I have an AC powered device that runs on 100-250VAC 50/60hz and would like to power it from a dc voltage source. Based on the basic topology of switching power supplies, they all rely on rectifying AC and proceed from there. So I should be able to run most switch mode power supplies from 160VDC or more.

What potential issue could I face from using this method instead of an inverter unit? Has anyone tried this?

 

Yes. It depends on the supply's input monitor. Newer ones know how to detect DC, turn off the power factor corrector, and let the rest of the front end run normally. Older ones shut down if they don't see something above 47 Hz, even though the rest of the supply would operate just fine.

ak

 

I have an AC powered device that runs on 100-250VAC 50/60hz and would like to power it from a dc voltage source. Based on the basic topology of switching power supplies, they all rely on rectifying AC and proceed from there. So I should be able to run most switch mode power supplies from 160VDC or more.

What potential issue could I face from using this method instead of an inverter unit? Has anyone tried this?

Did you complete your 160VDC project? I would be interested to hear your
experience as we have a very similar project with 110VDC. Our circuit works on DC.
We lowered the resistance on the switcher's (TNY279) enable pin so the circuit
would startup at 70VDC.