We have a brand new (only 2 weeks) travel trailer-2017 Coachman Apex Ultralite 300bhs. We are also brand new RV'ers. A few days after being in it, (we still are), we turned the fan on in the bathroom, and the CO2/propane detector went off full blast continuous beeps. (We DID NOT flush the toilet with the fan on). We re-set and fanned it to get whatever "smell" it might be detecting away, it finally stopped. This happened several more times. (Upon reading the pamphlet with it, we found it was installed, ankle height, only 8 inches away from the bathroom door, when the recommendation is 4 feet from any doors.) Does that make sense? Is that normal installation for a CO2 detector to be installed near the floor THAT close to the bathroom and any possible gases that may waft out?Also during this time (this past Weds), we discovered after cleaning out the black tank, that we left it accidently open for 1 1/2 days (uggh) and had a not so lovely stench wafting through our place for a few days (yes-paranoid now about closing it, but complete lesson learned).We gave a thorough cleaning, filling, rinsing, and bought Rid-X for the black tank thinking that would stop the weird, fan/CO2 beeper action.Fast forward to today, Sat., 430am of course, we get woke up to the CO2/propane detector beeping full force. This time no fanning in the world made it stop. We did what everything says to do-open all windows, turned off propane, and call the fire dept. It DID stop then. They came, checked for leaks with their gadget that read 0 the whole time they said, and concluded it must be a faulty CO2 sensor.Of course 10-15 mins after they left and we started closing windows, it crazily went off again. Now confident there are no leaks, we took out the fuse to get some peace. I know this is NOT the solution. It is a Saf-t-Alert (MTI Industries) alarm. Is that even a good brand?Any insights? Toilet gas? Bad placement? I have read other posts that have said to replace the alarm with a different one. Is that more feasible than having the company or my dealer who is 90 miles away (under warranty) replace me with a new one? IS there a "better" brand because now I'm leery of what I've got! Any help would be appreciated.

I've had dog farts set mine off, so I guess toilet gas could it too.BTW itit's CO carbon monoxide detector the poison gas, not CO2, like bubbles in beer.To double check your detector you can get another at Walmart and return it if you don't need it.

1. Bad placement.2. Possible off gassing from building materials (think foam in couch, bed, glue from assembly, the list is endless. It WILL go away eventually.3. Units DO go bad, even when they're brand new. Remember the RV industry uses the CHEAPEST parts they can get. Got to an RV supply store and get a replacement.

Any aerosol, like hair spray, deodorants, even solid deodorants can give off enough hydrocarbons to trip a co detector. At night, the outgassing from deodorizers could be enough to set off your co detector. Do you have any of those ?

TomBird wrote:Battery getting low??x2 on this...or some other DC electrical problem. Many of these detectors are sensitive to low voltage (perhaps not by design). Having it go off when you turn on the fan would very much correlate with that, as the fan uses a reasonable amount of power and thus can drag the voltage of the system down a little...or even more than a little if the battery is not up to snuff.Incidentally, you have a CO detector, not a CO2 detector. They are quite different gasses.

CO2 detector going off from??toilet gas?? | Good Sam Community

16 Replies

allen8106
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
I would expect one of two or three things.

1) The CO/Propane detectors runs off of 12 volts, usually fed from the battery, not from the charger so even if you are hooked to shore power if the battery is not charging correctly a low battery will cause the unit to go off.

2)On our rig within 6 months of purchase we were have very similar issues of the detector going off randomly for no apparent reason. I installed a new one and the issue went way and have not had a similar issue since. Look on the back of the detector it will usually have an expiration date or a replace by date. They don't last forever. I believe most of them have 5 year shelf life. No telling how long some of them set around prior to installation.

3)We had family children out to the lake for an over night camp out. My two nieces were sleeping on the table made into the bed. One of them was passing gas causing the detector to go off.
RRinNFla
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
Since this is a brand new trailer, I wouldn't discount Rusty's suggestion about building materials. When we first brought our rig home the CO detector went off when the interior of the trailer heated up sitting in the sun. It did this a couple of times in the first month, but has not happened since.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Sep 25, 2016
I see you went from CO to CO/Propane

Normally a CO detector is high mounted and a Propane/Explosive gas near the floor

And Methane (Sewer gas) is an explosive gas so if the detector is detecting. It's working properly So is butane (often used as propellent) and alcohol, and gasoline vapor, and many other products you might have lying about.
Beauty7
Explorer
Sep 25, 2016
Thank-you all for the replies.
The fire dept. checked for CO and propane leaks and said there were no leaks. Also we are hooked to shore power and not running on battery, it is also self charging.

We have not been using any deoderant's or hairspray, but I did smell the Rid-X coming from the toilet and had wondered if that may have contributed to the random 430am set-off. We were not using that though when we had the fan set it off.

