Smoke alarm question.

Muddydogs wrote:
I'm the other way around. Power to trailer there is a chirp. No power to trailer and no chirp. Taking the wife out there today so maybe she can figure out which one it is as all three are in the same area and I can't tell if the chirp is coming from the floor or ceiling.

So what's chirping?

How old is/are the detectors?

Some detectors will chirp (when they have power) if they think they're at the end of their design lifespan.

I replaced the old and presumably outdated CO alarm (in the bedroom in the back) and the smoke detector (in the living area in the front) of my RV with a pair of battery-only combo CO and smoke alarms. Being battery only makes it easy to figure out what power source is giving difficulties and lowers the parasitic drains on the house battery, and being combo alarms it seems to me gives more thorough protection; in particular, having a CO alarm nearer where the generator and propane appliances are (all generally more towards the front and middle of my motorhome) seems logical to me.

Some smoke alarms have a 2nd power input (RV-12volt in this case) and the 9V battery is only a backup.

I have never used one like that... But you may have one.

Look to see if there are wires running to the back of it.

I'm the other way around. Power to trailer there is a chirp. No power to trailer and no chirp. Taking the wife out there today so maybe she can figure out which one it is as all three are in the same area and I can't tell if the chirp is coming from the floor or ceiling.

LP Detector is typically hardwired to battery.

Smoke detectors are typically 9V battery .....some are wired to battery


CO Alarm can be battery (double AAs), wired to battery or BOTH

Any wired to battery thru disconnect will chirp on low voltage.


Have someone stand inside and ID which one of the three is chirping

x2 "co beeps when it looses voltage"

When I turn our battery disconnect switch to off, my CO detector will chirp.

co beeps when it looses voltage