How hard is it to add a Battery to a PUP?

[ScouterMom]

my '73 starcraft has the typical built in converter and electrical hookup - but I find that it can be difficult to find 'electric' sites all the time.  

Mostly we camp only 2-3 days/ weekends and would only need a small power supply, mostly for interior lights, maybe a tacky light string or two, possibly a small radio/cd player.  It's not likely we'd be boondocking for a week and running an electric fridge/ microwave. But it might be nice to run the 'fridge off battery power (hooked up to the van) while on longer road trips, to keep it cold, when our destination DOES have power lines. (For our normal 1-3 hr drives to campgrounds it stays plenty cold without power, if it is cooled before the trip.) .

The camper appears to have a converter control panel of some kind, but I am sure it has never had a battery hooked up to it - it has switches for ac/ dc power, but no cables for a battery nor designated space for one. I have to re-wire the trailer lights anyway, so thought I would look into this while I have things torn apart.

I'm hoping it could be a simple as buying an RV battery, a box to hold it to the camper frame, and set of wires to hook it into the converter box and trailer wiring system? or is it much harder than that?

I'm pretty good at figuring out carpentry/mechanical repairs, but electrical stuff makes my head hurt .... is there a really SIMPLE way to do this? or should I stick to flashlights, propane lanterns and plastic coolers in a non- power campsite?

Thanks - Laura

[wavery]

my '73 starcraft has the typical built in converter and electrical hookup - but I find that it can be difficult to find 'electric' sites all the time.  

Mostly we camp only 2-3 days/ weekends and would only need a small power supply, mostly for interior lights, maybe a tacky light string or two, possibly a small radio/cd player.  It's not likely we'd be boondocking for a week and running an electric fridge/ microwave. But it might be nice to run the 'fridge off battery power (hooked up to the van) while on longer road trips, to keep it cold, when our destination DOES have power lines. (For our normal 1-3 hr drives to campgrounds it stays plenty cold without power, if it is cooled before the trip.) .

The camper appears to have a converter control panel of some kind, but I am sure it has never had a battery hooked up to it - it has switches for ac/ dc power, but no cables for a battery nor designated space for one. I have to re-wire the trailer lights anyway, so thought I would look into this while I have things torn apart.

I'm hoping it could be a simple as buying an RV battery, a box to hold it to the camper frame, and set of wires to hook it into the converter box and trailer wiring system? or is it much harder than that?

I'm pretty good at figuring out carpentry/mechanical repairs, but electrical stuff makes my head hurt .... is there a really SIMPLE way to do this? or should I stick to flashlights, propane lanterns and plastic coolers in a non- power campsite?

Thanks - Laura

That pretty well says it all........It's no harder than that. You will need to find the positive (usually red) wire and the negative (white wire) coming out of the back of the converter. Sometimes the negative wire coming from the converter is just a solid piece of copper wire with no insulation. The ~white (negative) wire will probably already be run down to the frame (usually under the trailer) and attached to a lug with a screw. You will need to run a 10G white wire from that lug up to the negative side of the battery. Then you will need to run a 10G black or red wire (current code is black) up to the positive side of the battery.

The battery box usually sits on a couple pieces of angle iron that are welded across the trailer tongue. You will get a strap with the new battery box. just put that strap around the box and the angle iron mounting brackets and the battery won't move.

It's best to get a series 29 deep cycle battery and the proper size box.

[coach]

Not sure about back in '73, but these days the back of the converter (12v side) has a red, white and blue wires.
The red is 12v+ input from the battery, the blue is 12v+ output from the converter to the lights etc (additional circuits can be blue with stripe, yellow, green...). the white is 12v- (input and output to lights and battery).
Most PUs have a fuse or self resetting breaker at the battery positive rated higher than the converter output.
White is negative. Colored is positive, commonly a black wire from the battery pos to the red converter input.

[wavery]

Not sure about back in '73, but these days the back of the converter (12v side) has a red, white and blue wires.
The red is 12v+ input from the battery, the blue is 12v+ output from the converter to the lights etc (additional circuits can be blue with stripe, yellow, green...). the white is 12v- (input and output to lights and battery).
Most PUs have a fuse or self resetting breaker at the battery positive rated higher than the converter output.
White is negative. Colored is positive, commonly a black wire from the battery pos to the red converter input.

WOW!!!!!:eyecrazy: Thanks for straightening that out Coach.........I had the colors reversed like a newbie.......:yikes:

[coach]

You don't need a trailer battery to run the fridge on 12v, you need a 'charge line' from the vehicle battery to the fridge commonly run through the vehicle trailer connector. Many a PU battery have been discharged operating the fridge on 12v. Can you run it on propane instead?