AC Drain & Battery Charge

[la4photo]

New 78 Owner. Have not ordered an owners manual yet, but do not want to cause damage...

Where does the AC drain?

Does the battery charge automatically when plugged in to 120? Does it stop automatically or trickle when fully charged?

Thanks for the help..I am ure that I will have many more questions if I can not find other posts on the forum that give the answers that I need.

Is it me, or is the search function on the forum not real accurate? If it is me, please let me know what the best search methodology for this site.

Thanks again.

[azflycaster]

Welcome to the forums!

You should have a drain tube on the street side in front of the wheel area for the Air Conditioner.

The original (1978) converter will not step down and will damage your battery if left plugged in for extended periods. Modern 3 stage converters will maintain the battery at a safe level.

I use the Goggle search option (from the search pull down) with the most success.

A service manual and an owners manual are a good investment.

[la4photo]

Thanks Richard,

I am fairly certain this is the original converter as everything else seems to be original. If I am to leave the trailer plugged to 120, do I just disconnect the battery terminals, or is there an easier way to preserve the battery.

Found the drain tube, it had been pushed up into the chassis.

Google search much more accurate...thanks again.

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by la4photo

... I am fairly certain this is the original converter as everything else seems to be original. If I am to leave the trailer plugged to 120, do I just disconnect the battery terminals, or is there an easier way to preserve the battery.
...

It's not a good idea to disconnect the battery if you have an old model converter. Part of the voltage stabilization (if you can call it that) relied on the battery being a load on the 12V output. I don't know what voltage you'll see in the system without a battery connected, but if it's constantly above 14.5V you'll shorten the life of your light bulbs. There won't be other significant damage unless you've got a sensitive 12V device connected.

It's not so much the voltage that a voltmeter reads, as much as the 120 cycle ripple--you won't see that with a voltmeter but it can be significant, several volts or more if your output capacitors are shot.

Zep

[richinny]

you should be able to find a lot of posts on this. the best solution is the modern converters. some folks have put the converter on an appliance times to cycle the charging.