Univolt Question

[brownd355]

I have a 1970 Safari that I am renovating and I have a question about my Univolt. I plan on camping at places where I can plug in for a while but I may one day want to go off the grid.
I am no electrician by anyt means so bear with me.....
I hooked up the leads from the Univolt to the battery and I got 23 VOLTS on the 200V setting on my volt meter and 11.30 on the 9V setting. I know I should be showing a litttle over 12V or so but Im not sure if I am where I want to be on those settings on my tester.
I have all proper fuses installed including the 40amp fuses in the Univolt although I dont know if it makes a difference or not in terms of output. I dont really want to get a new converter right now because everything works fine power wise in my rig.
Also, if a Univolt is working properly, if I unplug the shore power wil is the battery supposed to automatically supposed to switch to power my lights etc. or do I have to manually make the switch????
Thanks

[DKB_SATX]

First, if you're renovating, it's worthwhile to replace a Univolt with a modern 3-stage converter.

If the Univolt is outputting more than 15V DC it's going to kill batteries quickly. If it's really putting out 23V DC you'll probably spend more on batteries in a year than a new converter would cost.

If it's wired properly, the converter and battery both connect to the trailer's 12V system and whichever one is producing the most voltage powers the lights, fans and pump. So when it's plugged in, that's the converter, and when it's not, that's the battery. You shouldn't have to do anything to switch between them.

[Wazbro]

Check the voltage on your car/truck (with a fully charged battery, engine off your meter should read about 12.8 volts) to see if your meter is close to being right.