power converter question

noralee · 12-01-2013, 11:07 PM

i see from the recent power converter repair thread that it is normal for the converter to make noise. i was hoping there was a way to get rid of the noise in my current unit. is the only way to fix this to get a newer, more quiet unit?

or, is there a way to easily shut it off at night while i'm sleeping? it's right under where i'm sleeping and loud enough to be disturbing in these quiet mountain nights.

thanks!

mainah · 12-06-2013, 04:01 PM

What model converter is it? I think yours is old enough that it should not make any noise because there is no fan. I replaced a clock with a digital one that does not "tick" for the same reason!

noralee · 12-24-2013, 06:21 PM

i haven't had a chance to get to the converter but it is a factory one from 1983. i dont believe there is a fan in it but the noise really drives me nuts when i'm falling asleep

mainah · 12-25-2013, 12:25 PM

Yeah that one is pretty old it probably hums pretty good.

noralee · 02-08-2014, 08:56 PM

hi mainah, here is a pic of my converter. i don't see a brand name on it but this should help. any tips on turning this off at night are appreciated. or maybe just using it sometimes to charge the battery... i know it's just me but i swear it's getting louder

mainah · 02-09-2014, 06:00 AM

Most likely it is wired directly to the power cord so turning it off would require a little wiring or pulling the plug. That is the one that came with the camper it is pretty old tech and they did have a tendency to over charge the battery. In your case turning it off at night most likely would be a good ideal not only for you but for the battery also, If you can find some one that is good with wiring they can add a breaker to your panel box and put the converter on that breaker so it can just be turned off. The other fix would be to replace the converter with a modern one, it is an upgrade that is far more efficient both in battery maintenance and noise. The only concern by turning it off would be during very cold nights when your furnace runs a lot running the battery down. The furnace motor uses a lot of current but it is getting warmer all be it slowly!

noralee · 02-13-2014, 08:47 PM

thanks mainah. somethings to think about

noralee · 02-19-2014, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainah

Most likely it is wired directly to the power cord so turning it off would require a little wiring or pulling the plug. That is the one that came with the camper it is pretty old tech and they did have a tendency to over charge the battery. In your case turning it off at night most likely would be a good ideal not only for you but for the battery also, If you can find some one that is good with wiring they can add a breaker to your panel box and put the converter on that breaker so it can just be turned off. The other fix would be to replace the converter with a modern one, it is an upgrade that is far more efficient both in battery maintenance and noise. The only concern by turning it off would be during very cold nights when your furnace runs a lot running the battery down. The furnace motor uses a lot of current but it is getting warmer all be it slowly!

to be sure i'm understanding, are you saying that if i wire the converter to a breaker and use that to turn it off at night then that would turn off all my power for the night? i'm thinking of the fridge here...it would act as if i were unplugging the camper. or would rewiring and adding the breaker only turn off the converter while leaving power to the rest of the camper? ideally i'd like a way to turn off only the converter while leaving the power on...

usaseen · 02-19-2014, 10:21 AM

Is any one knows what size and what type of the generator for Sunline QUE5.4?

mainah · 02-19-2014, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noralee

to be sure i'm understanding, are you saying that if i wire the converter to a breaker and use that to turn it off at night then that would turn off all my power for the night? i'm thinking of the fridge here...it would act as if i were unplugging the camper. or would rewiring and adding the breaker only turn off the converter while leaving power to the rest of the camper? ideally i'd like a way to turn off only the converter while leaving the power on...

Yes that would be the ideal one breaker alone for the converter the rest would do what they have all along. The interior lights,pump and heater would run off the battery while the converter was off.

OhhWell · 02-27-2014, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noralee

to be sure i'm understanding, are you saying that if i wire the converter to a breaker and use that to turn it off at night then that would turn off all my power for the night? i'm thinking of the fridge here...it would act as if i were unplugging the camper. or would rewiring and adding the breaker only turn off the converter while leaving power to the rest of the camper? ideally i'd like a way to turn off only the converter while leaving the power on...

It would cut power to the 12v portions of your camper and the battery would take over. The furnace is on the 12v portion. your fridge is probably on 110v but may use some 12v for the control board. The built in lights are 12v as well as the water pump and any vent fans.

noralee · 03-02-2014, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhhWell

It would cut power to the 12v portions of your camper and the battery would take over. The furnace is on the 12v portion. your fridge is probably on 110v but may use some 12v for the control board. The built in lights are 12v as well as the water pump and any vent fans.

so is there no way to rewire the converter to seperate it from the fridge? the converter is not supplying the power, is it? (ps. i know almost nothing about electricity/wiring.) the rest of the stuff won't be a problem, but i do need the fridge to stay on.

mainah · 03-02-2014, 06:03 AM

If you are running the fridge on electrical power while it is plugged in it will make no difference. The fridge usually has two settings some have three, 120 volts (power co.) and propane. There are ones that also use 12 volts the stuff that runs your pump and lights they use the battery there are not many of them around and are usually only found in motor homes not campers. The very modern ones need battery power to operate the controls yours would not fit that category. So if the control is turned to "elec" your fine just have someone add a breaker for the converter. What ever battery power you use in the night will be replaced the next day when you turn the converter back on. An option I use when I camp in cold weather is a small electric heater you have power so that is just a plug in to an outlet it is also a lot quieter than the furnace. Not going to be a lot of good if it’s 10* out but the furnace won’t run as much. The alternative would be to install a modern converter and just leave it on. The new ones have a small fan about the size of one in a desktop computer and are very quiet.