We will get and try another detector, and also get a hydrometer or multimeter to keep track of the battery level. We know we have a lot to learn but are willing and want to do the right thing by our rig and safety for us and others.
Thanks again all!
bcbouy
Explorer
Sep 25, 2016
if i put a couple totes of fresh cut firewood in the camper it sets off my detector.i took mine to the dealer when mine kept going off and was told it was a dead internal battery.
bukhrn
Explorer III
Sep 25, 2016
captnjack wrote:
Beauty7 wrote:
We have a brand new (only 2 weeks) travel trailer-2017 Coachman Apex Ultralite 300bhs. We are also brand new RV'ers.

A few days after being in it, (we still are), we turned the fan on in the bathroom, and the CO2/propane detector went off full blast continuous beeps. (We DID NOT flush the toilet with the fan on). We re-set and fanned it to get whatever "smell" it might be detecting away, it finally stopped. This happened several more times. (Upon reading the pamphlet with it, we found it was installed, ankle height, only 8 inches away from the bathroom door, when the recommendation is 4 feet from any doors.) Does that make sense? Is that normal installation for a CO2 detector to be installed near the floor THAT close to the bathroom and any possible gases that may waft out?

Also during this time (this past Weds), we discovered after cleaning out the black tank, that we left it accidently open for 1 1/2 days (uggh) and had a not so lovely stench wafting through our place for a few days (yes-paranoid now about closing it, but complete lesson learned).
We gave a thorough cleaning, filling, rinsing, and bought Rid-X for the black tank thinking that would stop the weird, fan/CO2 beeper action.

Fast forward to today, Sat., 430am of course, we get woke up to the CO2/propane detector beeping full force. This time no fanning in the world made it stop. We did what everything says to do-open all windows, turned off propane, and call the fire dept. It DID stop then. They came, checked for leaks with their gadget that read 0 the whole time they said, and concluded it must be a faulty CO2 sensor.

Of course 10-15 mins after they left and we started closing windows, it crazily went off again. Now confident there are no leaks, we took out the fuse to get some peace. I know this is NOT the solution.
It is a Saf-t-Alert (MTI Industries) alarm. Is that even a good brand?

Any insights? Toilet gas? Bad placement? I have read other posts that have said to replace the alarm with a different one. Is that more feasible than having the company or my dealer who is 90 miles away (under warranty) replace me with a new one? IS there a "better" brand because now I'm leery of what I've got! Any help would be appreciated.

CO is lighter than air and tends to rise. All CO detectors should be installed higher up on the wall or on the ceiling.

Propane is heavier than air and tends to sink toward the floor.

Did the fire department check just for CO or did they check for all combustible gases. Each meter is designed to do a specific task.

I suspect you may have a slight propane leak somewhere in one of your systems. Turning the fan on would change air flow patterns and possibly cause propane at floor level to activate your detector.

It is not likely that off gassing or hairspray or deodorant is causing your problem.

If you are not smelling propane it's probably a good idea to replace the detector. It may be simple as that. If not you'll need someone with more sophisticated metering capabilities to identify your problem. Any fire department should have sufficient meters for the task.
This is where mine is mounted, about 6" from the ceiling, don't know why a CO monitor would be mounted near the floor,are you sure you're looking at the CO monitor and not the Propane monitor?
2112
Explorer II
Sep 25, 2016
If you are connected to shore power I suspect poor wiring/connection and the bathroom fan sharing the same 12V branch as the monitor. Running the fan causes excessive voltage drop across the poor connection which in turn causes the monitor to sound. They WILL sound with low voltage.

If you can measure the voltage at the monitor measure it with the fan off and then on.

If this only happens while on battery power your battery is low.
captnjack
Explorer
Sep 25, 2016
Beauty7 wrote:
We have a brand new (only 2 weeks) travel trailer-2017 Coachman Apex Ultralite 300bhs. We are also brand new RV'ers.

A few days after being in it, (we still are), we turned the fan on in the bathroom, and the CO2/propane detector went off full blast continuous beeps. (We DID NOT flush the toilet with the fan on). We re-set and fanned it to get whatever "smell" it might be detecting away, it finally stopped. This happened several more times. (Upon reading the pamphlet with it, we found it was installed, ankle height, only 8 inches away from the bathroom door, when the recommendation is 4 feet from any doors.) Does that make sense? Is that normal installation for a CO2 detector to be installed near the floor THAT close to the bathroom and any possible gases that may waft out?

