlessly. Do not block your converter and suck the dust out of the fins with a vacuum cleaner from time to time.
There is another device, probably under the other side of your bed called an INVERTER which turns
12 volt DC battery power into alternating current. Handy if you need to see a weather report on the television etc. Inverters are battery eating pigs, so it is bad to use them to try to run anything with a resistance element (electric toaster, frypan, iron, or especially your air conditioner). Airstream supplies a SMALL inverter, so when boondocking run the fantastic fans to cool your airatream, run a few LED lights, cook with propane, heat with propane heat your water with propane only.
To use your inverter on a stock Airstream you have to turn it on, and use only the outlets marked with a blue label that says "inverter circuit".
Learning about electricity in the Airstream will help you understand how to save big bucks on the home bill.
Linear Mode
