CO2/Propane alarms gone off twice since we bought camper

[lincolnmatthews]

Purchased out now 3 yr old Lance 1181 in Jan of this year. Once while plugged into an extension cord along it went off, I figured it was an low voltage issue as the power had been off for a day or so.
Then this last weekend while out plugged into power at a park the alarm went off in the middle of the day for no apparent reason, (no propane smell, been in & out several times etc. So I pulled the fuse & we slept with more than one window cracked open that night.
Of course its mounted down by the floor by the step to go overhead & the fridge is right there, but shouldn't be an issue unless ??
I believe its made by Safe T, do these things go bad? I wouldn't think in a 3 yr old camper. My RV dealer said that if someone used some spray cleaner at some point that this could cause them to **** out. Just hate to spend a $100 at this point for a new one just to see if this solves the problem.
Anybody ever had a similar problem with there's? Might add that the batteries are stored in an outside compartment not in the steps like my last Lance, anyway thanks for any ideas!

[ScottG]

RickW wrote:
The molecular weight of air (N2 + O2) is 28.8. The molecular weight of CO is 28. They mix freely due to Brownian motion.

The molecular weight of propane is 44. It will sink and concentrate near the floor. This is why the combo CO/propane detector is located near the floor and can detect both.

Camp for Science :B

:C Great info - Thanks!

[RickW]

wsdepa wrote:
Snipped... Carbon Monoxide is lighter and should be installed near the ceiling.

No, it is not. The molecular weight of air (N2 + O2) is 28.8. The molecular weight of CO is 28. They mix freely due to Brownian motion.

The molecular weight of propane is 44. It will sink and concentrate near the floor. This is why the combo CO/propane detector is located near the floor and can detect both.

Camp for Science :B

[wsdepa]

The units have a manufactured date on the back, but no expiration date. They generally advise replacing every seven years.
I do not like the combo LP/CO detectors since LP gas is heavier than air and should be installed at floor level in the camper. Carbon Monoxide is lighter and should be installed near the ceiling.

[lincolnmatthews]

Hey thanks you guys1 I'll pull & check it out & see about ordering one of "fleecebay"

[ScottG]

Atwood sells a combination propane/Co detector for only about $40 on Fleabay. It gets good reviews and is certainly much more reasonable than the units we've had to buy in the past.
I've got one on the way.

[RedRocket204]

I don't have the specific version of CO2 detector you have, but just some info here. The CO2 detector I have has two led status lights that will help determine the cause for an alarm. Not sure if your has the same but something to investigate into.

On my TT , which we also bought used and it was 3 years old when we bought it, I had our CO2 detector go off a couple times one evening. I thought I was going to have to replace ours so I removed the mounting screws to take a look. Where ours was positioned, the back of our CO2 detector is exposed to our galley cabinet, and the previous owner had spill some dish soap back there. Since that wasn't cleaned up very well, if at all, it ate away at the CO2 detector wire shielding and started corroding one of the wires. There were only a couple of strands of one of the wires intact, ultimately getting very low voltage. I wasn't too versed in the CO2 detector at that time and didn't realize the led lights were indicating low voltage but it all made sense after I had a root cause analysis (RCA) on what was going on and why the CO2 detector alarmed. Of course it was an easy splice of the wires along with cleaning up that dish soap mess I wasn't aware of and no more issues.

Just a FYI that low voltage to your CO2 detector doesn't always mean your batteries are low. Test the wires going to the CO2 detector to make sure you are getting the voltage it should be getting. There could be a compromised wire somewhere.

[gitpicker2009]

Actually, that's fairly common. When they first get powered up, it sometimes takes a couple of hours for them to sort of settle down. Also, check the back of the unit. There actually is an expiration/in service date.

[jimh406]

We had a similar issue. I think the only fix is to replace the unit. They do have an expiration date, but I think it is usually longer than 3 years.

[bighatnohorse]

Turn off the propane tanks.
Does it still go off?

I had that problem in my 1181.
With all windows open it would go off night or day.
Replaced it and the new one would also go off after a few hours.
Replaced that one too. The newest one would also go off after a few hours.

Went to Walmart, bought a battery operated Co2 carbon monoxide detector and mounted it in the sleeping area.
It went off too after a period of time (less than a day).

WTF? Took the battery operated Co2 detector into the house (all windows shut) and it was fine. No false alarms.

The problem was that it was in Arizona, it was warm/hot and the camper windows were open all the time. Either pollen or dust was setting off the detector.

I pulled the fuse, relocated the camper to a different climate, re-installed the fuse. All was well.

Tree pollen in the PNW is at the "Very High" level right now. It could be the cause. ??

[RoyB]

My detector does a slow beep when the batteries are low... Thats the only alarm I have ever heard on my present off-road trailer setup. I guess it makes very loud tone noise if it detects CO gas...

The only time I have ever heard a detector alarm was several years ago when I was running my generator sitting on the tail gate of my truck. The detector in my older trailer started making a real loud noise and I noticed my generator exhaust was pointing towards my trailer. Moved the generator exhaust direction and the noise went away...

In my 5th wheel trailer I have a smoke detector on the ceiling and we have tripped it a couple of time cooking on the stove top... It makes a loud noise when tripped as well...

My experience is the slow beeps is for low voltage alarms... The loud noise means business...

Roy Ken

[JimK-NY]

There is nothing new about this situation. Verify that the propane side of the alarm is going off. That detector is prone to failure. It is not unusual to need to replace the detector every few years.

[joerg68]

Difficult to say... What I do know from experience: the low voltage alarm (on our unit) was different from the actual leak-detected alarm. Nothing like being woken up at 4 am by that thing...

These sensors are quite sensitive. Can you have your propane system leak tested (pressure tested) by a professional?

[Buzzcut1]

Mine goes off every time the old dog sleeping on the floor in front of it farts

make sure the power/ground wires have tight connections, something may have vibrated loose