I am wondering if there is an "issue" with the electrical system in my 1994 camper and am looking for your thoughts. We bought this camper used a few years ago and do not have an owners manual for me to refer to.

About 3 years ago I put a new battery in this camper. This battery is now completely DEAD. I would have thought it should have lasted longer than 3 years.

First of all, am I understanding the system correctly? If the camper is plugged into an electrical supply, the electricity flows into the camper and through the electrical converter to convert the 110 volt supply into 12 volt to power things such as the lights, water pump, heater fan, etc. Other things such as the air conditioner, outlets, refrigerator, etc. run on the 110 volt power. Is this correct?

My next question: Does there need to actually be a battery hooked to the camper for this system to function is we are connected to an electrical supply? In other words, does the electricity flow into the camper, through the power converter, to the battery and THEN to the 12 volt lights, etc. I ask this because when the battery died we lost our lights even though we were plugged into an electrical supply. I would have thought that since we were plugged in the lights would still work.

Does anybody understand what I am asking? What do you think? Thanks.

Royce