1976 establishment rv wiring diagrams for the coach/house.
Converter changes AC current (hydro) to 12 Volt DC current which would run your fridge controls, some or most lights, furnace, water pump, range hood fan & light, bathroom exhaust fan etc, basically anything that isn't plugged in to hydro. Converter also has a circuit that charges your auxiliary batteries while vehicle is plugged into hydro. The thing your seeing under the hood is called an isolator. It's main purpose is to charge all the batteries while engine is running, Coach & chassis, but not allow power used in coach to drain down engine battery when engine is not running, thus if your sitting and use up all power in coach (auxiliary ) batteries, then you still have full engine battery to start engine & continue on your way.
Get yourself a multimeter if you don't have one already & I will walk you through what you need to know if you like. Can you get me more details on vehicle, as well as appliances such as model of fridge, furnace, water heater etc, and we should be able to get you going with as much knowledge as you'll need, or more than you'll get from an owners manual for sure. I'll be back from work (RV technician) and on about 7pm GMT.