Converter OK with no battery?

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edubb

edubb

Active member
Joined
Nov 17, 2006
Posts
42
Location
North Georgia
Off the subject, who pays for this site?  Are donations accepted?

Back on the subject, is it OK to run a converter (120V to 12V) without a battery installed (I mean the main camper battery)?  I find no warnings in the converter documentation, but thought I'd ask before I do something stupid...

 
There is a donation button on the topmost button bar on every window.  The site is run by, and paid for, our wizop, Tom, supplemented by donations.

I believe converters can be used without a battery, but I've never used one that way.  The output of a converter isn't as pure DC as from a battery, and a battery in the circuit will smooth out the DC as well as act as a voltage regulator of sorts.
 
Oh, I see the button now, the text isn't very clear.  I'll use that as my excuse.  Thanks.

Donation sent!
 
As others have said, depends a lot on the converter.  My rig came with a Intella-Power 80 amp with charge wizard,  There are others that are as good but it don't get better,  (Note I did not say MUCH better, I said BETTER period) It's got a good clean regulated output with lots of filtering.  I can run ham radios off it w/o the battery and nobody can hear any indication of hum or other power supply problems

Other converters (I do have a brand name in mind but I'm going to not mention it) I'd not wish to run a light bulb on without the battery there to condition the power
 
John D said:
Other converters (I do have a brand name in mind but I'm going to not mention it) I'd not wish to run a light bulb on without the battery there to condition the power

*****

John, what good is saying that without mentioning the brand name?  I come here for advice and would certainly like to know of a unreliable brand.

Thx
 
I have a Magnatek 30, and if I run without the battery, it adds a great deal of noise on the line.  You can't run the TV or radio.  It works for incandescent lights and motors though, and is reasonably well regulated.
(In addition, it doesn't do much as a battery charger either).
Art
 
bigtexan99 said:
John D said:
Other converters (I do have a brand name in mind but I'm going to not mention it) I'd not wish to run a light bulb on without the battery there to condition the power
*****
John, what good is saying that without mentioning the brand name?  I come here for advice and would certainly like to know of a unreliable brand.
Thx
Click to expand...

Yes, hopefully you aren't referring to WFCO (World Friendly Company or something humorous like that--It's Korean or Chinese), which is what my camper has.  It's 3 stage.  According to the docs it senses the battery voltage and puts out 14.4 volts if the battery is below 13.2, 13.6 for "absorption", and 13.2 for "float" (maintenance charge).  If no battery is connected, I don't know what it does, I can put a meter on it and find out.  I just didn't want to try it without some input.  Thanks.
 
bigtexan99 said:
John, what good is saying that without mentioning the brand name?  I come here for advice and would certainly like to know of a unreliable brand.
Click to expand...

Well, you see, the very next post was from KING who did name the brand I was talking about, and what's more since he has one he even spelled it right, which I can never remember the exact name
 
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