Progressive Dynamics 4655 (PD4655) noise

[waldosgone]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Wondering if you got this noise sorted out, and how your trip north is going? We are considering the Progressive upgrade.

Thanks,

Peter

Peter,

To close out my portion of the thread. I installed the replacement unit PD sent to me while I was stopped in Seattle. The noise was still there when I plugged the trailer in but we had to press north for timing...

The more we used the trailer the noise stopped and now appears occasionally. As we're using Chinook quite a bit in Alaska during the summer this may wait to the fall/winter to remove/replace (R2 from my flying days) the PD with another unit under warranty.

I do like that we've been able to keep Chinook plugged in, in our driveway, for the last several weeks. It's nice to have the fridge ready to go after work on Friday!

I'll keep this thread in mind as I shake out the PD unit. Of note, I just sold my Parallax 7355 for $200 on eBay... effectively making this a $12.97 (plus my time) upgrade. I'd say it's well worth it to learn more about the electrical system on the trailer.

James

[Phoenix]

Power supplies use "magnetics" in the form of transformers, toroid coils, etc., which can draw a lot of current. If the magnet wire is not securely bonded in place (called potting or varnishing), individual wire strands can vibrate due magnetic field fluctuation. The resultant sound can be humming, hissing, etc., with the frequency varying according to the the circuitry on the printed circuit board.

It's possible that there are some defective magnetics in the converter.

[subfan1]

Thanks For the description. My charger was ok until Sunday when after I unplugged it from shore power the blinking LED charging light indicator still kept blinking. I'm in Yosemite right now dry camping and the light is still blinking. Has anyone experienced this?

[OTRA15]

Thanks James, I have been out of town and just saw this reply. Sounds like a good plan, and yes your net cost would be hard to pass up!

subfan1, hope your charger is OK, and that you are having fun in . Do you have the intstruction manual with you? Wondering what the yellow light means . . .

Happy Trails,

Peter

Originally Posted by waldosgone

Peter,

To close out my portion of the thread. I installed the replacement unit PD sent to me while I was stopped in Seattle. The noise was still there when I plugged the trailer in but we had to press north for timing...

The more we used the trailer the noise stopped and now appears occasionally. As we're using Chinook quite a bit in Alaska during the summer this may wait to the fall/winter to remove/replace (R2 from my flying days) the PD with another unit under warranty.

I do like that we've been able to keep Chinook plugged in, in our driveway, for the last several weeks. It's nice to have the fridge ready to go after work on Friday!

I'll keep this thread in mind as I shake out the PD unit. Of note, I just sold my Parallax 7355 for $200 on eBay... effectively making this a $12.97 (plus my time) upgrade. I'd say it's well worth it to learn more about the electrical system on the trailer.

James

Originally Posted by subfan1

Thanks For the description. My charger was ok until Sunday when after I unplugged it from shore power the blinking LED charging light indicator still kept blinking. I'm in Yosemite right now dry camping and the light is still blinking. Has anyone experienced this?

[steverino]

V


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[subfan1]

Thanks for the suggestion on the manual yes I have the user guide but is of little help in terms of troubleshooting. The blinking LED light is only supposed to blink when connected to shore power and is off when dry camping.

[subfan1]

Just an update to my previous comment. I called customer service at PD this morning and asked service rep regarding blinking green LED without shore power and they told me that was normal. The part that still puzzles me is that same indicator light is used to determine charge rates when connected to shore power. Again she said it was normal.

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the update.

[LesMesa]

I came across this thread, which is a couple of months old, and hope to tag on a couple of questions.

The fan motors in my recently installed 4655 make a high-pitched electrical noise. The fans move back and forth, but they don't fully rotate, and then will eventually start rotating for a short period of time. The fans stop and then the buzzing/humming starts again. I would guess the fans are stalling because not enough power is being applied, so they buzz but don’t turn.

This is while the camper is receiving a consistent 120 volts.

1. Should I be concerned about this being a fire hazard? I’m debating cancelling a camping trip next weekend until I can get a replacement unit installed.

