Help! propane detector went off now what?

[hott24girl]

Hello all,

New to the travel trailer world (we had a pop up before) and we just had our first experience with the propane detector. We leave our camper at our river lot until we take it out of town, since we frequent the river every week. This past Wednesday we locked our starcraft bunk house trailer up and didn't make it back out till today. Upon arrival the detector is blaring. We did let the propane tanks open, but what should we do now?

Is this something we need to take it in for service? Or could this have been a random occurrence?

Thank you for your help.

[poppin_fresh]

Any chance your trailer is not connected to shore power and you were just running on battery?

I know my detector goes off if I leave the battery hooked up and it nears being drained. It will do this even if everything is turned off as some items parasitically drain the battery.

[ScottG]

When it alarms is the LED red or kind of an orange color? If it's orange then that means it has died of old age and needs to be replaced.

[steelpony5555]

If you look there is a date on them and they do need replaced. They go bad and will start to go off and won't stop.

[christopherglen]

I have noticed when the propane runs out, the water heater tends to attempt to light, and can't. The unburned propane under the floor is enough to set off the propane detector.

[fla-gypsy]

Some things will give false readings. Check everything well and see if it repeats. If not I wouldn't be overly concerned. If it does you may want to replace it if nothing is leaking.

[SprinklerMan]

Mine went off in my driveway , the disposable propane bottle for the grill was empty the next time I went camping . I guess my detector worked.

[cyntdon2010]

My False Propane alarm went on for over a year. Started out returning to dealer, checked for leaks (none). installed new detector.
Read all about dog farts/sewer odors/ hair spray/ white potatoes/perfume/
it was driving me crazy. sometimes it would be months apart false alarms
then one trip my converter blew..
problem was solved.. it was a voltage drop.

[Bigbird65]

We bought our new Minnie Winnie from a local dealer in March this year. On our 2 camping trips the propane detector has gone off in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. The detector was built 7/18/13. My only remedy at the time was to remove the 1 amp fuse. I built a simple water filled U tube manometer to test for leaks. After turning on the propane bottle and turning it back off again thus bottling the gas pressure up in the trailer the reading on the manometer did not change after 3 hours. It read 11.5" water column. With a spray bottle with dish detergent and water I sprayed every pipe/tubing joint outside and inside the trailer for leaks. None found. I am 100% convinced that there is not a propane leak. My dealer ordered a new detector under warranty and it should be in this week.

[JJBIRISH]

is it plugged in to shore power and the battery fully charged

[adayjk]

Here is an easy leak test. Shut off all propane devices. Turn on the propane tank. Turn off the propane tank. Vent the propane in the lines at the cooktop. Shut off the cooktop. Turn on the propane while carefully listening to the tank.

The hissing you hear is the tank contents refilling the line. Now turn off the propane. Wait an ten minutes. Turn on the propane again while listening. If the hissing occurs you have a leak. If there is no noise from propane transfer from the tank, the lines and devices held propane.

Its a crappy test because it won't tell you where or what leaks. But it is a safe test (no operating flaming devices) you can perform in a campsite to determine if you should leave the propane off.

[mhardin]

They do go bad. Mine did and I simply replaced it.

Mike

[n7bsn]

Could be random, slow-leak or defective detector.

Trouble-shooting would be what I would do first.