Noisy power inverter

[Wingdreamer]

Not an issue during the day, but at night, (when all you can hear is the father in law snoring in the other end of the trailer), on comes the fan for the power inverter!! Damn! that is irritating! It seems to turn on, run for 20 seconds then shut off, does this every couple of minutes in a continuous cycle. We have the fridge on (120v) and the outside light on (12v), so not sure if the on-off cycle is typical. My thought is:
If the fan is turning on and off to cool the inverter, why not find some additional cooling for the inverter that is quieter (so that the inverter fan doesn't have to cycle as often? My inverter is located in the seat box under the kitchen table, and doesn't have a hell of a lot of air circulation in there..
What if you add 2 of the computer cooling fans to this seat box, one at one end and the other down near the opposite end. Run the fans with one pulling air into the box, and the second one pulling air out of the box. Wouldn't just the movement of air in this box help cool the inverter? A small 3" or 4" mounting hole with a nice grill on it would be cosmetically ok, with a simple on/off switch mounted inside of the box. Obviously there is no shortage of available 12 volt power to run the fans....
What do you think?

[PattieAM]

Your converter is most likely responding to the need for 12-v, if your outside light is on.  I don't know what model/year your popup is, but mine has a WFCO converter, and, it does some kind of battery check periodically and the fan will come on if needed.

I have no reason to have my outside light on if I am not outside - kind of a waste of energy.  See if there is any difference with the light off at night.  You will still have your propane leak detector drawing from your battery though.

['tiredTeacher]

We have the fridge on (120v) and the outside light on (12v), so not sure if the on-off cycle is typical.

Yes it is typical. The heat build up is mainly inside the converter's solid-state circuit board so attempting to cool its storage area will be minimally successful.
To avoid the sleep interruption, we put the fridge on propane at night and unplug the power cord. Can't be simpler than that.

[coach]

Turn off the outside light or
Convert it to LED or
Use a 120v outside light!

Ain't it the 12v usage that makes the 120 - 12 transformer get warm?

['tiredTeacher]

Turn off the outside light or
Convert it to LED or
Use a 120v outside light!

Ain't it the 12v usage that makes the 120 - 12 transformer get warm?

Yes, and most newer converters also have a 3 stage charger. My converter will cycle in warm weather as long as it's connected to the battery even when I have nothing on but the propane detector.