2. Does anyone have an idea of what dates the bad batch was manufactured? I ordered the unit Jan ’17. The retailer shipped a new old stock (Sep 2015 manf.) unit to me.

[Tater]

I'm going to guess bad fans. The fans I had in The fridge did the same thing and it was the fans.

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[Caffeinated]

Originally Posted by LesMesa

I came across this thread, which is a couple of months old, and hope to tag on a couple of questions.

The fan motors in my recently installed 4655 make a high-pitched electrical noise. The fans move back and forth, but they don't fully rotate, and then will eventually start rotating for a short period of time. The fans stop and then the buzzing/humming starts again. I would guess the fans are stalling because not enough power is being applied, so they buzz but don’t turn.

This is while the camper is receiving a consistent 120 volts.

1. Should I be concerned about this being a fire hazard? I’m debating cancelling a camping trip next weekend until I can get a replacement unit installed.

2. Does anyone have an idea of what dates the bad batch was manufactured? I ordered the unit Jan ’17. The retailer shipped a new old stock (Sep 2015 manf.) unit to me.

Give PD a call. They seem to have goid customer service. I installed my PD unit in the fall of '15 and it is dead quiet.

Mike

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by subfan1

Just an update to my previous comment. I called customer service at PD this morning and asked service rep regarding blinking green LED without shore power and they told me that was normal. The part that still puzzles me is that same indicator light is used to determine charge rates when connected to shore power. Again she said it was normal.

Has your unit continued to operate well? Wondering if you experienced any of the fan issues being reported now. We are still thinking of making the upgrade this year.

Thanks,

Peter

[Rocinante]

Yes, call Progressive Dynamics and chat with them about the noise. They have a good customer service department there.

[LesMesa]

The retailer is sending me another unit. Hopefully it will be a "new" one this time. I'll try to install it over the next week and see how it fairs. Any problems with the new one and I'll definitely call PD.

[Rocinante]

I also have a noisy PD4655 converter, as described above. They said some of them are a little noisy, though fully functional, and offered to replace mine if I like. Haven't gotten around to asking for a replacement yet.

[dkottum]

I do wear hearing aids but our PD4655 is dead quiet and Cheryl agrees. It is mounted in the living area, not the quiet bedroom. They're easy to swap out, I'd hit them up for a new one.

[Rich W]

Our PD4655 is mounted halfway between the bedroom and living area. We've been on the road about 4 weeks and last week I noticed the noise coming from that area. I flipped some of the circuit breakers and the noise stopped, flipped them on again and it started again.

It sounds like the fan(s). It's not there all the time, just comes and goes. It seems to be there more at night when I have all the lights on. Everything else is normal and the batteries are staying charged. It has to be pretty quiet for me to hear them. If the fridge cooling fan starts I can't hear the squeaky fan noise from the PD4655.

I'm not going to worry about it, it doesn't seem to be affecting anything and is possibly just a nuisance noise, there are so many, like the cardinal attacking my port side window this morning.

[PKI]

Fingers crossed we don't have an issue with the one going in today. Pat

[LesMesa]

I made it out to the camper today and installed the new (Aug '16 manufactured) PD4655. After installing it, I let it charge the batteries for an hour and it didn't make any noise. The unit I am returning started making noise within the first 30 minutes that it was installed. Fingers crossed that I got a good one this time.

[StagrLee]

100th post!

I finally swapped the fans after chatting with Progressive Dynamics on the phone. The sounds in my trailer were intermittent. The diagnostic procedure was to observe the fans on a warm day with no 12V load than lots of 12V load by turning on the lights, fantastic fans, stereo, etc.

The fans went from not moving and quite to not moving with the rattling hard drive noise, to spinning and silent. The original fans rattle when the fan controller on the circuit board is approaching the threshold voltage to turn on the fans! Interesting...

The upgraded fan is installed on the left and the old fan is on the right. You'll need two of them. If you were to buy these fans, I'd go with the ball bearing fan instead of the sleeve bearing fan Sunon KD1208PTB1 13.GN (swap 'S' for 'B' in the part number). A guy on eBay has them for $7.00 free shipping. Not looking a gift fan in the bearing, I installed the free replacements from PD.