Fan noise

Submitted: Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 18:09

ThreadID: 89797 Views:2764 Replies:3 FollowUps:9

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Member - Ron W3

Hello, new member looking for advice. We have 2 x 120 batteries under the bed. We have a fan that is working there also, that came as the set up. Now I can tell you that at night during warm weather, 37 at the moment in Mildura, the fan is working all-night on a cycle of 10 min off by 3 min on. As we get older, we are sure it's getting louder. Is it necessary for this to be operating at night? can it be isolated? put a timer on it? Also what purpose is it here for. Very green when it comes to that. Look forward to advise that will give us a quiet night while we travel. Thanks

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Reply By: Ozhumvee - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 18:14

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 18:14

I hope the batteries under the bed are in a sealed bin which is only vented to the outside world as required by Aussie standards.
I'd guess the fan may be either in a 240v charger or an inverter etc which should not be in the same compartment as the batteries.
If the batteries are not in an externally vented enclosure then one day you could find yourselves rudely awoken if the batteries were to gas and the gas was ignited by an ignition source.

AnswerID: 468762

Follow Up By: Member - Ron W3 - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 18:32

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 18:32

Thanks, the batteries are in seperate sealed containers. The fan is approx 18" from the batteries in its own sealed/vented box. The van is a Roadster Voyager, not that is anything to go by probably, about 5 yrs old. Batteries are 18 mths old.

FollowupID: 743061

Follow Up By: Ozhumvee - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 18:48

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 18:48

So what does the fan do?what is it ventilating?

FollowupID: 743066

Follow Up By: Member - Ron W3 - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 19:21

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 19:21

The fan is inside the smart charger, and seems to just use the under bed space to vent to

FollowupID: 743069

Follow Up By: Ozhumvee - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 20:53

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 20:53

Surely the charger can be turned off at night which would solve the problem.
Could in fact be beneficial for the batteries to be discharged a bit and then recharged during the day.

FollowupID: 743077

Follow Up By: oldtrack123 - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 21:17

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 21:17

Hi
Re;'quote] Ozhumvee posted:
Surely the charger can be turned off at night which would solve the problem.
Could in fact be beneficial for the batteries to be discharged a bit and then recharged during the day' [end quote]

It would be advisable to first find out why the charger is putting out sufficient current to require the fan to run!
[1] Have the batteries had heavy use during the day ??[low on charge]
[2]what is running off the batteries @ night??
[3[Is one or both batteries faulty??[lost capacity or cell shorts]

Some one with a voltmeter could possibly give the batteries a rough test to see if they are possibly faulty

THAT is the first thing to do

L A batteries do not require cycling! , every cycle [even shallow ] is a one less cycle out of their limited life.!!

Peter

FollowupID: 743082

Follow Up By: Member - Ron W3 - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 22:26

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 22:26

Thanks for your help. The batteries run lights in the van, and 12 volt pump, which is only used on the road. As we are either on power at a park, connected to an Anderson plug or plug into home power, there is little draw on the batteries. At night we may have 1-2 lights on for a few hours, but that is it. But, depending on the ambient temperature, the fan works even during the day off and on when there is no drawing. Is it possible to put a timer on the power point that the smart charger is connected to? Say off 11 pm to 8 am. Maybe I'm just getting paraniod about the sound, that of a fan operating 25cm from our heads!

FollowupID: 743086

Follow Up By: oldtrack123 - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 23:26

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 23:26

Hi Ron

Yes you could put a timer on the power point ,timed for the charger to be switched off @ night

What are the charger details , brand,model # etc?

But I think you may have other problems , with most, the charger fan should only run when the charger gets hot
The charger should only get hot if it is working hard.
With no load on the batteries @ night it should have no reason to run the fan
Have you checked the batteries?if flooded wet cells, have they been topped up with distilled water?
Do you have a voltmeter to check the battery voltage?
Has it been like it all along or just started?

Peter

FollowupID: 743096

Reply By: Member - John and Val - Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 19:45

Friday, Oct 28, 2011 at 19:45

Ron,

Sounds like the fan is in the charger so you can't really just turn it off. Depending on just what noise is bothering you, there may be a simple solution - if it's the noise of rushing air, you may have to move the charger, but if it's vibrating you may be able to leave it where it is, but give the charger some rubber mounts to isolate it from the "sounding board". Could also be bad bearings in the fan. An option might be to run a small computer fan (very quiet) rather than the inbuilt fan.

Perhaps it could be moved? Provided you use heavy cable, it should be ok to move it a couple of metres so it isn't straight under your bed.

Peter has raised some good points too. It would be good to discharge the hot air from the fan outside the vehicle. The last thing you need on a hot night is a fan heater inside the van!

HTH

John

J and V
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AnswerID: 468766

Reply By: John B - Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 at 09:23

Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 at 09:23

Mine did the same although caravan Coromal Pop Top has battery and charger at the front double bed at the rear. I could here the fan on the charger every 20 mins or so.
Problem now solved by removing FAULTY battery and fitting new 110 amp AGM battery.

AnswerID: 468805

Follow Up By: Member - Ron W3 - Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 at 12:55

Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 at 12:55

It is a smart charger BC-012-40A. Will be puttung a timer on tonight to isolate between 11 pm and 8 am see how it goes. Thanks for all the excellent advice

FollowupID: 743127