Hot water heater & propane alarm

[Mucram]

The propane alarm goes off when turning on the hot water heater. I plan to take my 2017 17b to a rv repair shop to check out the system. I don’t smell propane when attempting to use the system. Any thoughts on this? Also what does a propane check entail? Thanks forum members!

My poor pup now has ptsd from the propane alarm.

[fudge_brownie]

Did you check the expiration date stamped on the propane detector?

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

Did you check the expiration date stamped on the propane detector?

It's a 2017 trailer so the detector should be no more than three years old. They are good for five years from when the electrical is hooked up, not from that date stamp ( or sticker ).
Is the pup hanging out next to the alarm? Have you vacuumed or wiped down the face plate with a damp cloth?

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by Mucram

The propane alarm goes off when turning on the hot water heater. I plan to take my 2017 17b to a rv repair shop to check out the system. I don’t smell propane when attempting to use the system. Any thoughts on this? Also what does a propane check entail? Thanks forum members!

My poor pup now has ptsd from the propane alarm.

It's an Atwood and it's three years old. It's shot and will ghost alarm consistently. There is a reason they are no longer being sold. Guess what - Escape now uses the MTI on all their trailers.

I replaced the %^&* Atwood a three months ago with a MTI INDUSTRIES 30442PBR and haven't had a ghost alarm since. Before replacing the Atwood, I was afraid to leave the trailer unattended as it always would go off and nearby campers would inform me of it when I returned. Oh, and waking up in the middle of the night to reset it.

And Yes, I vacuumed, wiped, took it apart and cleaned - to no avail. It's just a badly designed piece of junk.

Below is a link to how to install the MTI.
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tor-18570.html

Do yourself a favor - trash the Atwood and get a reliable propane detector.

[gbaglo]

Where does the OP say it's an Atwood?
Mine is and was MTI.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Where does the OP say it's an Atwood?
Mine is and was MTI.

Did you notice that the OP's trailer and mine were built in the same year? Atwood propane detectors were what was being installed then.

[gbaglo]

I did. And, my comment stands.
Why did you hack a hole for the replacement? Why not use the surface mount version?

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

It's an Atwood and it's three years old. It's shot and will ghost alarm consistently. There is a reason they are no longer being sold. Guess what - Escape now uses the MTI on all their trailers.

I replaced the %^&* Atwood a three months ago with a MTI INDUSTRIES 30442PBR and haven't had a ghost alarm since. Before replacing the Atwood, I was afraid to leave the trailer unattended as it always would go off and nearby campers would inform me of it when I returned. Oh, and waking up in the middle of the night to reset it.

And Yes, I vacuumed, wiped, took it apart and cleaned - to no avail. It's just a badly designed piece of junk.

Below is a link to how to install the MTI.
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tor-18570.html

Do yourself a favor - trash the Atwood and get a reliable propane detector.

News flash. Like Glenn, my propane alarm in my 2015 is also manufactured by MTI. And they are just as susceptible to false alarms as any other brand. That is the nature of propane detectors. ETI switched to Atwood because of complaints about false alarms, very prevalent in the 5.0TA as the propane detector was located on the wall of the dinette bench within 2-feet of the battery box, which vents outside from the bottom of the box rather than the top. Minuscule amounts of hydrogen escaping from an aggressively charging battery will “sound the alarm.” Back in 2015, MTI replaced mine under warranty due to false alarms (when the propane was valved off and the lines intentionally bled). The replacement alarm did the same thing. Switching to AGMs greatly reduced the frequency of false alarms, but I found that when boondocking and running on solar charged batteries, I had no false alarms. But when I had shore power and solar, the converter apparently (my theory) would send more current to the batteries (yes, AGMs can vent hydrogen) than necessary. Since I have been turning off the battery switch whenever I have shore power, I have had no false alarms just like when boondocking. Turning on the battery switch has become a normal item on my pre-towing checklist.

[Bobbito]

I now have the same problem with our MTI alarm, and this a replacement after a previously MTI went bad after 3 years. My alarm began sounding while the trailer was in storage with propane shut off. It seems they only last 2-3 years.
Bob K

[Dave Walter]

Both our 2013 19' and our 2013 15B have MTI detectors. The detector in the 19' (which coincidentally has the twin 6V batteries inside the front dinette bench) has gone off countless times and we have replaced the detector three times. The detector in the 15B (which has the twin 6V batteries inside the exterior front storage box) to my knowledge is still the original detector and has never gone off. :<

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Dave Walter

The detector in the 19' (which coincidentally has the twin 6V batteries inside the front dinette bench) has gone off countless times and we have replaced the detector three times.

