Strange electrical motor running under my bed. Is it a converter??

[JudyJB]

I left my rig parked for four days last week, operating under battery power with my two furnaces running on low to prevent freezing.  When I drove off to my next site, I noticed that evening that there was a motor of some sort running under my bed in a sealed compartment where i can't get to it without ondoing a bunch of screws. 

I have a front furnace, and a back furnace that is located in that same spot under my bed.  Until I could get it checked, I pulled the circuit breaker and turned it off.  Then today, 5 days later, I noticed a brown-out situation with my lights, even though I am connected to shore power.  A neighbor came over and said it was probably a sine-wave generator (??) and I should turn it back on to recharge the batteries, which I did. My lights went back to normal.

it is several hours later and it is still running.  I have never heard this motor before, either hooked up to shore power or working on batteries.  I don't want to damage anything in my 6 month old motorhome, but what the heck is this thing??  I am going to turn it off again with the circuit breaker tonight because I can't sleep with the noise, slight as it is. 

I'm going to call the factory tomorrow, but in the meantime, does anyone have any idea what this is and why this motor is still running??

Oh, I had been running a small electric heater, which I have shut off.  I have run this heater before with never any problems.  Also, the furnace motor works when I turn the circuit breaker back on and it sounds differnt, so I don't think it is the furnace blower motor that is running.

 

[SeilerBird]

It could be your water pump. If it has a small air leak it can run continuously. Look for a switch around the RV labeled Water Pump and turn it off and see if the sound stops.

 

[NY_Dutch]

Does it sound like is might be a small fan running? There's often a cooling fan in the converter housing that's thermostatically controlled. If your converter is working harder to charge the batteries back up, it's likely running a bit hotter than normal.

 

[Irover]

I believe the Converter fan is running as the charger for the house batteries is running. Irover

 

[harris155]

It could also be a wet bay heater fan unit being triggered by low temperatures, around 40'F.
Ours is just audible inside the rear bedroom.
Ours does have a indicating light when they were armed and another when in service. Lights can burn out

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The converter/charger has a fan that runs if it gets warm, but it would never run if not connected to shore power (or generator running). Judy seems to say she heard the noise while on battery (or while driving?), so that would seem to rule out the converter fan. Perhaps Judy could be a bit more specific about just when the noise occurs, because everything else points to the converter fan as the source.

If it is the converter/charger fan, the likely reason is that the house batteries are failing (or perhaps just low on water in the cells) and the charger is working overtime trying to bring them up to snuff. Check the water in the battery cells and add distilled water as needed. If that doesn't do it, it may be time for new batteries.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Gary it shouldn't be bad batteries as the OP says the coach is only 6 months old.  I know that I get a hum when plugged into 110 that comes from the charger, but that sounds totally different from what is being described here.  I like Harris' guess, but best get it into service to track it down, the coach should still be under warantee

Ed

 

[UncleShiloh]

I will vote with them say its the water pump. If that aint it i will agree with the other folks. On my rig that is usually a sign its out of water or there is a leak in the line. Some of the pumps it tears em up to run without water. Now the one I got now they say it dont hurt to run it dry...but wouldnt bet my life on it. Will sure run the battery down at least.

 

[1275gtsport]

I have no idea what it might be and would only be guessing.

however a couple of points.

1. noise was noticed AFTER running the 2 furnaces for 4 DAYS, on BATTERY power.
2. when the OP got to the next site, we do know the site has power as the lights went dim after 5 days with the breaker off and went back to normal when turned back on.
3. the rig (whatever it is) is only 6 months old. we can guess that the batteries are not much older.

I would guess that it is simply the charging system working as it should.
I am confused as to why it is in a "sealed" space.

Let us know what it turns out to be.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

All good comments above - there are several possibilities based on the limited data available and JudyB hasn't been back top provide more input.

I wish I could share the confidence  that some of you have in "new" batteries, but I've seen too many that were physically bad or simply low on water due to lack of maintenance.

 

[JudyJB]

I called CoachNet and got some information.  Turns out it was my converter fan.  I had turned off the circuit breaker so was not letting it do its job.

What I did not realize was that even when I was hooked up to power, my lights were still 12 volt and running off the batteries.  The converter was trying to charge the batteries, but I had prevented that by pulling the circuit breaker, hence the brownout.  Now that I have turned the power back on, the converter did its job and charged my batteries, then turned off. 

I had no idea that this was under the bed in the same compartment as the rear furnace, so it had worried me when it ran for so long.  At least now, when I hear it run, I will know what it is. 

I know batteries are good because they were just checked and water added two weeks ago at the factory service center. 

Thanks all.  I panicked and did all the wrong things.  Problem is now solved.  It took CoachNet to really explain it to me, however, so I will definitely be renewing in the spring!!

 

[SeilerBird]

Thanks all.  I panicked and did all the wrong things.  Problem is now solved.  It took CoachNet to really explain it to me, however, so I will definitely be renewing in the spring!!

Contrary to what some people think, CoachNet is great at helping with technical problems like you were having. CoachNet is worth it's weight in gold.

 

[Ernie Ekberg]

Contrary to what some people think, CoachNet is great at helping with technical problems like you were having. CoachNet is worth it's weight in gold.

absolutely- pay the price- you'll be glad you did