# Noise from Battery Charger



## 97075 (Dec 30, 2005)

Hi,

We have just ventured (this week!) into the realms of owning a Motorhome after a few years of towing a big white box behind the car!

Having linked up to the mains last night to test things out I was surprised to "hear" the battery charger. I would go as far as saying it was noisy (fan etc) - enough to disturb sleep. Having had Swift caravans before I was surprised to find this on a Motorhome.

My question... Is this normal?

Thanks in advance.


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hi MarkM
How old and what make is the battery charger? Is it a cooling fan you can hear? If so maybe the fan needs replacing. Sometimes the transformers used in these devices are not high quality and they "sing", in other words you hear a high pitched kind of whine from them, this is caused by the separate laminations vibrating together when the AC is applied, only way to fix that is to change the transformer. This is mostly caused by the aging process I believe.

I hope this helps

Keith


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

kands said:


> they "sing", in other words you hear a high pitched kind of whine from them, this is caused by the separate laminations vibrating together when the AC is applied


I found this happens with CC wardens ... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I agree with Keith .... you could also check for dirt in the fan, a loose cover or holding down screws..


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## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

It can also occur if the polarity is reversed whilst on hook-up I found out recently!


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi Markm

New Autosleepers and many other makes have a power unit/charger with a built in cooling fan. I was amazed to notice, when looking round a new van at Shepton show that there was a charger inside a wardrobe that had been running all day powering the lights. It had heated the wardrobe......great for drying those damp clothes :lol: and the fan was making quite a lot of noise attempting to keep the charger cool.

The charger was a Sargent, charger /power unit /distribution panel , it looked well made ...not sure which one it is ...but web page link below

Link to sargent charger web site <<<<click

If your charger makes too much noise at night maybe you can just switch it off and run on the battery while you sleep....it will soon make up any battery charge necessary when you put it back on in the morning.

Mike


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

Sounds like a Sargent charger, ours has one but is far enough away from the bed to be a real problem but sometimes we turn it off as its good for the leisure battery to do some work!


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## 89118 (May 14, 2005)

yes i have an 05 autotrail dakota ,the charger is in a wall cupboard when its on theres a cooling fan running as well it is noisy so i turn it off at night or any time i need peace .


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## 91645 (May 1, 2005)

HI MarkM
If the fan of the battery charger is running then somewhere a 12 V appliance or light takes the power. If you notice that, go to your 12V distribution panel and start pulling the fuses one by one. If the fan stops you at least know which circuit is pulling the amps from the charger and then you can shut down or switch off things. If it does not stop at all it means that the chager is charging your battery but that action should stop sometime. If not then you disconnect the minus pole of your battery and now the fan must stop. Now you have 2 possibilities either there is something wrong withn your charger or the battery.
I once had a US made charger which drove us crazy because of its humming sound. I threw this one out and bought a mastervolt with two outlets one for the coach and one for the starter battery. This fan you can hear also slightly too but if we go to sleep there are no users and the fan stops. Hope you can find the source.


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## Robin (May 1, 2005)

This is the same in our Bessacar - it is the fan on the Sargant charger. The fan is on ALL the time that the charger is switched on and yes, it is normal. It is ANNOYING and I wish there was a way around it, but as the charger runs very hot I expect there isn't a way. I switch the thing off when the battery is charged and before going to bed. It does beg the question as to whether this charger is properly regulated - does anyone know the answer to that?
HTH
Robin


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## 97075 (Dec 30, 2005)

Thanks for all the info so far.

Yes the charger is a Sargent. My dealer has just changed it for me as they told me there was an issue with fan noise on 2yr old models.

Guess what - no difference. :roll: 

I think I will just have to accept the fact that I have to switch it off at night. My main issue with this action is that I have had Swift caravans for years and whilst I have had 110ah batteries in those I have never had charger noise. It must simply be down to the fact that they have built everything, including distribution panel, into one unit, whereas on the caravans they are seperate.

Thanks again everyone.

MarkM


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## Robin (May 1, 2005)

MarkM said:


> Thanks for all the info so far.
> 
> . My main issue with this action is that I have had Swift caravans for years and whilst I have had 110ah batteries in those I have never had charger noise. .
> 
> MarkM


A case of....
Change is Mandatory - Progress is Optional - or
Why make something simple when you make it complicated (and charge more) without any added benefit to the consumer.


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## ojibway (May 9, 2005)

Hi, MarkM and others, following your discussion on the noise problem with your battery charger leads me to put forward my problem!
Our Rapido 942M has a *Schreiber *charger/coupler/separator, located under the bed, which buzzes the whole time we are on hook-up. This is not a major problem in itself except that it changes pitch the whole time. When the lights are on they brighten and dim on a 5 second cycle and this is really annoying.
I have noticed that the voltages indicated on the panel shows *13.6v peak and 12.4v low.*
We have the vehicle permanently hooked up at home and I don't believe the batteries ever reach their max as they show *12.4v* when un-hooked.
Has anyone any suggestions as to why this is happening and what I can do about it.
Thanks, Mike


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## 91645 (May 1, 2005)

Hi everybody:
The only thing I can say is that if manufacturers start combining functions in one device they have to make some compromises in order to reach the goal:
CHEAPER!! and finally the customer ends up with a poor design.
As said before I already threw out two chargers but that was relatively easy becaus they were single purpose devices but I am sure that someone can come up with a scheme to split the functions or maybe yourself because all these things are on the market seperately.
Good luck


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## 89358 (May 20, 2005)

Our Rapido 710F Charger buzzes and pulses too up and down, but only when you put the lights on!

We also have a recent problem too. The Leisure battery died before Christmas and I replaced it. Since then the engine charges the vehicle battery and then the leisure battery OK. But when connected to the mains it seems to have have lost the ability to charge the leisure battery and then the vehicle battery. I believe the Coupler/Separator to be at fault.

Has anyone experience of repair/replacement or having one replaced ?

We still have a dealer warranty until June so want to resolve this asap.


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## cynigy (Mar 19, 2007)

*Noisy charger on Rapido*

The battery charger in our Rapido 786F has become increasingly noisy in the last few months - mostly at night, when you really want it to be quiet!

I opened it up (with mains disconnected!) to see if anything was loose inside, but all was well. I suspect that the big chunky tranformer sets up some kind of electro-mechanical vibration which is then transmitted via the mounting screws to the wooden panel the charger is mounted on.

At any rate, I refitted the charger and wedged a bit of foam underneath between the charger case and the wheel arch where it's mounted, and haven't had a peep out of it since.

In the long term I intend to renew the rubber grommets for the mounting screws and perhaps install a more permanent foam layer underneath, but for the moment it's behaving itself.

Hope this is of help to those with a similar problem.

Nigel


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