Dave: Did you relocate the batteries there? I thought the batteries in the dinette bench as stock were only done in some 2009 19's when they were first introduced. Otherwise they were on the tongue or in the front storage box.

[Mucram]

Originally Posted by Mucram

The propane alarm goes off when turning on the hot water heater. I plan to take my 2017 17b to a rv repair shop to check out the system. I don’t smell propane when attempting to use the system. Any thoughts on this? Also what does a propane check entail? Thanks forum members!

My poor pup now has ptsd from the propane alarm.

It is an Atwood propane detector. It is vacuumed regularly. It ONLY goes off when I turn on the hot water heater. Not canine related either. To me that doesn't mean it is defective, it DETECTS something correct? It doesn't go off sporadically.



I don't know the schematics of the hot water heater but is the burner inside the drivers side compartment? Or is everything propane related to the water heater outside?

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

I now have the same problem with our MTI alarm, and this a replacement after a previously MTI went bad after 3 years. My alarm began sounding while the trailer was in storage with propane shut off. It seems they only last 2-3 years.
Bob K

With the info you are giving, the new MTI I installed may be as bad as the Atwood.

But at least for now, it's not alarming every day like the Atwood was doing.
And a MTI was going to be installed anyway as the Atwood is no made.

Strange, I had the same model MTI I bought in the Casita for four years and never had spurious false alarms. The only time it would false alarm would be when somehow the face of it was blocked with a storage box - as soon as the box was moved back, the alarm would clear. Is it possible that the model you have is different than the one I installed?

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Mucram

I don't know the schematics of the hot water heater but is the burner inside the drivers side compartment? Or is everything propane related to the water heater outside?

The water heater itself recesses into the trailer compartment but is a sealed unit. All combustion gases should be exiting outside the trailer. It would be possible for some gases to enter the trailer if you have a bad seal around the water heater frame to shell, a loose grommet around the propane line entrance or an open/leaky window near the heater, for example. I know one forum member had issues when the wind was blowing against the side of the trailer where the water heater was located.

[Mucram]

As a fu to my original post.....took trailer in for propane leak test. No leaks & of course, they were unable to replicate alarm. If propane alarm (Atwood) starts blaring again, I guess I will replace it a year early.

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Dave: Did you relocate the batteries there? I thought the batteries in the dinette bench as stock were only done in some 2009 19's when they were first introduced. Otherwise they were on the tongue or in the front storage box.

Our battery location was stock from factory. I don't believe they switched to outside the trailer for a year or two later.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Dave Walter

Our battery location was stock from factory. I don't believe they switched to outside the trailer for a year or two later.

On a 2013? That’s strange because ours is a 2010 and they were on the tongue.

[Tom&Joan]

Our alarm went off numerous times on our 2017 5.0 TA during our last trip. The dog bed is in close proximity to the detector. Turns out it was the dog, apparently the detector is more sensitive than our old noses. I am not implying that anyone else's problem is dog related.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Dave Walter

Our battery location was stock from factory. I don't believe they switched to outside the trailer for a year or two later.

Originally Posted by rubicon327

On a 2013? That’s strange because ours is a 2010 and they were on the tongue.

Is it possible that in that period the battery location for a 19' depended on whether the trailer had a single battery or dual batteries, or some other option?

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

On a 2013? That’s strange because ours is a 2010 and they were on the tongue.

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Is it possible that in that period the battery location for a 19' depended on whether the trailer had a single battery or dual batteries, or some other option?

You wouldn't think that it would be difficult to remember details from 7 or 8 years ago, but I believe that I was not recollecting things correctly. With a little bit of head scratching I seem to recall talking to Reace or Tammy about the battery location during our build. At that time they had made the shift to batteries in the front storage box/exterior frame for the 19', but on request would still put them in the front dinette. I had looked at a 19' a couple of months before placing my order and it had the batteries in the front storage box, which to me seemed to take up a lot of the storage box's usable space. So when I asked Reace/Tammy about it, they were ok with moving the batteries inside. I believe that my trailer was one of the last that they allowed this shift in battery locations and it was not too long after that all 19's came with the batteries out front.