mysterious converter noise - Luxury Coach Lifestyles
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 12-01-2012, 12:19 AM   #1
DavidBall
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 74
Default mysterious converter noise

Two nights ago we had a lot of wind and rain and as I turned off my computer and TV to go to bed I noticed a strange noise coming from where my converter is located. It sounded like a fan hitting something.

Upon inspection I noticed that I had no shore power yet I was getting this noise from the converter area which seemed to be more like a relay rapidly switching on and off.

I went outside and discovered that a limb had fallen on the shore power pole and knocked my plug almost out of the box, the plug's tips were barely in their sockets. I plugged the coach back in and when I went back inside the sound was gone.

Does anybody have any ideas what my mysterious noise was?

David Ball
__________________

__________________
David & Maria Ball
1989 Newell Owner
DavidBall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2012, 03:24 PM   #2
The Newell
Senior Member
 
The Newell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,018
Default

David,

IT sounds to me like the power was going on and off at the plug and rapidly kicking the converter on and off...probably arcing a little too ??
__________________

__________________
1976 Newell Classic (Sold)

Home Base: Riverside, CA

If anyone needs my contact info private message me and I will send it to you.

-Joseph-
The Newell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2012, 06:24 PM   #3
GringoPhil
Senior Member
 
GringoPhil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Armenia, Wisconsin
Posts: 278
Default

the sound inside [i would think] was your converter clicking in an out....
__________________
1983 Newell Coach
GringoPhil is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2012, 06:25 PM   #4
DavidBall
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 74
Default

It would have to be arcing I suppose. The sound was rapid and similar to the sound made by a baseball card clipped to your bicycle's rear fender strut and allowed to hit the spokes
__________________
David & Maria Ball
1989 Newell Owner
DavidBall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2012, 11:54 PM   #5
Newell Boss
Member
 
Newell Boss's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 64
Default

Did you mention what make and model converter you have?

Some rigs may have a converter that does indeed have a relay.. If the plug was barely making contact then as the converter engaged it pulled in a relay, this caused the current draw on the power cord to increase and with the "Just barely" contact at the pole it dropped the voltage, now the converter drops out, this causes the relay to release to the "No-shore power" condition. and the load on the cord is reduced, now the poor connection is able to bring the voltage back up and the relay pulls in again.

And sometimes fans in converters run even when there is no shore power. they are usually 12vdc fans and t-stat controlled.
Newell Boss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2012, 04:09 PM   #6
Chester B. Stone, Jr.
Senior Member
 
Chester B. Stone, Jr.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Sam Carlos, Sonora, Mex.
Posts: 407
Default

Are we discussing converters or inverters?
__________________

__________________
2001 Newell #579
tow a 2011 Honda Odyssey
1935 Mercedes 500K replica
Chester B. Stone, Jr. is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Inside The $500,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Aviator bigcatwally Off-Topic Discussions & Humor 2 12-01-2012 11:56 PM
Newell Aligns with Tom Johnson Camping Center fulltiming General Technical Discussion 1 02-24-2012 09:55 PM
1994 Newell owners manual champcar50 General Technical Discussion 1 02-18-2012 11:07 PM
shocks encantotom Major Mechanicals 1 11-05-2007 01:48 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Newell Coach Corporation or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:52 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
×