Reading lights not working

[amurfey]

I am just starting to familiarize myself with a 1972 Safari Land Yacht, and noticed that none of the reading lights in the trailer work.

I'm wondering if the fact that I don't have a battery is the reason for this problem.

The trailer is plugged into external 120v AC and the AC outlets in the trailer are working fine, as is the A/C fan.

Should plugging into external AC power also supply power to the reading lights and bathroom light?

Thanks

[Skater]

There are two systems in the trailer, one 120 volt system that you've noticed is working, and a second 12 volt DC system that appears to be not working. Normally there is a converter (in that era called a "Univolt") that takes the 120 volts AC and converts it to 12 volts DC to power the 12 volt system even if there is no battery, but it sounds like yours is either toast, missing, or unplugged/turned off. Or hooking up a charged 12 volt battery should make the lights work.

Note the univolt, even if it is working correctly, isn't a great converter. Newer converters do three or four stage charging and are much easier on batteries; a working Univolt will overcharge batteries pretty quickly.