electrical question

[Cochese]

I have a 64 Safari,The wires to the vent fans have no power to them,as well as the sconce lights @ the front & ref. recep.Could this be somehow related to the old invertor(univolt?). The original a/c wires in the ceiling are hot.

[mello mike]

I'm not sure how your 12v system is setup, but if there is no 12v at all in the coach it may be your univolt. When you're not plugged in, what about your 12v batteries? Do you have current coming from them?

[Cochese]

Currently there are no batt. hooked up. The univolt is going to be repl. by a new style invertor, just trying to get 110 power now.

[guy99]

In my rig the vents and lights are all 12 V. With no batteries and no univolt, you will not have any 12 V.

[Alumaholic]

Originally Posted by Cochese

I have a 64 Safari,The wires to the vent fans have no power to them,as well as the sconce lights @ the front & ref. recep.Could this be somehow related to the old invertor(univolt?). The original a/c wires in the ceiling are hot.

Hi Cochese,
I'm not quite sure where you think the 12 volt source of power should be if you don't have batteries. Am I missing something here?

The old Univolt "converter" can't do it's job and "convert" 120 volts ac to 12 volts dc if there is no battery or batteries as the case may be.

If you install a new battery or batteries and the sconce lights burn brightly for a while and the vent fans whirl but slowly deplete the battery, that means your Univolt may be shot. If lights stay bright and fans whirl, then your Univolt is doing its job and keeping the battery charged. I doubt the latter scenario will be the case. I can't imagine a Univolt that old still functioning. I would buy a new Intellpower Converter with Charge Wizard. They are great!
Hope this helps.

[Ganglin]

Keep in mind you may also have a 12 volt outlet that looks like any other except for the cover color. I have one outlet that is black - it's 12 volt.

[thecatsandi]

A univolt is a converter, 120VAC to 12VDC (ok it really 14). an inverter takes 12VDC and makes 120VAC.

[lewster]

Cochese,

Don't confuse the 120VAC with the 12VDC. As Michelle pointed out, you need 120VAC to power your converter which takes the 120VAC and 'converts' it into 12 VDC for a variety of uses in the trailer....like overhead lights, fans, and control voltage for all of your appliances. If you are connected to 120VAC via your power cord, you will get 120VAC but with no battery and converter, you won't get any 12VDC.

The old Univolt converters required a battery be connected to it to act as a filter for the heavily rippled DC current that they produced. Modern converters will operate without a battery, but it is still recommended that you use one.

If you have any questions about which converter to buy to replace your original Univolt, you might contact 68 Overlander. Randy owns Best RV Supply and is our resident expert on all things converter. BestConverter - Inteli-Power, WFCO, Parallax, Inverters, Solar, Electrical Supplies