Also during this time (this past Weds), we discovered after cleaning out the black tank, that we left it accidently open for 1 1/2 days (uggh) and had a not so lovely stench wafting through our place for a few days (yes-paranoid now about closing it, but complete lesson learned).
We gave a thorough cleaning, filling, rinsing, and bought Rid-X for the black tank thinking that would stop the weird, fan/CO2 beeper action.

Fast forward to today, Sat., 430am of course, we get woke up to the CO2/propane detector beeping full force. This time no fanning in the world made it stop. We did what everything says to do-open all windows, turned off propane, and call the fire dept. It DID stop then. They came, checked for leaks with their gadget that read 0 the whole time they said, and concluded it must be a faulty CO2 sensor.

Of course 10-15 mins after they left and we started closing windows, it crazily went off again. Now confident there are no leaks, we took out the fuse to get some peace. I know this is NOT the solution.
It is a Saf-t-Alert (MTI Industries) alarm. Is that even a good brand?

Any insights? Toilet gas? Bad placement? I have read other posts that have said to replace the alarm with a different one. Is that more feasible than having the company or my dealer who is 90 miles away (under warranty) replace me with a new one? IS there a "better" brand because now I'm leery of what I've got! Any help would be appreciated.

CO is lighter than air and tends to rise. All CO detectors should be installed higher up on the wall or on the ceiling.

Propane is heavier than air and tends to sink toward the floor.

Did the fire department check just for CO or did they check for all combustible gases. Each meter is designed to do a specific task.

I suspect you may have a slight propane leak somewhere in one of your systems. Turning the fan on would change air flow patterns and possibly cause propane at floor level to activate your detector.

It is not likely that off gassing or hairspray or deodorant is causing your problem.

If you are not smelling propane it's probably a good idea to replace the detector. It may be simple as that. If not you'll need someone with more sophisticated metering capabilities to identify your problem. Any fire department should have sufficient meters for the task.
Jim-Linda
Explorer II
Sep 25, 2016
Beauty7 wrote:
We have a brand new (only 2 weeks) travel trailer-2017 Coachman Apex Ultralite 300bhs. We are also brand new RV'ers.

A few days after being in it, (we still are), we turned the fan on in the bathroom, and the CO2/propane detector went off full blast continuous beeps. (We DID NOT flush the toilet with the fan on). We re-set and fanned it to get whatever "smell" it might be detecting away, it finally stopped. This happened several more times. (Upon reading the pamphlet with it, we found it was installed, ankle height, only 8 inches away from the bathroom door, when the recommendation is 4 feet from any doors.) Does that make sense? Is that normal installation for a CO2 detector to be installed near the floor THAT close to the bathroom and any possible gases that may waft out?

Also during this time (this past Weds), we discovered after cleaning out the black tank, that we left it accidently open for 1 1/2 days (uggh) and had a not so lovely stench wafting through our place for a few days (yes-paranoid now about closing it, but complete lesson learned).
We gave a thorough cleaning, filling, rinsing, and bought Rid-X for the black tank thinking that would stop the weird, fan/CO2 beeper action.

Fast forward to today, Sat., 430am of course, we get woke up to the CO2/propane detector beeping full force. This time no fanning in the world made it stop. We did what everything says to do-open all windows, turned off propane, and call the fire dept. It DID stop then. They came, checked for leaks with their gadget that read 0 the whole time they said, and concluded it must be a faulty CO2 sensor.

Of course 10-15 mins after they left and we started closing windows, it crazily went off again. Now confident there are no leaks, we took out the fuse to get some peace. I know this is NOT the solution.
It is a Saf-t-Alert (MTI Industries) alarm. Is that even a good brand?

Any insights? Toilet gas? Bad placement? I have read other posts that have said to replace the alarm with a different one. Is that more feasible than having the company or my dealer who is 90 miles away (under warranty) replace me with a new one? IS there a "better" brand because now I'm leery of what I've got! Any help would be appreciated.

By the way, Rid-X is for septic tanks, not holding tanks. A few cleanings such as you did should be sufficient.

Jim
SoundGuy
Explorer
Sep 25, 2016
Beauty7 wrote:
A few days after being in it, (we still are), we turned the fan on in the bathroom, and the CO2/propane detector went off full blast continuous beeps.

It is a Saf-t-Alert (MTI Industries) alarm. Is that even a good brand?

Your Saf-t-Alert combination LP/CO (not CO2) detector is one of the best and is hard wired to the trailer's 12 vdc system. Anytime your trailer is not plugged into shore power it's running on battery power (assuming you haven't disconnected it either physically or with a disconnect switch) so over the course of time your battery can be drawn down significantly from parasitic draw in the camper, including the CO detector. In reading your post it's clear you still have a lot to learn about how the various systems in your trailer function, including the CO detector which most likely is functioning just as it should, including offering a warning beep when your battery has been excessively drawn down.