can the univolt be operated without batterys connected

[0557]

On my limited
by batts are dead but until I purchase new ones, can the univolt be operated
for dc conversion. I live in the trailer at this time.

[j54mark]

No, a battery must be in the circuit to operate properly. Or is the question, can the converter be operated with DEAD batteries in the circuit? If the latter, I guess just try it and see.

Mark

[JohnG]

The univolt is basically a transformer changing 120VAC into 12VDC and the battery is where the voltage is stored. It will certainly work better with a good battery, but I would think that it would still work with dead batteries

[TomW]

Originally Posted by 0557

On my limited my batts are dead but until I purchase new ones, can the univolt be operated for dc conversion. I live in the trailer at this time.

Your Univolt does not care if the batteries are there or not. But if the batteries are dead, the Univolt will attempt to charge them. If they are really dead, the batteries will absorb a lot of the current the Univolt is producing.

Batteries act as a power filter for the less-than-pure DC waveform the Univolt outputs. While you can safely run without a battery connected, your lights will be dim, and TVs/radios will have a lot of static.

If you have no short term plans to replace the battery, but still need live in your Airstream, a bank of capacitors can be substituted for the battery. Do a forum search on Electrolytic Capacitor to see what I mean.

Tom

[dbtolman]

My battery is missing, but all 12 volt lighting still works. The univolt is under the bed, against the wall divider for the bathroom. There's some kind of soloniod that looks like it used to be part of a battery charge system that is sitting in a drawer.

Where does the battery go?? Is the univolt in the right location, or was it moved?

[raebaker06]

The univilt System is basically a 6 volt transformer. It has diodes for tow vehicle isolation and along with a capacitor to make a voltage doubler circuit to give you 12 PULSING DC. A radio will hum without the battery and other DC components could suffer. Lights are indifferent to ac or dc.

And of course there is a fuse bank to add saftey to various circuits. The worst part is getting the unit out for service.

OH if you only find 6 volts, the cpacitor is duff and needs replacement, you can find one at any electric motor shop.

Rae