Progressive Dynamics 4655 (PD4655) noise

[waldosgone]

I upgraded the Parallax converter to PD4655 and it's been working well but there now seems to be a sound coming from it that wasn't there before.

It sounds like a computer hard drive needle moving across the platter and I initially thought it was a fan but I watched both fans and can't tie the sound to a fan activation. I also checked the fridge fan and it wasn't moving when the sound was being produced.

Has anyone else had this issue and diagnosed/fixed it?

[StagrLee]

I have the same noise. Sounds exactly like an old hard drive!

[nvestysly]

Be sure to double-check the fans. It may appear the noise is not coming from the fans but that's the most likely case in my opinion.

In my career as a mechanical engineer in the electronics industry I specified fans for electronic equipment and diagnosed many fan/noise problems. It may appear the fan is running fine but more diagnosis is needed.

You can easily stop the fan by gently but firmly pressing your thumb on the center rotor of the fan hub. Keep your fingers away from the blades - just push on the center hub to create sufficient friction to stop the fan. Even if you can't stop the fan you'll be able to slow the rotation sufficiently to determine if the noise is coming from the fan.

In addition, a friend of ours had exactly the same noise problem. Looking at the fans rotate provided no indication of problem. Slowing and stopping the fan provided instant identification of the noise source.

Be aware these fans start and stop on their own depending on load factors in the PD unit. During startup is when the noise sometimes comes from the fan. Once the fan is running the fan may not make noise.

Another source of noise is the fan control circuit that turns the fan on and off. Many of these circuits use a device or series of devices to increase and decrease voltage to the fan. These circuits can sometimes hum.

If it's the fan it's a simple fix and may be covered under warranty. Call PD to check. Even if it's the circuit board it can be replaced.

By the way, the friend who experienced this problem had an out-of-box failure. That is, the noise was present from day one. PD may be aware of the issue and willing to fix/replace your unit.

[tevake]

Yes progressive Dynamics has had a bad batch of those units. I went thru two units that made too much noise right out of the box. Before finally getting one that ran quietly.
They were very responsive to the issue. And finally did a bench on the one that did work correctly, before they sent it out.

Sure was a struggle, but now I can change it out in record time after all the practice.

Cheers Richard

[TG Twinkie]

I did not know hard drives had needles. Learn something new every day.

[OTRA15]

Wondering if you guys have an update on this, in terms of tevake's comment about the mfg. having a batch of bad units? We are thinking of making the same upgrade.

Thanks,

Peter

Originally Posted by waldosgone

I upgraded the Parallax converter to PD4655 and it's been working well but there now seems to be a sound coming from it that wasn't there before.

It sounds like a computer hard drive needle moving across the platter and I initially thought it was a fan but I watched both fans and can't tie the sound to a fan activation. I also checked the fridge fan and it wasn't moving when the sound was being produced.

Has anyone else had this issue and diagnosed/fixed it?

Originally Posted by StagrLee

I have the same noise. Sounds exactly like an old hard drive!

[waldosgone]

All,

Some follow up for all those who are interested:

1. I contacted Progressive Dynamics and they are forwarding a new unit to me so I can swap out the old one. They were very accomodating and their service department seems to think it's a bad transformer.

2. When I talked to their service department based on the light on the circuit board my charge wizard may not have been coming out of bulk charge. This contributed, IMO, to both of my batteries boiling over. I came home to the rotten egg smell and once I got near the battery box I knew what had happened. This accelerated my timeline to get 2x 6v batteries installed. I'm having the battery box modified and won't hook the new batteries up until I swap the charge controller.

I'll let you know as I find out more.

[OTRA15]

Thanks waldosgone for the update.

Peter

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by lewster

. . .
If you have the combo power center, then you need the PD-4655, which is a direct replacement.
. . .

Wondering if you could chime in here about the apparent bad batch of Progressive 4655 units? Do you feel that this possible manufacturing problem is safely behind us?

Thanks,

Peter

[Dingo Girl]

Thanks I'll be watching this thread for updates.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by TG Twinkie

I did not know hard drives had needles. Learn something new every day.

Only the older vinyl ones And you had to turn them over to get the data on the B side.

[subfan1]

I ordered and replaced our unit last July 2015 and is working fine. I hope it is compatible with our Lifeline batteries I am now using. I think I remember asking that question before I bought it.
I wonder what the timeline is on the units that are suspected to be bad?

[waldosgone]

I dropped in the replacement as provided by PD and the sound is still present; I only changed the power center but didn't replace the fuse board. The fuse board seems to be functioning as advertised (lights/voltage change based on the status of the battery.)

I'm wondering if PD is still running through their bad batch of power centers. With this neither fan is running (confirmed via visual inspection and using the "push" technique described above).

