Buzzing noise from transformer for LED lights
I have searched these forums for anyone else having this problem and either I am the only one or my search input is not good!
Our new Compass Rallye caravan has LED lights like most caravans now and when these are turned on there is a very loud buzz coming from under the front seating. The dealer has told me this is the transformer for the LED lights and the noise is a fan that
cools the transformer when it becomes hot.
However the noise from it is really loud and very very annoying. The 12v lights are not sufficient in the caravan so we need to use the LEDs. The dealer has said .....it is what it is .... and without the fan the unit could overheat. This fan does not come
on after a while of using the LEDs it comes on immediately and very very rarely does it turn off even if we have only one LED light lit.
Has anyone else experienced this or had a solution for it. I will contact Compass but wanted to see if I am alone with this problem or have others had this issue.
Thanks for any help
Comments
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Haven't got a lunar either. Got LEDs I have never heard any buzzing noise. The advantage of LED's is low power consumption as they don't produce much heat. This transformer what is transforming? The LED's should be 12v anyway. The only thing I could
think is if your battery charger has a fan?Others may know better But I think that your dealer is talking Bull.
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You should not have this issue.
As you bought the van from the dealer, not Compass, it's up to them to sort out.
Be firm. Tell them in writing you'll reject the van if it isn't sorted.
PS: search on here (like many aspects of the forum software) is risible. Try a general google search instead.
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you are being mislead by your dealer..........the 12 volt lighting be it led or tungsten does not go through a transformer but is wired directly through the 12 volt system!!! the noise you are experiencing can only be from a faulty charger unit!!!!Get it
replaced under warranty without delay.....and do not take any nonsense!!!0 -
Very strange! Never heard of this one. Like Fozzie, my lights are all now led. Never had a buzzing or even found a transformer! I'm no electrician but if they are running off 240v perhaps that's why you have this transformer and fan? Like others sugestI would definitely nail the supplier- caravan holidays are supposed to be peaceful !!! I endorse dsweetmans comments above. I doubt it's anything todo with the lighting!
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I'm sure your 12v LEDs won't come from 240v via transformer, if they did, where would you get 12v supply when not on EHU.
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Ok I have got some more info about this - and as many replies have said this is not a transformer for LED lights it is the charging unit for the battery that has a fan attached - I picked it up wrong, so sorry about that.
The fan only comes on when the LED lights are turned on.
So I suppose now my question is - should the fan for the charger unit be so noisy that it is very audible above TV noise.
Anybody any knowledge of what the problem is and what the cure is. I know the dealer should be sorting this but they are a considerable distance away and if I can resolve it myself with members advice it would be great....anyone????
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All I can say is the fan should not be as noisy as that! In fact it should run quiet but I can't ever recall a van with a fan on the charger?? An inaudible buzzing is about all you should get! The LED lights are using very little power so why would it need
a fan? It's not going to get anything like hot!0 -
Don't think that all LED's use "very little power" the LED 'strip' lights can be up to 15W per metre, so an 80cm strip will draw an Amp, if your new van has several strips this will soon add up to enough to activate the PSU fan. My concern is the reported
volume of the fan though, you shouldn't be able to hear it over the TV, although if it's positioned underneath where you sit to watch and on an amplifying wooden board, this might explain it. With a new van, I'm afraid only the dealer of manufacturer can
remedy it though.I fitted some LED strips above my kitchen area and they do activate our PSU fan when on, although ours is barely audible and it was several trips before I even noticed.
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LEDs consume very little power compared halogens bulb an 80% reduction in power. One thought what condition is your battery in? If it's not holding any charge maybe any time there is even a small load the charger comes on. The fan should only be like
a computer fan so should be fairly quiet unless it is faulty or something is acting like a sound board due to poor installation.0 -
Ok I have got some more info about this - and as many replies have said this is not a transformer for LED lights it is the charging unit for the battery that has a fan attached - I picked it up wrong, so sorry about that.
The fan only comes on when the LED lights are turned on.
So I suppose now my question is - should the fan for the charger unit be so noisy that it is very audible above TV noise.
Anybody any knowledge of what the problem is and what the cure is. I know the dealer should be sorting this but they are a considerable distance away and if I can resolve it myself with members advice it would be great....anyone????
I had this issue on my 2004 Senator.
Cooling fan would cut in during the night when on low load, which was clearly ridiculous because it would wake us up, sleeping above it!
I complained to the dealer and he tried at first to fob me off with excuses, until i told him i was an electrical technician.
So they made enquires and fitted an updated version where the stat that controlled the fan cut in at a higher temperature. We still had the same problem, so argued that our previous Avondale never made any noise.
He then went away and made enquires eventually returning and saying he could fit a PSU/charger that would run the fan only if the current went over 8 amps, or it could have been 12 amp.
This solved the problem and we never heard the fan run again.
