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Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:59 am
by khenrie
Okay, help.

Carbon Monoxide detector going off in middle of the night.

We have propane furnace on day and night. Set to keep it at 50 degrees. Using electric heater on low also.

Everything is fine, until about 2am. Then the detector goes off. Is it our breath??????

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:43 am
by Birdie
In my TT, if I wasn't plugged into electric, when the TT battery was low, the CO would go off. Sometimes it went off at random, too. I opened windows and let fresh air come into the unit and it would be okay. It was so low to the floor that other things set it off, but I never figured it out. The guy who bought it from me, took the fuse out the first night. But on that TT forum that was a constant complaint and some folks moved the unit about 18" from the floor.

The one in this rig went off when I was stuck in traffic in a storm and that was probably a valid alarm because there was no fresh air coming in the unit and no way to get fresh air. This unit is up on the ceiling in the bedroom, so I'll be dead when it goes off.

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:51 am
by longdog2
I'm trying to remember if you have a dog. If so, sounds funny but I have heard that a dog passing gas near the detector would set it off. Suppose it could be a cat. Won't mention any other possibilities if someone is getting up at night. :lol:

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:21 am
by khenrie
longdog2 wrote:I'm trying to remember if you have a dog. If so, sounds funny but I have heard that a dog passing gas near the detector would set it off. Suppose it could be a cat. Won't mention any other possibilities if someone is getting up at night. :lol:


LOL, we have a little dog and I have a HUSBAND! We jokingly wondered if that could be the problem....... :shock:

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:38 pm
by retiredhappy
My fuse has been pulled right after I got my rig.

Alarm went off 2nd day I had rig. Took to dealer, they checked and nothing.

Went off again while stopped at a stoplight a few days later.

Went off again and back to dealer - nothing! PULLED fuse.

Now I have two large dogs and my boy Buddy can clear a room when he passes gas and guess where his favorite place to be was? Right! In front of the detector. I really don't like sleeping with the propane heater going and I like my bedroom cold so I usually have windows open at least a crack even in cold weather. Just add another blanket or dog.

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:17 pm
by khenrie
I have been corrected by DH.

It is not the carbon monoxide detector going off - it's the propane alarm. When it goes off, as it has done last two nights in a row, he pulls the fuse and comes back to bed. First night he also turned off the propane, but last night I don't think he did.

In a couple of weeks, it won't be an issue any more. But it's been dropping down into the teens at night.... makes for a mighty chilly walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night or getting up and getting around in the morning.

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:00 pm
by retiredhappy
I was talking about the LP detector, too. I have a little gadget (of course) that I bought at CG that you hold up to your connection and it "sniffs" to see if you have a leak. Have you checked to make sure the connection is tight?

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:09 pm
by avalen
mine was labeled LP detector, read the booklet on it and turns out it meant Low Power.
I disconnected it.

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:23 pm
by VickieP
avalen wrote:mine was labeled LP detector, read the booklet on it and turns out it meant Low Power.
I disconnected it.

Ava, LP is a gas...

Definitions of LP gas on the Web:

* Liquefied petroleum gas (also called LPG, GPL, LP Gas, or autogas) is a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the ozone layer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP_gas

* Liquefied petroleum gas, propane, that is used as fuel for the furnace, refrigerator (in 12-volt gas mode), galley range and water heater of a motorhome. Stored in cylinders that can hold up to 50 gallons for large motorhomes.
camprate.com/campingGlossary.do

* Colorless, odorless and non-toxic gas. It is separated from wet natural gas, light crude oil and oil-refinery gases.
redhotchimney.com/glossary.htm

* Liquefied Petroleum Gas is used to fuel appliances in the RV, such as the stove, oven, water heater and refrigerator. Propane tanks are usually rated as pounds or gallons.
http://www.suncoastrv.com/RV-glossary.aspx

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:53 pm
by avalen
I thought mine was a liquid petroleum detector and thats why I got the booklet out and read
up on it, mine is a LOW POWER detector, even had the fire dept battalion chief (friend of the
famly) look at it and he said it was not for detecting propane or carbon monoxide or carbon
dioxide. I was stumped and that was why I got the booklet out to read what it was. It was a
new one on me.

Re: Carbon Monoxide Detector

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:28 pm
by VickieP
avalen wrote:I thought mine was a liquid petroleum detector and thats why I got the booklet out and read
up on it, mine is a LOW POWER detector, even had the fire dept battalion chief (friend of the
famly) look at it and he said it was not for detecting propane or carbon monoxide or carbon
dioxide. I was stumped and that was why I got the booklet out to read what it was. It was a
new one on me.

Hmmm, I guess it would let you know if your electrical power wasn't up to snuff, huh. Learn something new every day. :D