Carbon Monoxide/LP detector issue

[Nolan_Coachmen]

I have a new Coachmen 253RKS that we have taken 3 trips in so far. My question is while the camper is sitting at my house not hooked up to power so the air is off during a hot day 90* the CO detector will start to alarm. I can reset it and it will be ok. I insured the LP was off and plugged the camper up to power for a day or so due to the battery was low. When the temp got up it would go off again. There was no issue with this until the temp got so high.
We also had it to go off the other night camping. There was a bag sitting next to it blocking it some. Once I moved the bag and reset it a couple of times it didn't alarm any more. Being it is a CO/LP alarm it is concerning that it does this. We have just returned from a trip so I have the camper plugged in with the air set just below 80 so I am going to see if it goes off again over the next couple of days. Have any of you had issues like this?

Thanks for any helpful responses you can give.

[beemerphile1]

Buy Maxxair or some other brand vent covers and leave the roof vents open.

[nineoaks2004]

Low voltage from the battery can also cause alarms to go off...

[Nolan_Coachmen]

Thanks for the replies. The camper is new and it still has the new smell. When the outside temp gets high and the sun causes the interior temp to get very high there is a slight glue or something smell that you can barely smell. From what some of you are saying this may be the cause. Today I left the camper plugged into my house with only the air on set at around 77* and the detector did not go off. I unplugged the camper from the house tonight to see if it is alarming in the morning. I may get a thermometer and place it in the camper so I can monitor the temp on hot days to see how hot it is getting in it. Again there was no issue with this until the outside temp started reaching the low 90's causing the camper to get very hot inside. We don't have a shed for it yet but will be placing a cover over it this week. maybe that will help some. If not i'll just keep the air going at around 80* inside on the very hot days.
And yes this is a combo unit placed about 4" off the floor. One thing I wondered about could the black water tank which is empty be giving off some fumes on the hot days when the inside of the camper gets very hot causing the alarm to go off? I don't notice any fumes from the tank but just thought there may be something there. Again thanks for your replies.

[ADK_Camper]

Over time lots of harmless things have set off my detector. The strangest thing was bananas stored in a high cabinet on the other side of the camper.

Perhaps high heat is causing something in your camper to release a gas that is triggering your alarm.

[saintsfanfl]

cruiserjs wrote:
I may be "old school" but IMHO propane/gas detectors are placed near the floor since propane is heavier than air and CO detectors are placed near the ceiling since CO is lighter than air. How one instrument can be effective.
And yes - even a dog sleeping near a propane detector can set one off!
Any one - please enlighten this oldie!

CO is just barely lighter than air. It is so close in weight that it mixes evenly with air. The suggested placement is at the same level as sleeping but the level is not as critical as a smoke or LP detector. This is why the combo unit is ok with both at the floor level. It is not perfect but should still sound an alarm prior to serious issues.

CO can rise rapidly if it is given off with heated air but at that point it should be mixing fairly quick.

[beemerphile1]

High heat in a new trailer theoretically could cause off gassing from construction materials and cause an alert of a Gas/LPG detector. I don't know about a CO detector.

Do you have a combination CO/LPG detector? Mine have always been separate detectors. I have seen combo CO/smoke detectors.

[cruiserjs]

I may be "old school" but IMHO propane/gas detectors are placed near the floor since propane is heavier than air and CO detectors are placed near the ceiling since CO is lighter than air. How one instrument can be effective.
And yes - even a dog sleeping near a propane detector can set one off!
Any one - please enlighten this oldie!

[MFL]

The CO alarms are not heat sensitive, but are easily set off by various strong chemicals found in cleaning products etc, if they are stored right near the alarm.

A low battery will activate the alarm, as will the end of use able life, which is likely not your issue, if trailer is new. They do have a replace date on them.

They are around $100, so I'd try to get your dealer to furnish a new one under warranty. Yours is likely faulty, unless you are storing something near the alarm, that may expand due to high temp in the camper.

Jerry

[Acdii]

With something as crucial as this, I would take it back to the dealer and have them replace it. They shouldn't alarm when the temps go up, which to me would give me doubts that it is even properly functioning. If it is a new new trailer, should be covered under warranty.