B190 Enthusiasts

hello,
I recently noticed that when I have my 1998 190B plugged in to shore power I hear a humming almost a blowing sound coming from under the fuse panel....right below it almost looks like a vent? I never noticed this humming before? Is that my converter? is it normal to have a hum coming from that vented area under the fuse panel when plugged in?

thanks
Babsy

You're referring to the DC converter under the couch? There is a cooling fan in there that can get pretty loud.

So it's normal for the converter to be that loud when plugged into to shore power? I never noticed it before when plugged in. Is it an indication that my converter is going out? Only thing different that I did notice is that I accidently ran over the power cord with my car and the tire was on top of the cord and smashed it a bit....could that cause a problem?

Thanks
Babsy

The wheel on the cable shouldn't affect anything. Wouldn't worry about that.

The fan doesn't necessarily mean your converter is going bad - but could mean the fan is! I remember with mine, one day it was just really noticeable. I want to say it runs when the house battery is charging (ie: lots of current going to the battery from the converter, so the fan kicks on to keep everything cool - can anyone else confirm?!?!), so you would hear it at times when plugged in to shore power. (I've since replaced the stock converter - the new fan comes on when charging the battery, or when there's a heavy DC load - ie: the MaxxFan)

The converter has a fan to help cool itself, which will run on hot days. You have to check your voltage to see if the converter is dying. If it still has the original, I'd upgrade it anyway, because the cheap single stage converters these came with will destroy batteries quickly, unless you're very careful.

it must have been the fan since it was a bit hot out. The humming eventually went away and the converter seems to be working fine. thanks for all the help.

babsy wrote:it must have been the fan since it was a bit hot out. The humming eventually went away and the converter seems to be working fine. thanks for all the help.

Glad the noise disappeared. However, as others have suggested, you may have the original single-stage converter/charger. If so, you should give some consideration to upgrading to a multi-stage charger. The multi-stage charger is much better for your "house" battery as it's a smart charger so it puts out a charge level commensurate with how much charge your batteries need. The original single-stage charger can boil your battery dry if you're not careful. There are several multi-stage chargers available and they are drop-in replacements. Look up the existing threads for more details.

Good luck.