Dead Battery and High Pitched Whine

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: High pitched sound while running Alde heater on electric.

nbrandt

Did a search for "high pitched whine" and it looks like I'm not alone.  I have a new never used yet 2018 T@B 400 with roof mounted solar panels and 1200 watt inverter.

Everything seemed fine.

A friend allows me to store the trailer at his place in the country.  He texted me late last week that there was a high pitched whine coming from the trailer.  It had been there for 12 days.  I had turned the red electric switch to off.  As he looked in the trailer he noted that the battery was completely depleted according to the gauge. 

I gave him the electrical cord and as we saw each other over the weekend and when he plugged it in he said that whining noise went away.

a. What is this noise?

b. What on earth would draw that battery down like that with the cutoff switch turned to off?

DenisP

@nbrandt , I have the same camper (2018 400 with solar) to answer the battery question I have a question. Did he check the gauge with the switch off?  The gauges don’t work with the battery cutoff off. 
Are you sure the battery was fully charged when it was stored?  Did you check the circuit breaker near the shut off?
I have stored my 400 since October covered with the exception of an 18 day trip to Florida and it remains fully charged with the battery switch off. The solar panels keep the batteries topped off even with a cover with a white roof. 

Verna

@nbrandt if you have the Victron battery monitor, you can have an alarm set for low battery voltage. I have not heard that alarm, but it’s worth looking at your settings. 

ScottG

I've split this discussion out as it doesn't necessarily seem to have anything to do with a high pitched whine from the Alde (which I assume was not running at the time).

This seems a bit of a mystery, but I don't know enough about the specifics of the 400's electronics to offer much in the way of useful suggestions...

Michigan_Dennis

My 2020 Tab 400 Boondock is emitting a high pitched noise from the inverter area. I turned off the inverter and the noise stopped, but I suspect more is involved. The noise first began when I unknowingly turned off the breaker in the storage compartment (near the disconnect switch). Since then, I've winterized it and want to put a cover over it. The disconnect switch is off and the inverter is off and I'm hoping the sun will recharge the batteries. It's in a storage area and I can't hook it up to shore power. I'll check the battery in a day or so to see if the sun recharged the batteries. Otherwise, I may have to bring it to my house and see about plugging it in. If that doesn't work, then I may have to replace the AGM batteries?  Any comments?

pthomas745

Here is a link to a manual for the Aims Power inverter. (It may not be the same inverter in your trailer, but I think it is the same company.  On Page 8,  there is a description of the inverter alarms. A continuous "buzzer" is an indication of a low battery state.

The inverters, if they are left on, draw a pretty consistent 1 amp (or a bit more).  There were several threads last year about the trailer's batteries being drained by an inverter left on, even with the battery switch off!

https://invertersrus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Aims-PWRIX120012S-Owners-Manual.pdf

If you have installed solar, do you have the Victron app on your phone to check your battery state?

Denny16

Yes, the whine is the low battery alarm on the inverter.  Somehow, nbrandt’s inverter was left on, or the switch at the foot of the bunk, got pumped and turned on.  Since the inverter is directly connected to the Battery, the battery switch will not disconnect the inverter load.  It is a good idea to always check thst the inverter is turned off while not being used, as it will run the battery down in standby power button turned on mode.

On the 2018 TaB 400, the inverter is a AIMS Pure Sine Wave 1200 Inverter, located next to the battery locker under the rear bunk.
Here is a photo of the Inverter and it’s connection to the battery, inverter is box with red arrow:

Inverter on back wall, red arrow pointed at it.  Red wire (blue arrow)  goes from inverter to fuse and down to batter distribution box, circled in red., then to battery.  This is just inside the middle front area of the rear bunk. 

 On later TaB400s this was moved to the rear area of the middle compartment, and is not accessible by lifting the rear bunk center plywood board, it is under a screwed down section behind the lift up panel.

Michigan_Dennis

Update from Michigan_Dennis. The most important thing to say is that I bought my 2020 used and couldn't get into the victron solar controller, because it asks for a pin and the default of 000000 wouldn't work. I learned that I needed to get the PUK from the backside of the controller. I have a 400 Solo. I opened up the bed area and unscrewed the blue solar controller and took a picture of the back - and then screwed it back in. I went to the victron site on line and entered the Personal Unlock Key and it worked! Then I went in the Tab and the solar controller shows me not only what the solar panels are doing, but what the battery is doing. I had been manually checking the battery with a volt meter and the values match. The numbers still aren't fantastic, but I'm hoping when I take it on my next trip in January that the battery will recharge to the max.