Do I need the battery?

CCPICC

my battery never stays charged and I don't think my trickle charger works correctly. Are there any reasons why I can't just take the battery out since I don't use it anyway?

Bentr

 No battery ought to be exactly the same as a dead battery so I don't think you need to have it installed if you are not using 12v power when not hooked up/plugged in. Keep in mind though that your handling might suffer if you remove the weight of the battery without replacing it on the tongue with something else.

CCPICC

thanks!

JandJ92010

If your trailer has electric brakes, and you don't have a battery on your trailer, and your trailer pops off, you have no brakes on a run away trailer! To me it's not worth the risk.

Michigan_Mike

CCPICC said:

my battery never stays charged and I don't think my trickle charger works correctly. Are there any reasons why I can't just take the battery out since I don't use it anyway?

Are you using the Zamp solar port for your trickle charger?  If so, try swapping the leads over on the battery and then hook up the charger and see if that makes a difference.  The Zamp leads are opposite and that might be the problem and why your battery isn't charging.

CCPICC

I have an older T@B no electric brakes they are centrifical force with a emergency chord that actives in case of decouple, thanks.

JandJ92010

Oh, so you have surge brakes. That's good. Have you tried using a regular battery charger on the battery? Something bigger than a trickle charger? If you did or can than you can take it to an auto parts store and they can load test it for you. It's usually a free test. That will tell you if your battery is any good or not. Batteries do get to the point where they will not take a charge, or if the ends of the battery are bulged out the battery is bad.  Good Luck!

ChanW

To address the original question....

These are the potential 12v things you would lose with no battery (unless connected to shore power or your vehicle): interior lights, water pump, fridge, furnace, entertainment center & tv, propane/C-O detector alarm. But you probably already know that.

These would continue to work when hooked to shore power, and I think they'd work if your vehicle was connected, though it would discharge your vehicle battery. You'd want to watch out for that.

HTH

Mouseketab

Also, keep this in mind, without a battery, even on shore power, you are running completely off the converter. One time when I forgot to turn my battery "on" (I have a cutoff switch), some of the things that are 12V seemed to run erratically. (Lights would flicker, the display on my radio flicker, etc.) Once I turned the battery back on, the flickering stopped. I asked my dad about it, who is an electronics/electrician wizard. He told me the following....

Unfortunately, the converter in our unit is NOT state of the art, high-end. The battery in conjunction with the converter provides more stable power to your 12V items.

The other thing, if you want to run your fridge while on the road, you need a battery. You tow vehicle battery DOES NOT connect to the converter, it connects directly to the battery and charges your camper battery as you drive. I experienced this when camping one weekend and my converter died. I was able to charge my camper battery by hooking up to the tow vehicle and cranking the engine. That got me through the weekend. An isolation switch will keep your tow vehicle battery from being drained when your engine is off.