"Coincidence is not causality" Our stock group 24s boiled over the other day and after a conversation with the PD service department there is no way to tell if the bad transformer (what they assessed the problem was) was the cause of the issue. So I upgraded to the 6v in series for more power and new Costco (Interstate branded) batteries.

I wonder if I'm just being unreasonable as to how quiet I feel this should be? I know what a computer fan should sound like but this exceeds that.

We're going to press North to Alaska and I'll reengage with the PD folks when we get there.

[waldosgone]

Originally Posted by tevake

Yes progressive Dynamics has had a bad batch of those units. I went thru two units that made too much noise right out of the box. Before finally getting one that ran quietly.
They were very responsive to the issue. And finally did a bench on the one that did work correctly, before they sent it out.

Sure was a struggle, but now I can change it out in record time after all the practice.

Cheers Richard

Is yours silent or does it make some noise?

[OTRA15]

waldosgone, I see you replied on that older thread, so I have multi-quoted some of the earlier posters there [so they will receive email notifications about being quoted]. Hopefully they will be able to help out here. Good luck on the push north with Chinook!

Have you all been happy with your PD4655, and could you all comment on the noise issue being raised here? We are also considering this upgrade, but want to make sure the noise issue is resolved first.

Thanks,

Peter

Originally Posted by Steamy1

I had purchased and installed a PD4655 for our Bambi several years ago. it worked great with the two-6 volt Lifeline batteries. we could go almost 5-days boon docking, using the furnace in the morning, taking showers, LED reading lights at night, listening to Sirius satellite radio. I had purchased the PD and batteries from Randy at Best converter. The cooling fan hardly ever runs. Maybe just in boost mode after usage with the volts down to 12.06 of so.
we just recently purchased a 2015 23FB, and I wanted to replicate the Bambi system, so I purchased a PD4655, again from Best, and installed it. As soon as I connected it, the cooling fan came on and has run continuously as long as we are plugged it. Thinking the Interstates were shot from sitting on the dealers lot, I installed my Lifelines from the Bambi, which I know are good, and the fan continues to run. Called the PD tech, and they said it was a defective unit, and to return to the retailer for an exchange. Waiting on shipping and return instructions from Best. They gave me the address but no info on the shipping expense. I certainly hope that they would not expect me to pay to return a defective unit.

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

With no AC power, mine was flashing. Flash rate may depend on state of charge. I don't remember what mine was doing, but it may have been flashing at a rate other than those defined in the manual.

Al

Originally Posted by mrprez

I'll have to check mine to see what is going on when not on shore power.

Sorry, yes it is in Use mode all the time.

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Now that I have a 3 stage converter I leave the Use/Store switch to Use all the time except in storage. I also disconnect the battery while in storage.

So all you PD4655 owners let me know if the Charge Wizard LED is lit when not connected to shore power.

Thanks

Kelvin

Originally Posted by Arcticfox

Thanks for the link and answer. When you say you never touch the "use/store Switch" I'm assuming you just leave it in "USE"?
Thanks

Doug

Originally Posted by switz

The single stage OEM Parallax converter unit was on my list of things to replace on our new 2013 25FB International Serenity along with the GYM tires as soon as I got the unit home from the dealership in October of 2012.

While the replacement multistage unit fit as advertised, the relocation of the incoming wire connection posts on the new board required some creative efforts to gain several more inches of "loose" wire in order to make those connections under the cross frame queen bed.

Originally Posted by waldosgone

Is yours silent or does it make some noise?

[waldosgone]

Thanks Peter, I didn't know they would get notifications if they were quoted. I'll keep that in my proverbial bag of tricks from now on.

James

[OTRA15]

Yes James that trick works even years later, unless they have toggled off their notifications in the User Control Panel. [under Quick Links at top right menu bar] Or unless they have stopped being active here obviously.

You can shorten the quotes by deleting text inside the brackets, and add ellipses to indicate . . . the deletions. This cleans up the look, but I did not have time this morning to do that, so I put my comment above all the quotes.

Also the multi-quote button to the right of the Quote button is helpful in collecting disparate people into one thread. When you multi-quote from different threads, however, you have to look under your text composition box for the site's query about including quotes from other threads. Hard to describe but pretty obvious if you try it a time or two.

Good luck.

Peter

[OTRA15]

FYI another PD4655 installation, where I linked this thread for comment.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449...-a-152200.html

Hope Chinook is finding favorable winds heading north!

Peter

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by waldosgone

Thanks Peter, I didn't know they would get notifications if they were quoted. I'll keep that in my proverbial bag of tricks from now on.

James

Michael reports in that other thread that the mfg. has fixed the problem FWIW.

Hope that Chinook is finding favorable winds on the way North!

Peter

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by waldosgone

Is yours silent or does it make some noise?

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

Thanks,

Peter