Hi Vanleigh Owners
lost our electric connection on a recent camping trip, thankfully not for long, but after it was restored the Southwire Surge Guard M#41260 is making a really loud humming noise which we can hear inside the unit.
was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if there is something we can do to quiet it down, checked all screws holding it to wall and all tight, not really sure if i can open it up and look for anything loose inside the box.
Many Thanks Spud
Hey Spud,
That’s your transfer switch to facilitate switching between shore power and the generator. The humming you’re hearing is from the contactors inside the unit that switch between the power sources. As they age they can become noisy with that loud humming. These transfer switches favor generator so when connected to shore power the contactor is energized to pass the shore power through which is the source of the humming.
The cover can be removed as there just two screws securing it along with some tension clips. You could remove the cover and check to make sure the wire connections are tight on the contactors. In the photo below the input sources are on the left side with the generator on the top and shore power on the bottom and the output to the breaker panel is on the right.
If you decide to check the wire connections, be sure to disconnect from shore power and have the generator off as you don’t want live current passing through while you’re working in there. One thing that could be a source of the humming is low voltage coming from the pedestal. In addition to tightening the connections you could also use some compressed air to clean out any dust debris that may have gotten in the enclosure.
If the humming is still persistent after those steps, you may want to consider replacing the unit before it fails. As when it fails it won’t be able to pass shore power through to the RV.
Surge Guard transfer switch
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Thank you Stuart
You always come through, will check connections {with power disconnected} and see if anything loose inside, is the contactor replaceable or just better to change whole unit
I haven’t looked close enough to see if the contactor could be replaced. The easiest/quickest method would be to just replace the whole switch.
If you do end up replacing and have difficulty finding a Southwire model 41260, Progressive Dynamics also makes an ATS that could serve as a replacement.