Engle compressor noise
Submitted: Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 13:21
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Brian B4
I have a 21 litre Engel (
Grey), that I have had for a few years.
It has been in the garage a while, just cranked it up, when on 12 volt
it doesnt make much noise, but when running it on 240 volt, it seems very noisey?
Any ideas?
Reply By: Notso - Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 16:48
Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 16:48
Is it cooling on 12 volt? Is it cooling on 240 volt?
AnswerID:
592107
Follow Up By: Brian B4 - Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 17:42
Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 17:42
It gets cold on both voltages
FollowupID:
860218
Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 19:15
Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 19:15
Very strange Brian,
It is my understanding that when running on 12vdc, the voltage is stepped up to 24vdc and when running on 240vac, the voltage is converted to 24vdc.
In either case the fridge is actually running on 24vdc and the noise shouldn't be any different from any input source.
Perhaps with the vintage of your fridge, the voltage conversion from 240vac to 24vdc is done through older technology and it is this that is the cause of the noise. You could either put up with the noise if the fridge is still cooling OK, or take it to a service agent, who will charge something like $50 to
check it out.
AnswerID:
592113
Follow Up By: Ross M - Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 00:52
Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 00:52
The oscillating compressor in an Engel is driven by around 22 to 24v alternating DC so effectively AC as it switched to drive the solenoid piston each way.
As I understand it,
The 240 V is used/ transformer/ed down to 12v and rectified to DC and that voltage being the same as battery 12v or close to, is used to run the oscillator as the battery does.
FollowupID:
860250
Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 07:34
Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 07:34
Ross,
Have read your reply and it doesn't make sense to me.
The second paragraph contradicts the first?
FollowupID:
860254
Follow Up By: bobsabobsa - Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 09:17
Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 09:17
Compressors are 20 volts AC
240 volt to 20 volt ac
12 volt dc to 20 volt ac using an inverter
white man's magic
FollowupID:
860260
Reply By: member - mazcan - Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:17
Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:17
hi Brian B4
i would suggest it.s probably the rubber grommets that the motor is mounted on need replacing i had to replace them on an old
grey 29ltr that i had cheers
AnswerID:
592123
Follow Up By: Brian B4 - Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:39
Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:39
Thanks for that, will do it after we spend a quiet week away camping up at
Shark Bay
FollowupID:
860246
Reply By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:25
Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:25
Hi Brian,
Can you describe the "noise". Is it a hum or a buzz or what?
Does it sound the same frequency as a loudspeaker when the amplifier picks up the mains interference?
AnswerID:
592124
Follow Up By: Brian B4 - Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:37
Thursday, Oct 29, 2015 at 23:37
More of humm...
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860245
Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 00:27
Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 00:27
It is possibly coming from the mains converter module. This converts the 230v mains to 24vdc and in doing so produces a magnetic field. Some stray field may be causing a vibration in the converter housing. You could try pushing the housing a little to see if the noise stops and if so pack it to hold it in a quiet position.
It is unlikely to be a fault in the converter otherwise the compressor would not be operating and cooling properly.
Engel compressors do make a bit of humming noise but it should be the same on 12v or 230v.
FollowupID:
860248
Reply By: bobsabobsa - Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 09:20
Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 09:20
check the transformer inverter is bolt in tight they can vibrate if a tad loose
they sort of clip in and have a couple of screws to secure in place
bob
AnswerID:
592129
Follow Up By: bobsabobsa - Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 09:22
Friday, Oct 30, 2015 at 09:22
bugger did not expand it all
Allan is right on the money
bob
FollowupID:
860261
Reply By: Member - Blue M - Saturday, Oct 31, 2015 at 01:46
Saturday, Oct 31, 2015 at 01:46
Brian B4,
I have a 40 and a 30 litre Engel running on 240v at the moment in the spare room at
home.
The noise changes daily on both of them.
I usual
check the temps when I get up in the mornings (around 11:00am) and last thing of a night before going to bed.
One day they will be purring like a kitten and you can hardly hear them running.
The next day one or both may run a bit noisier, the next time maybe running quiet.
I used to worry about them but it doesn't worry me any more.
But like you, when I run them on 12v they don't seem to as noisy.
I have noticed that when both are running on 240v they never kick in on the first attempt, so I may be getting a problem with both of them myself.
The 40 litre is 8 years old and the 30 litre is about 2.5 years old.
Cheers
AnswerID:
592169