My present 2011 Unicorn has been quiet from day one. So insist that the charger is replaced with a fan that is current driven
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Thanks for all the replies - the fan apparenrly should only come on once 8 amps is drawn but as soon as we turn on any LED light it comes on. I will revert to the dealer again and see what they say this time now that I have some more information and a bit
more knowledge about the PSU and its workings.0 -
Thanks for all the replies - the fan apparenrly should only come on once 8 amps is drawn but as soon as we turn on any LED light it comes on. I will revert to the dealer again and see what they say this time now that I have some more information and a bit
more knowledge about the PSU and its workings.8 amps is 96W and that is an awful lot of LED lights if it was installed into your caravan I think it would scorch your eyeballs. Our Kitchen is lit by 12 Led downlights a pendant bulb and that comes to about 70w and no one says it is dim.
All that is a long way of saying either your charger is at fault or you have some faulty wiring causing a big current draw.
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I would make a note of the PSU details and google to find the technical spec, just so i knew myself what was really fitted.
And put a current meter in cicruit to get an idea of what the current is, perhaps your battery is taking the current?
I have one of these, two actually because they come in both sizes.
[url=http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/400mm-automotive-current-tester-maxi-blade-n48cy] TESTER [/url]
Make sure you get the correct one, you remove a blade type fuse place it in the tester and plug in the meter it will show the current draw. Fuse protects the meter .
Measures upto 20 amp.
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I know this is not Electrical, but I too had a mysterious fan like sound on my new van, After a bit of hunting around I realised it came from a fan fitted in the cooker, seems an anti overheating device, I'd never come across one before,
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Or it could just be that your leisure battery is goosed causing any 12v current draw to send it onto maximum charge and put the fan on?
That has occurred to me although it is a brand new battery. Anyone any idea how I could test that theory - I really am not very good with volt meters etc so is there anything else that I could turn on / off to test this. If the battery was bad would it not
lose its charge once turned off from the charger as mine is holding the charge OK0 -
Quick check of battery if you have a volt meter. Switch off mains electric, put volt meter across battery terminals and take reading. switch on all 12v lighting if battery voltage remains at or just below original reading then it would be reasonable to
assume battery is ok, However if voltage drops rapidly downwards battery is probably u/s. Chances are however now that you have stated its a new battery, is that the transformer/ charger unit is faulty as even with the fan running it should be barely audible0 -
Further to your problem i noticed you said its a loud buzzing noise which again sounds more like the transformer not functioning properly, however if it only occurs when the leds are switched on there is also the possibility of a faulty led system causing
excessive current draw. So as suggested earlier if still under warranty take to dealers.0 -
Quick check of battery if you have a volt meter. Switch off mains electric, put volt meter across battery terminals and take reading. switch on all 12v lighting if battery voltage remains at or just below original reading then it would be reasonable to
assume battery is ok, However if voltage drops rapidly downwards battery is probably u/s. Chances are however now that you have stated its a new battery, is that the transformer/ charger unit is faulty as even withQuick check of battery if you have a volt meter. Switch off mains electric, put volt meter across battery terminals and take reading. switch on all 12v lighting if battery voltage remains at or just below original reading then it would be reasonable to
assume battery is ok, However if voltage drops rapidly downwards battery is probably u/s. Chances are however now that you have stated its a new battery, is that the transformer/ charger unit is faulty as even with the fan running it should be barely audibleThanks jeff. I dont have a volt meter but could get one no prob but to test battery is ok what I did today was unplug mains lead and turned on all LEDs in the caravan and checked the voltmeter on the control panel of the caravan. Before turning on LEDs it
read 13.1v and when I turned them on it fell over about 10 minutes to 12.3v where it remained with all LEDS on for over 2 hours. I assume that shows that battery is OK?So is there a transformer for the LEDs and a fan for the charger unit in the main Power Supply Unit?
the fan running it should be barely audible
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To answer your questions:
Your battery sounds absolutely fine if it maintained 12.3V for over 2 hours and this also suggests that the LED's aren't somehow drawing a huge current.
There isn't a separate transformer for the LED's (they are powered by the 12V system in the caravan). The noise you are hearing has to be the cooling fan for the 12V 'power supply unit'. This is in fact a transformer that provides power to run the 12V
system and/or charge the battery while you are connected to mains hookup.The exact reason the LED lights are causing the fan to run is the issue. It's unlikely that they should draw sufficient current, especially if just one is turned on, so it's possible your PSU is faulty, or that LED lights 'upset' it's control circuitry,
making it 'think' that more current is being drawn than is the case. Whatever it is, all the replies so far have been clear that it "isn't right" so you should contact your dealer and insist it is remedied to your satisfaction. A van that you can't sit in
and hear the TV if you have a light on isn't fit for purpose at the end of the day - others on here have had a replacement PSU to cure the problem, so it isn't unreasonable to expect your dealer to do the same or similar IMO. I hope you can resolve it and
enjoy your new van to the full.0 -
The electronics on all the Leisure Vehicles are getting more and more complicated. Trouble is that a simple fault like not being able to turn lights on can result in a large bill for a new control panel. Gone are the days of supplying 12v to a bulb with a simple switch. It's called progress
Troubles arise when you take the LV back. The monkeys that they employ have no idea how to fix them and no one carries any parts in stock so they can swap out a unit that they may think is faulty.
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If there are no other 12v loads that you can switch in as a test try plugging something into the leisure side 12v socket. A TV would be good, or a kettlte, or a fan - whatever you have or can borrow! All of these should draw more current than the banks of LEDs so should bring on the noise if it is caused by current drain.
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