Seeking HELP Wall outlet & 12 volt converter.

When I bought my HiLo a few months ago the POs gave me a converter that plugged into an outlet to run my C-pap. I used it the first night, stopping on the way home. I worked great! However, I tried it last night when I boondocked, and I had no power to the outlets. I check the circuit breaker, and all the fuses. Still no power. I even check it with the ohm meter. Nothing! I switched the main power switch in every position, and still nothing. I am confused as why it worked that night and now I do not have 12v at any of the outlets.

Papa, I may be wrong, but I Believe that the Outlets are for 120 Volt only, not 12 Volt. That's why you have the 12 Volt Converter, to convert from 120 Volt to 12 Volt!

Some of the newer Hi-Lo's have a 12 Volt Adapter, like for a cigarette lighter. Does yours? If not, and you can't hook up directly to a 12 Volt supply, I'm afraid you won't be able to use your C-Pap while Boondocking.

Bruce, I'm very certain that I plugged the inverted into the wall outlet, and it worked. I couldn't have slept without it, and I just stopped for the night in a parking lot.

HI Papa; All of the outlets are AC current, not DC. If you had no 115v AC on the outlet when you checked it with your meter, make sure you had the meter set on AC volts not DC or Ohms. The outlets are controlled only by the circuit breakers not fuses. If a circuit breaker trips, to reset it you must move the breaker switch to the off position then the on position. Most of the outlets are also on a ground fault circuit. One ground fault breaker can control several outlets. Find the ground fault breakers and press the reset button to see if tripped. If tripped then any other breakers that it controls will have no power. The outlets only have power when you are plugged into shore power or a generator. Does you c-pap run on AC or DC power? I don't understand the statement you made that the PO gave you a converter to run it with. On my HiLo there is one cigarette lighter type outlet that you can get DC power from.

Jim L, thanks for your quick reply. It makes sense that all outlets are only AC. I guess that my old mind is playing tricks on me. The PO's gave me a 400W Power Inverter that also has a 110 plug adapter. I thought that I used it the first night on the way home, 10 hour drive. I must be mistaken.

What do you think about me installing a female 12v power supply, and taping into the 12v system? Then I could use the Power Inverter for my c-pap when dry camping.

You are confusing the issue.

A CONVERTER IS FOR CHANGING THE VOLTS.
It is used when changing from 120v AC to 12v DC.
Is your cpap a 12v or a 120v system. I have never seen a 12v cpap machine.

You do not have 120v when boondocking, unless using an inverter(12v DC to 120v).

If your cpap is a 12v hooking up to 12v is not an issue unless tooooo large of a draw.
Hook up is with the connector of the cpap, not necessarily a female cig lighter plug.

You are confusing the issue.

A CONVERTER IS FOR CHANGING THE VOLTS.
It is used when changing from 120v to 12v.
Is your cpap a 12v or a 120v system. I have never seen a 12v cpap machine.

You do not have 120v when boondocking, unless using an inverter(12v to 120v).

If your cpap is a 12v hooking up to 12v is not an issue unless tooooo large of a draw.
Hook up is with the connector of the cpap, not necessarily a female cig lighter plug.

My c-pap machine is a standard 120v. I am confused. So this 12v that converts to standard 120v will not work for operating my C-pap?

https://www.amazon.com/Peak-PKC0M04...6938&sr=8-25&keywords=power+inverter+400+watt

HI

Hi Papa; First you need to look at your c-pap to see how many amps or watts it pulls. I went to the amazon link and read up on your inverter. It only puts out 400 watts or less than 4 amps. It does not say how many amps it draws. Look at your inverter power tag and see what its power draw is. It can be hard wired into the built-in converter or plugged into the cigarette lighter receptical if you have one depending on the power draw of your cpap. My cigarette lighter in the HiLo puts out 7.5 amps max and is mounted on the TV amplifier. Go to the amazon link and read the questions and answers and you will see that it can be plugged into a lighter receptical but due to the modified sine wave it produces it is not efficient for use with motors.

As Jim said, you'll need to plug it into an Inverter that you can power off 12V DC. If the C-Pap doesn't draw too much power, it won't run your batteries down. Make sure the inverter has a high enough Wattage rating to power the C-Pap. Look on the C-Pap to see its Wattage requirement.

- Jack

Do a search on the internet for Cpap equipment

One member of our camping club bought a machine that he can use anywhere. When he said it cost $400.00 that made me loose interest. We don't boondock.

Papa Roe,
You can do what you suggested with the power inverter the PO gave you which, as you say in your later post, is a power inverter (12VDC to 120V AC) and not a converter (120V AC to 12V DC). You are limited to the 400W rating you mentioned which will power a TV or sound system, but not a coffee pot or anything that uses a lot of power like an electric space heater or AC. Using the maximum 400 watts would draw at least 35 amps DC and draw down your battery quickly. I'd suggest you install a fused, separate line from your trailer battery to a cigaret lighter plug. Most cigaret lighter plugs are only rated for 10A which, with your power inverter, would power most sound systems, radios TVs, and fans I wouldn't use it for more than that and be careful not to drawn down your battery below 12 volts. Fuse it with a 10A fuse.

Thanks so much for helping me clear up my confusion on this matter. I think that for now I'll make sure that we camp with AC. I don't want to run the battery down, and from what I understand the little bit that charges during traveling would not be enough to bring the battery back up.
I've been in and out of the trailer today, lowering and raising it a couple of times. However, this last time it wouldn't raise. I had to plug into AC before it would even move. Looks like I might be buying a new battery this week.