noralee · 03-14-2014, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainah

If you are running the fridge on electrical power while it is plugged in it will make no difference. The fridge usually has two settings some have three, 120 volts (power co.) and propane. There are ones that also use 12 volts the stuff that runs your pump and lights they use the battery there are not many of them around and are usually only found in motor homes not campers. The very modern ones need battery power to operate the controls yours would not fit that category. So if the control is turned to "elec" your fine just have someone add a breaker for the converter. What ever battery power you use in the night will be replaced the next day when you turn the converter back on. An option I use when I camp in cold weather is a small electric heater you have power so that is just a plug in to an outlet it is also a lot quieter than the furnace. Not going to be a lot of good if it’s 10* out but the furnace won’t run as much. The alternative would be to install a modern converter and just leave it on. The new ones have a small fan about the size of one in a desktop computer and are very quiet.

thank you mainah. yes, i do have a 3-way fridge, but i keep it plugged in. so no problems there. i will set up the converter on a separate breaker

noralee · 05-01-2014, 11:47 PM

well, i figured out that the converter is hooked into the main circuit breaker (the one that looks like a regular home circuit breaker) and already has it's own breaker. the only thing i couldn't test is the fridge. everything else seems to be on the other breaker. can anyone confirm this?

there are 3 switches, and of those i was told that one was a "piggyback." i'm doing this b/c i want to turn the converter off at night. it's noisy.

JerryJ · 05-02-2014, 06:20 AM

There is one test. but you'll need someone that is very familiar with AC circuits.
These power inverters (or converters as some call them) Have a step down transformer, typically 120VAC to 12VDC.
They use a 1/2 wave rectifier to smooth some of the AC in a DC fashion. Some of these transformers are have a metal plate lamination. that lamination can separate by warpage over time, by heat and cold and fatigue.
When you look at the laminations they DO NOT look separated but in a sense it will be a micro measurement of warpage.
That small amount of separate can be enough to vibrate or hum and hence your noise. Actual HUM is HEARD over audio systems or seen as rising bars on a TV screen. BTW AC hum is only due to bad capacitors or old solder joints. It won't hurt any of your appliances but it can be quite annoying.

A qualified technician knows how to approach this and he can feel the transformer to prove that it is the transformer that is humming. .

For fun I like to fix things but it might be more economical for you to replace it.
If you buy a used one, make sure it's no worse than what you have

OhhWell · 05-02-2014, 07:30 AM

Well, everyone calls them power converters including all the manufacturers. Everyone calls the devices that step 12v DC up to 110v AC power inverters. Maybe we are all wrong but it does serve to keep from getting them confused.

Noralee, if your fridge really is a 3 way, make sure it is set to operate on propane at night or you will likely kill your battery. Most absorption fridges use 300 watts when on electric to boil the ammonia. at 12volts, that is 25 amps of draw.

Myself? I would try a white noise generator or something else to cover the transformer and cooling fan noise.

noralee · 05-02-2014, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhhWell

Noralee, if your fridge really is a 3 way, make sure it is set to operate on propane at night or you will likely kill your battery. Most absorption fridges use 300 watts when on electric to boil the ammonia. at 12volts, that is 25 amps of draw.

it is a 3 way but the point is that i will only turn off the converter. the rest of the camper will still run on the plugged in electricity. so it shouldn't affect the battery. only stuff running on the battery would be lights (that don't plug-in) and over-night that won't do much. that is why i need the fridge to still run on the plug in power, not the battery

JerryJ · 05-03-2014, 09:10 AM

I actually had my trailer plugged in for the past week just checking things out.

I refocused on your problem. I held my hand directly on top of the power 'converter' and felt an ever so slight vibration on mine. This is typical as transformers can oscillate or vibrate at that 60 cycle (hertz) range

I was wonder if it is at all possible that that little trap door in the very front that hinges down to open it, might be vibrating. Just put your hand on the door or the box and if the vibration goes away then something needs to be tightened or moved slightly. Mine does not have a cooling fan either.

If that doesn't work here's another idea. Call an electrician or someone that you know who knows electrical circuits and see if he could install a circuit breaker prior to the power converter so you can shut if off at night.

When I get back this afternoon there're a couple of other things I want to check out so I could advise deeper. Ohhhwell, do you concur?

noralee · 05-06-2014, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryJ

I actually had my trailer plugged in for the past week just checking things out.

I refocused on your problem. I held my hand directly on top of the power 'converter' and felt an ever so slight vibration on mine. This is typical as transformers can oscillate or vibrate at that 60 cycle (hertz) range

I was wonder if it is at all possible that that little trap door in the very front that hinges down to open it, might be vibrating. Just put your hand on the door or the box and if the vibration goes away then something needs to be tightened or moved slightly. Mine does not have a cooling fan either.

If that doesn't work here's another idea. Call an electrician or someone that you know who knows electrical circuits and see if he could install a circuit breaker prior to the power converter so you can shut if off at night.

When I get back this afternoon there're a couple of other things I want to check out so I could advise deeper. Ohhhwell, do you concur?

hi, thanks for thinking of my situation. it's definitely not just a vibration. i did have an electrician take a look and that was how we discovered that the converter appears to be on its own circuit. i just couldn't test the fridge. that is what i'm still trying to discover. i don't want to risk losing all my food overnight. other than that it should be ready to turn off at night and leave everything else running.