2004 Jayco Eagle high pitched squeal and lights dim.

[dacholiday]

We just bought this and they delivered it today. This did not happen when we went and looked at it. Spent well over half an hour if not more inside looking at everything, and it did not happen. They had everything on when we arrived, so it had been on power for a while.
Today as we were setting it up on our property it starting making this awful high pitch squeal and the lights got dim. I don't know if its because the power cord is stretched to tight or what.
We also 30 amp to 50 amp dogbone attached because our box is 50 amp and the camper is 30.
I'm so upset, we bought this so my daughter and her husband could live in it when they move here, until they get jobs. We basically cleaned out our rainy day fund to do so.
Help!!

 

[Radar57]

Welcome yo the forum. There is a lot of individuals with good electrical expertise to hopefully help out. It would be nice to know 1) where is the high pitched squeal coming from, 2) 12 VDC lights or 110 VAC lights, 3) have you tried going from 15 amp to 30 amp, 4) have you checked voltages at battery connection, converter input and outputs, etc. I'm sure there are other areas to look at but that is a start.

 

[Grumpy]

Sounds like the converter fan.

 

[dacholiday]

1.It sounded like it was everywhere. Could not pin down exact location. It only stopped after he unplugged the camper from shore power completely.
2.All the inside lights dimmed. They didn't blink, just dimmed.
3.15 amp to 30 amp. No, we only have the one 50 amp box. The 15 amp regular plug doesn't work.
4. No we haven't. Not even sure where to start.

I'm wondering if there could be something wrong with the 50amp power box. Husband had a tiny canned ham he had bought to remodel(hasn't happened) hooked up to it, and he said the little a/c the elderly lady we got it from had put in a window, kept going on and off last time he tried it last year.
He's going to open up the 50amp power box tomorrow and check the connections, if it's cool enough to kill power in our little house.

I really appreciate your answering me. I'm really stressing over this.

 

[dacholiday]

This is where it's squealing.

This little box behind the gas detector is what's making the high pitched noise, and now its tripping the breaker. The lights don't flicker they just go dim.

 

[SmokerBill]

The propane/CO detector squeals when the DC voltage drops too low. It's not causing the problem, though. You could disconnect it temporarily so you don't have to deal with the noise while figuring out why the DC voltage is fluctuating.

 

[Big Jay]

Sounds like it may be the converter acting up. It's worth a good look.

 

[dacholiday]

Sounds like it may be the converter acting up. It's worth a good look.

Explain in simple terms how to do that.
I called the guy we bought it from and he said it could be the battery causing the issue. The battery is dead, but I just saw on here you don't even need a battery if connected to shore power.
Is it possible the power cord isn't making a good connection inside the camper?

 

[85vf500rr]

I think you may still need to have the battery hooked up with at least some residual charge as the converter is still having to switch the 110V AC to 12V DC to run the lights in the camper. Try using the battery from another vehicle to test if that is the issue.

 

[dacholiday]

So we removed the battery, it is dead, dead. And now it's not squealing or tripping breakers. So, it's not like we need the battery, it's going to stay parked right where it is.

 

[SmokerBill]

My Progressive Dynamics converter can be operated without having a battery connected, according to one of their technicians.

It could well have been that bad battery causing the voltage drop. Did the battery happen to feel warm to the touch when you removed it?

 

[dacholiday]

I don't know, my husband removed it. He's got it on charge right now.

Does the hot water heater automatically light or is there something else we have to do, running on power not propane.

 

[Kevin Cooper]

I’m not positive which you are not finding or trying to get to work from your comment. Your water heater, if both propane and electric should have an electric switch next to the gas switch. Some do not have electric heaters in them, so no switch. Open the WH door outside and get the model number and manufacturer name if you can’t figure out if there is electric heater.

 

[dacholiday]

Sorry for the late response. I wasn't sure if we needed to do something else when using electric for water heater. All's working fine now. Water gets hot hot. And a/c gets cold cold. Yay. And no more tripped breaker.

 

[dacholiday]

He tried charging the battery and it became so hot, he just quit and sat it outside the workshop. Since all is working now, not going to worry about it. We may at some point buy a new one.