Power converter?

[mlsoups]

I have a black box that is in the cabinets at the front of my RV behind the TV... It has a red and white wire wired to the box and a power plug coming from it that has a male end and a female end (best I can describe it).

I tried plugging my tv into it with the engine on and it has no power, also tried with a cellphone charger... I tried with the generator on as well, no power to either. I tried plugging it into a normal outlet with the male end and then plugging in whatever into the female end and nothing.

Can anyone tell me what this is for?

In the specs of my RV it shows that it has a "55amp, 110/12-Volt Power Converter", is that what this is?

I can upload some pics if my description isn't enough...

Thanks for your time!

Mike

[mlsoups]

Picture of black box...

[CHICKDOE]

wow. to me the picture looks like a cord with a switch on it. we use them at home to turn lights on/off without having to go to the light. you plug the regular light cord into what you have in the picture and you plug the make end into the wall socket. what your picture does not show is the other end of the black cable. I suspect it has a switch on it that you can then use to allow power to pass through from wall socket to lamp cord. is it possible to find the other end? is your sec0nd picture the other end? if so what is the black device it is attached to? my thoughts were based upon the first picture.

[mlsoups]

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, the black cord goes into that black box and I'm unsure what it is... That's what I was asking...

[waiter21]

Yours looks exactly like mine (which is now in the garbage).

Its a power control module for your TV power. It prevents you from watching TV while cruising down the road. When your ignition is on, the circuit inside disconnect 120 volts.

I removed mine, unplug it from the outlet and plugged my TV directly into the outlet.

I use my TV as my backup and rear view monitor.

http://www.2001mirada.com/rear-view-camera/

..

[CHICKDOE]

in the second picture is that the other end of the black cord on the left going into that box? i'll assume it is. if my thoughts are correct there would normally be a switch on that end of the black cord. my guess (and that is all it is) is that there is a relay inside the black box that takes the lace of a manual switch. if so, what are the red and white wires going into the box? where to they go? i'm really guessing but could it be that the red and white wires are on a 12 volt circuit and when they come on they energize the relay to turn on the 110 volt circuit? for example, this would allow a 12 volt led lamp circuit to also turn on a 110 volt light circuit, or maybe a 12 volt radio could turn on a 110 amplifier. did you buy the rv used? could this be a mod done by a previous owner? can you trace where the red and white wire go?

[mlsoups]

Thank you so much! I didn't have it plugged in but I can only view my tv with the generator on because the outlets don't have power... Did you install an inverter to use yours?

[CHICKDOE]

I need to stop at this point. we have a 5th wheel and the electrical setup is totally different. there was another post that said this had something to do with disabling the tv while driving. i'd read that one. but I think we have determined that the outlet you showed in picture 1 is controlled by the black box in picture 2, which I suspect is controlled by the red and white wires going into it. I don't have the knowledge to comment about using a tv while driving.

[waiter21]

Chickdoe;

You nailed it, The power cord shown in his photo plugs into an outlet, then you can plug something into the power cord (You can't see it in his photo). The cord goes into the black box that switches the AC on/off, via the two wires (pink and white) shown in his photo, These go to the ACC position on his ignition switch.

MSSOUP;

That TV outlet should be live on generator or shore power. If you want to run the TV off of 12 volts, you either need to install a small inverter, OR, install a TV that operaties off of 12 volts.

I installed a small inverter up front on mine. We use it for laptops, etc while on the road so we don't need to run the generator.

Installing small 400 watt inverter | 2001 Coachmen Mirada 300QB

I also installed a TV that will run on 12 volts. We boondock a lot and I don't like running the genny unless I absolutely have to.

Installing and upgrading TVs | 2001 Coachmen Mirada 300QB