Defective Propane Detector Can be a Dangerous Saftey Hazzard

They definitely go bad. I had two Atwood CO detectors in my RV and at about 5 years the LCD screens started to go bad. I think with an older RV especially you cannot be too careful. You never know when some burner or exhaust component will rust through and suddenly you are breathing deadly gases.

My RV is old enough (1990) that it did not come with any propane or CO detectors at all. So I hard-wired a combo CO/Propane detector to the coach battery and located it near the furnace intake near the stove. Then I installed a CO detector near the overhead bunk and another in the back bedroom.

And they work! A couple of weekends ago we were camping and I ran a cable from my TV to the tape deck of the cab stereo so I could play the sound through the RV sound system. I turned on the ignition to the ACC mode, to power up the cab stereo. Unknown to me, the cab fan never is fully off - even in its lowest mode it is still on and sucking in external air. Since the generator was on, that meant it was sucking in exhaust from the genset. I smelled it, of course, and checked the CO detectors, and sure enough, they were registering the CO. Shut off the ignition and the CO levels went back down.

Steve

Almot wrote:
Er...it's propane stove - aided by the owner - that is a safety hazard :). Don't blame the detector, it just died, that's it.

Doxie - I think those stoves that I've seen, had no regulator inside, only valves. Though there is safety push/lock feature in the oven valve.

There is such thing as an (optional) excess flow valve that would shut the line off when there is exactly a leak - detected by abrupt increase in propane flow. It comes in both low and high pressure. I installed one before my cat heater, since this is the only propane item that could run with me sleeping. But I doubt excess flow valve would work in the case described above.

RV LP Range/Ovens HAVE a LP regulator that drops the pressure from 11.5 to 10 wc. They run at 10 inches WC pressure NOT at the 11.5 all other LP appliances run at. Doug

Harvey51 wrote:
How long do they last? Ours is 13 years old.

How about this $16 eBay propane alarm

I asked Atwood, who made my detector. They said replace every 7 years. Think that was marked on new detector when I replaced mine.

Harvey51 wrote:
How long do they last? Ours is 13 years old.

You got me curious. Copy-pasted this line into Google, replaced "it" with "propane detector", 2nd article from the top says "5 years".

I would guess that brand and manufacturing quality would affect the lifespan, so it wouldn't hurt to read the manual if there is one. Otherwise, - 5 years.

So, detector has a problem. instead of replacing it, owner just gets in the habit of bypassing it. When a real problem happens it goes undetected.

It's not the detector which is a safety hazard, it's the owner.

Cheapskate me, replaces dual detectors every 5th year and yeah I TEST THEM monthly. The cost risk/benefit ratio is absurdly tilted away from "economizing".

"Haven't seen an oncoming vehicle in miles...what's the chances of passing this slow poke farm tractor on these blind curves?"

How long do they last? Ours is 13 years old.

How about this $16 eBay propane alarm

If there is a doubt, replace the detector, they are not expensive. If it is hot wired than low voltage will cause it to sound off as well as hair spray and bug spray too. I would check the lines for a leak also, I do this about every 6 months on our TT just to be sure, I feel it is better to be safe than sorry. Good Luck and Happy Camping

Er...it's propane stove - aided by the owner - that is a safety hazard :). Don't blame the detector, it just died, that's it.

Doxie - I think those stoves that I've seen, had no regulator inside, only valves. Though there is safety push/lock feature in the oven valve.

There is such thing as an (optional) excess flow valve that would shut the line off when there is exactly a leak - detected by abrupt increase in propane flow. It comes in both low and high pressure. I installed one before my cat heater, since this is the only propane item that could run with me sleeping. But I doubt excess flow valve would work in the case described above.