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Old 03-27-2013, 12:14 PM   #1
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Fan Noise Solution

On my Voltage 3950, when I am plugged into shore power and running all the interior lights I hear a fan humming noise. I isolated the noise to something running a cooling fan behind a panel that you access from the front storage bay I think? (Behind the water/Cable tV/ Dump valve panel). Anyone know what is back there running a fan? It must have something to do with power? What ever it is it needs some sound deadening put around it. That may be my next project.
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Old 03-27-2013, 02:38 PM   #2
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Your inverter maybe ??
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Old 03-27-2013, 02:53 PM   #3
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Yes, it's the inverter.
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Old 03-27-2013, 03:26 PM   #4
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If you hear the fan while you are plugged into shore power, it is most likely the fan on converter/charger that you are hearing. The more 12 volt accessories you are using, the more energy is flowing through the converter. An inverter changes 12 volt battery power to 110 volt power to operate microwave, TV, hair dryer, etc. when you are not plugged into shore power. You will need to be careful if you insulate the converter, because to much heat around the converter could cause it to fail.
If it bothers you, I would add insulation to the panels of the compartment, not to the converter itself. In my 3200, the converter (which I can hear when the fan is running) is under the front bedroom.
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Old 03-27-2013, 04:00 PM   #5
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I forgot to add that the the reason the converter fan is running is because the converter is stepping down and converting the 110 volts AC of shore power to 12 volts DC to run the lights, water pump, furnace fan and other 12 volt demands along with charging the house batteries.
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Old 03-27-2013, 04:10 PM   #6
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You would think the "humming" noise would be one of the basic "walk through items"'with any new TT owner.

Coops.
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Old 03-27-2013, 04:17 PM   #7
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Here is a question... Now is a guy suppose to shut off the converter breaker in order to run the inverter ?
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Old 03-27-2013, 04:20 PM   #8
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Fan on converter is going bad (Bearings) some fans motors have been known to be bad when installed or soon after. These are usually stepper motors. Replacement fans can be found at electronic supply stores .
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Old 03-27-2013, 04:22 PM   #9
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From what I under stand if you leave the converter on while running the inverter it is like a vicious cicle
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Old 03-27-2013, 11:41 PM   #10
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sounds messy ear plugs?
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Old 03-28-2013, 03:17 PM   #11
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D-Maxx, you do not need to do anything to the converter if you are using the inverter. The inverter and the converter are two separate systems and I believe only one at a time will operate, depending on the power source your are using. The converter operates when you are plugged in to shore power, or are running a generator by converting 110 volts AC to 12 volts DC to charge the battery set and provide 12 volts DC to the lights, water pump, furnace fan and the circuit boards for the fridge and water heater when they are runing on propane.

When you are not connected to shore power or running a genny, a transfer switch switches from the main 110 volt breaker panel to the inverter, which draws 12 volt DC power from the battery set and "inverts" it to 110 volts AC which then will power the microwave, TV, hair dryer, etc.

Unless you have a very high end big rig, it is unlikely that you have an inverter, unless you installed it yourself. Using an inverter to provide 110 volt AC power from a battery set requires a pretty substantial battery set, probably a minimum of 4-225 amp hour 6 volt "golf cart" type batteries.

A 1000 watt microwave draws about 9 amps on a 110 volt circuit. That translates to about an 80 amp draw on a 12 volt system that supplies the inverter
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Old 03-28-2013, 05:23 PM   #12
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I have 2 6 volt golf cart batteries one single solar panel and 4000watt inverter.
When I want to use the inverter to run stuff in the trailer ( no generator ) ill turn the inverter on and the batterie life jumps to full if I shut the breaker off to the converter the batterie life dies down a bit. It seems like it charging its self. !?
My question is why does it do that?
I was told to shut off converter breaker cause the inverter is changing dc to ac and running it back through the converter back to the batteries
It just don't make sence to me at all why I have to shut the breaker off in order to run the power the inverter.
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Old 03-29-2013, 10:29 PM   #13
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What you are describing is beyond my level of knowledge. To me it soulds like you have a transfer switch that is not working, but that is just a wild guess on my part. Have you gone to RV.net and posted in the electrical section? There are some very knowledgeable folks that post there.
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Old 04-13-2013, 03:08 PM   #14
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The descriptions of the inverters and converters have been stepping on each other in this thread.

To clarify, an inverter will change your 110 volt AC to 12 volt DC regardless from where the 110 volt AC originates.

Conversely, a converter will change your 12 volts DC to 110 volts AC. The 12 volts DC will most commonly come from a battery bank.
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Old 01-05-2014, 03:05 AM   #15
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My inverter is mounted on a piece of wood and the wood is screwed to one of the aluminum floor supports under the bedroom The metal housing on my inverter is actually is touching the aluminum support, so when the fan is on it is transferring the harmonics of the fan to the aluminum support and it can be heard very easily. The aluminum is acting kind of like a speaker.

I grabbed this photo from another members post, the inverter is the grey box that is kind of hanging cockeyed in the center of the photo.

My solution it to find an alternate location where I could relocate the inverter and use some rubber feet or mounts to isolate the vibration.

I bet this will fix it more gooder.
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Old 01-05-2014, 12:34 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heywodja View Post
My inverter is mounted on a piece of wood and the wood is screwed to one of the aluminum floor supports under the bedroom The metal housing on my inverter is actually is touching the aluminum support, so when the fan is on it is transferring the harmonics of the fan to the aluminum support and it can be heard very easily. The aluminum is acting kind of like a speaker.

I grabbed this photo from another members post, the inverter is the grey box that is kind of hanging cockeyed in the center of the photo.

My solution it to find an alternate location where I could relocate the inverter and use some rubber feet or mounts to isolate the vibration.

I bet this will fix it more gooder.
You bet it will. I didn't have an issue but, wanted to be nosey and see what was on the other side of the wall in the basement.

Fortunately, out of all the unfortunate things done on my rig, the inverter was mounted with rubber feet on the floor. We might hear the fan run, if we're listening, once in a while.

Also, since I installed (2) deep cycle batteries it doesn't have to work like it did. My rig was delivered to me with (1) car battery, not even a deep cycle. That converter ran constant. It was awful when we traveled and dry camped over night.......couldn't bring in the bedroom slide the next morning. Had to jump the battery with my truck battery.
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Old 01-05-2014, 10:27 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Maxx View Post
I have 2 6 volt golf cart batteries one single solar panel and 4000watt inverter.
When I want to use the inverter to run stuff in the trailer ( no generator ) ill turn the inverter on and the batterie life jumps to full if I shut the breaker off to the converter the batterie life dies down a bit. It seems like it charging its self. !?
My question is why does it do that?
I was told to shut off converter breaker cause the inverter is changing dc to ac and running it back through the converter back to the batteries
It just don't make sence to me at all why I have to shut the breaker off in order to run the power the inverter.
I bolded above the behavior you are witnessing. Your converter takes 120V AC shore power and converts it to 12V DC power to run all 12V items and charge the 12V batteries. The inverter takes 12V DC power from the batteries and changes it to 120V AC power. If you don't turn off your converter, the inverter will supply 120V AC power to it and it will therefore do what it is supposed to do and convert it to 12V DC and try and charge the battery. The issue is that the battery can't actually charge itself. You are converting 12V DC to 120V AC and back to 12V DC, with power losses due to inefficiency during each conversion. This will drain your batteries quickly.

High end units use a single unit that is both a converter and inverter in one unit, commonly known as an inverter/charger. It has an internal transfer switch and knows to not try and charge itself with its own batteries.
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