Phantom Noise

[rbev2308]

OK i got a weird question. I bounced this off my parents who have a 2011 Alpine with all the same switches and amazingly, in the same order as my 2014 3535RE. The switch which controls the salon area near the tv is wired adjacent to my island lights. I noticed when pulling something out of the basement over the weekend when my wife flipped it, a fan of some sort engaged back near the water heater/furnace. I had her flip it again and it did it. It's very faint and you can only hear in silence as I had not heard or noticed in the 3 times camping so far. Upon disconnecting from shore power, I attempted it again and the noise was not present. Any ideas on what else could be tied into this? I am about to pull the panel and go searching!

[zuley]

I suspect it is the fan inside of your converter. Mine does the same.

[JRTJH]

It's probably the cooling fan in your power center/converter. It is located behind the circuit breakers, on the 110 VAC to 12 VDC converter mounted behind the breakers. As the demand for DC power increases, heat is produced in the big transformer. The fan comes on to keep things cool while the power is being produced.

Once you reduced the demand for DC power, the fan will go off again. Apparently, when your wife turned on those lights, it was just enough demand to trigger the fan to come on.

That's the "normal operation" of the power center, no need for alarm.

[PARAPTOR]

I think you are hearing the fan kick on in the converter. Its used to keep the converter cool, as you put a heavier 12VDC load on the converter such as turning on lights etc. the converter has to supply that power. When shore power is disconnected unless you have the onboard generator running you have no 120VAC and the converter is powered down. All 12VDC power is now coming from batteries.

[rbev2308]

Thanks all for the knowledge. My first instinct was the converter but I honestly thought it was placed elsewhere. That makes sense especially since it only does on shore power!!!!appreciate the assist!!! Just another learning curve for all the stuff I thought I knew.

[hankaye]

rbev2308, Howdy;

You may also want to check the water level in your battery(s), as well.
If you prefer to use the 12 vdc system even when 'pluged-in' you could be
depleting the water in them. I don't think that the fan should turn-on when
just one dc switched item is engaged... maybe I'm reading the orig. post
wrong , but it's an expensive lesson if not.

hankaye

[tirnanah]

Before I changed to LEDs, I only had to turn on my living area lights and the converter fan would switch on... After changing to LEDs, I can turn on every light in the coach and the converter fan still doesn't come on :)

It doesn't take much of a load to make the fan come on...

[JoePK]

Hello, you might want to call Scooby Doo and company! They're really good at finding phantoms!! :) (sorry couldn't resist) I'm guessing it's the converter too

[rbev2308]

Hello, you might want to call Scooby Doo and company! They're really good at finding phantoms!! :) (sorry couldn't resist) I'm guessing it's the converter too

GOOD ONE. Had not heard that one in a while!!!

[hankaye]

tirnanah, Howdy;

Before I changed to LEDs, I only had to turn on my living area lights and the converter fan would switch on... After changing to LEDs, I can turn on every light in the coach and the converter fan still doesn't come on :)

It doesn't take much of a load to make the fan come on...

As every one of these things we enjoy is different it can only take 1 light
for you it takes several minutes for mine to turn on with 3 or 4 lights (12
volt), energized. So, when my fan cuts in as soon as I turn on a
light I know something is askew. So, ... I go check, generally it's the
batteries asking for a drink of water... As a fulltimer, the batteries are
something I check on a regular basis but in the dryness of the Southwest
they can get a tad thirsty in a shorter period of time. Sometimes. As I
said, they are all different, just thought I offer a suggestion for
something else to look at to ensure it's not overlooked. That's all.

hankaye