Converter / Charger Hummmmm Driving Me Crazy

[DEITZ645]

I have a Magnetek Series 900 Model 950 50 Amp converter / charger in my 87 34' Excella 1000. It is probably original equipment. It is working fine, but the humming is driving me CRAZY. It is directly under the sofa and I hear the humming all the time, even when outside the trailer!

I have been through the threads and see that the Intelli-Power 9200 is very popular and it looks like the best price I can get is at BestConverter.com

I have two questions.
1. Are the new converter / chargers a lot quieter?
2. Is it OK to replace a 50 amp converter / charger with a 60 amp converter / charger?

I think I will be able to manage the replacement as it just seems to be two wires and a ground.

I just want to make sure I will see a significant reduction in the noise before I plunk down close to $200.00 to replace something that is working fine.

Would anybody be interested in the old Magnetek after I replace it???

Thanks in advance.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by DEITZ645

I have a Magnetek Series 900 Model 950 50 Amp converter / charger in my 87 34' Excella 1000. It is probably original equipment. It is working fine, but the humming is driving me CRAZY. It is directly under the sofa and I hear the humming all the time, even when outside the trailer!

I have been through the threads and see that the Intelli-Power 9200 is very popular and it looks like the best price I can get is at BestConverter.com

I have two questions.
1. Are the new converter / chargers a lot quieter?
2. Is it OK to replace a 50 amp converter / charger with a 60 amp converter / charger?

I think I will be able to manage the replacement as it just seems to be two wires and a ground.

I just want to make sure I will see a significant reduction in the noise before I plunk down close to $200.00 to replace something that is working fine.

Would anybody be interested in the old Magnetek after I replace it???

Thanks in advance.

Carl.

The noise is from "loose" laminations in the Univolt transformer.

You can save yourself $200.00, "IF" you are willing to do the following.

Since your going to take out the univolt anyway, you can eliminate the noise easily.

Remove the transformer. Soak it for several days in some "good" clear enamel paint, for at least one week.

Rotate the transformer, every day.

The enamel will slowly creep between the laminations, which will make them noiseless.

After one week, remove the transformer from the enamel.

Let the enamel dry for at least one week, then reinstall it.

The noise should be gone.

Andy

[overlander63]

I'm not familiar with the Magnetek, other than changing out a dead one. Is it configured like a modern converter, with at least most of the "goodies" you would find in, say, a 9200?

[DEITZ645]

Overlander,
Thanks for the reply. I sincerely doubt it has all the "goodies" that a 9200 has, as I think it is original to the trailer and looks very simple. I plan on pulling it today and will post some pictures of the antique. Maybe I will try Andy's remedy for the humming.

My wife of course thinks I am nuts because the humming does not bother her. Must be a guy thing.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by DEITZ645

My wife of course thinks I am nuts because the humming does not bother her. Must be a guy thing.

I am extremely hard of hearing, but I can feel the vibrations from the 60 cycle hum. I have the 9200, and it works very well, with no hum that I am aware of. The wife hasn't said anything either, so it must be very quiet. It does have a small fan that kicks on from time to time.
It's been months, and I haven't had to add a drop of water to the battery.

[DEITZ645]

Well I pulled the old Magnetek today to try Andy's fix of soaking it in a good clear enamel paint, but I do not think I want to attempt it, because it is a sealed unit and there are all kinds of nasty looking capacitors and resistors in there.

Can anybody answer my previous question of can I replace this 50 amp Magnatek with a 60 amp intellipower unit???

If anybody can use the old Magnatek they can have it for the cost of shipping. Just PM me and we can make the necessary arrangements. If I don't hear from anybody it will go out in the trash.

[Skater]

You can. In fact I just replaced a 32 amp unit with a 60 amp Inteli-Power. No problem!

The only possible issue would be if the new converter drew more power than the 120 volt circuit could provide, but you're not going to run into that issue just going from 50 amps DC to 60 amps DC (which works out to about 1 amp for 120 volt AC).

I got the upgraded fuse board from Best Converter, too. Although it's not strictly necessary, I think it was a good thing to do.

Here is the article I wrote on it, but you can find several more (some are linked from the BestConverter.com site), and they're all essentially the same. It's fairly easy, take your time and think through what you're doing and it'll be fine.

