Battery Conections

[Sharkey]

Hi gang.....just was wondering if someone could answer a couple of questons about my battery conn. I just recently bought a 1999 Starcraft Venture 1207. It has a batt. box in front w/ 2 red leads, and 1 white lead. I am guessing that the reds are pos., and the wht. is a grnd. If I am wrong please tell me. What is the purpose of the batt ? What does it power? How can I tell if it is functioning? Do I ned to do anything at the breaker box inside the PU when I hook up a batt. ? How long does the charge last? Is it worth the effort? Any help would be greatly appr.
Thanks.

[tlhdoc]

Welcome to PUT!
 
I am not familiar with your wiring, but I can help with some of the other questions.  The 12 volt battery will run everything except an air conditioner (if you have one) or anything else that plugs into the regular household outlets.  If you have a refrigerator that runs on 12 volt, only use it that way when towing.  The refrigerator will drain the battery in a few hours.  So lights, electric water pump, 12 volt fans, furnace, etc run on battery power.  I am assuming that you camper has a power converter.  When the camper is plugged in to 110 volt power, the power converter, converts the 110 to 12 volt power to run your appliances.  I don't think you will need to do anything inside the box.  Most trailers come set up for the battery.  The easiest way to tell if it is working is to have the camper unplugged from a 110 outlet, hook the battery up and then see if you have lights.  If you have lights the battery is working.  As for how long the battery will last, it depends on what you ar running on 12 volt power.  The furnace uses a lot of battery power to run the blower.  I do thain a battery is good to have, even if you never plan on dry camping.  If the campground power goes out and you have a battery you will not be stuck in the dark.  Good luck.

[dthurk]

The red leads are power leads, the white one is ground.  One of your red wires powers the 12 volt in your camper.  The other one charges your battery when connected to shore power.  

If you're not connected to shore power, and you have 12 volt functioning (ceiling lights, for example), it is working.  You shouldn't have to do anything in the breaker box to switch from 12 volt to 110.  I'm not aware of any converters that are not automatic.  Some older campers may have a manual switch.  

If you have a breakaway cord from your camper to the tow vehicle, you have to have a battery for this to be operational.  This cord will activate the camper brakes in the event the camper separates from the tow vehicle.  This assumes you have brakes on the camper.

[wavery]

Welcome to PUT!
 
The 12 volt battery will run everything except an air conditioner (if you have one) or anything else that plugs into the regular household outlets.  

I'm sure that you didn't mean this the way it looks.

In order to use items "that plugs into the regular household outlets", you will need an inverter.

[chasd60]

The safest way to tell which wire is power and which one is ground is with an ohm meter. Check each lead to the trailer frame. The one that is ground should have pretty close to zero ohms resistance.

[Sharkey]

Thanx for hte info, I'll give it a shot.