It looks like your unit is a bit different than the other Magneteks, so I bet yours would be even easier. Most of us have to dislodge the old components, whereas it looks like you can just unbolt the old one, bolt in the new one, and connect a couple wires.

[lewster]

Skater is correct!

You can increase the capacity of the converter with a larger unit any time you want. It simply provides more otput.

Good move, IMHO, in replacing the old conveter.............2 reasons: First, why would you want to mess with an old converter that does NOT have 3 stage battery charging and second, why would you want to mess with an old converter that does NOT have 3 stage battery charging???????????

Your batteries will thank you and your ears will too....only hearing the ocassional whisper from the cooling fan.

[Skater]

Originally Posted by lewster

....only hearing the ocassional whisper from the cooling fan.

That's what I'm hoping for. My old one had a fan that would give a "whir whir whir whir" sound when it ran. I'd hear it and wonder what was running! I imagine this one will be much quieter, and I'm hoping by going oversized like I did that the fan won't have to run very often.

[DEITZ645]

Lewster and Skater,
Thank you very much, as usual everybody on the forum is very helpful and has put me at ease.

I have the 60 amp Intellipower on order and can't wait to get it installed. This "new" second trailer is in great shape, but all the little things I am doing to this grey lady are adding up .

I know the hook up will be simple, but I have, hopefully, one last question. On the old converter there was a #4 gauge wire that terminated on a 5 amp breaker in the 12v distribution panel and according to the label on the Magnetek it is the "Power on indicator light". So I assume that is the lead that powers the red light on the control panel letting you know you are running on AC shore current. Does the intellipower have a corresponding place for that lead as well????

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by DEITZ645

Well I pulled the old Magnetek today to try Andy's fix of soaking it in a good clear enamel paint, but I do not think I want to attempt it, because it is a sealed unit and there are all kinds of nasty looking capacitors and resistors in there.

Can anybody answer my previous question of can I replace this 50 amp Magnatek with a 60 amp intellipower unit???

If anybody can use the old Magnatek they can have it for the cost of shipping. Just PM me and we can make the necessary arrangements. If I don't hear from anybody it will go out in the trash.

Carl.

You don't soak the entire Univolt.

You remove the transformer, and soak it by itself, then reinstall it.

Andy

[maccamper]

I just put a new Intellipower in our trailer after taking out the Univolt. Our unit did not have a provision to maintain the "power on" light at the control panel of the trailer. I believe a separate relay needs to be installed in order to maintain that capability, although I have not yet contacted the Intellipower technical folks to confirm that. The model we installed is the PD9245C. I probably will install that relay at some future date.

After removing the old Univolt, I noticed that one of the main wires back to the transformer had corroded nearly all the way through. If you change your mind and decide to keep the Univolt and try Andy's repair technique on the transformer, you might want to take a good look at the internal wiring while it's apart.

[Skater]

No, there's no provision for a power on light. I'm not sure how you'd wire one up, and it's probably not worth the trouble. It's probably a lot easier to do what my '91 B-van has: a GFCI 120 volt outlet with a light in it indicating the power is on.

[DEITZ645]

Andy,
I understood your previous post. I just don't like the idea of opening a sealed unit and taking the risk of having a capictor discharge on me while I was opening the unit or removing the transformer.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by DEITZ645

Andy,
I understood your previous post. I just don't like the idea of opening a sealed unit and taking the risk of having a capictor discharge on me while I was opening the unit or removing the transformer.

The capacitors carry bi more than 18 (eighteen) volts DC.

Might hurt a flea, but not a human.

If it did have the ability to hurt you, by law, it must have a warning label that states that fact, which it does not.

Andy

[rp709]

I installed the converter charger from Best Converters. It works well but the fan makes more noise than a whisper. The fan is about the same noise level as the Airstream installed Parallax unit. How quiet can converter fans be?

[lewster]

Originally Posted by rp709

I installed the converter charger from Best Converters. It works well but the fan makes more noise than a whisper. The fan is about the same noise level as the Airstream installed Parallax unit. How quiet can converter fans be?

Some are super quiet........that's why they call them 'whisper fans'.

But it all depends on the CFM that the converter needs for proper cooling.