Propane alarm

[Czechhome]

We started using our furnace for the first time last night . Left to go hiking came back and turn it back on for about 30min and the propane alarm was going off. So I turn the furnace off and turn fan on alarm went off. Did not smell and propane gas at all. Does the alarm sometimes go off for no reason ? Or is very sensitive? I will turn furnace back on tonight to see if it goes off again. And we are not running any other gas equipment when alarm went off.

[padlin]

Can you add the year of your trailer to your profile? For this question alarms need replacing at about 5 years, however if that were the case it'd go off even when the furnace is off. This sounds like the furnace, maybe the exhaust.

[Czechhome]

It’s 2019

[padlin]

Then the alarm is/was probably valid. I guess you'll have to try it again and see if it repeats.

If you have electric you might want to pick up a small electric heater till you get it sorted out.

[tdf-texas]

Ok, here's some of the stuff I have had to do to get the propane detector to stop going off.

1. Vacuum the front of it. I know, that seems stupid but for some reason - Atwood propane detectors don't like dust and will sporadically alarm until you clean them.

2. Check to see if the trailer battery(ies) are currently being charged. Batteries, when charging, emit hydrogen gas. The Atwood propane detector thinks hydrogen gas is propane so off it goes into alarm. Other than sealing the battery box perfectly or changing the battery to AGM or lithium, not much can be done about this.

3. I know your trailer is only at most a couple of years old and the life of an Atwood propane detector should be about 5 years, but... I ripped out the 3 yr old Atwood in my trailer and replaced it with a new MTI.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Constant false alarms before with the Atwood - no false alarms with the MTI. With the Atwood, I could leave the trailer for a while and when I came back, the propane alarm would be going off. No cooktop on, no furnace on, etc. but the alarm is sounding. Or my favorite - getting up in the middle of the night to reset the propane alarm because it is blaring.

It may be I had a lemon but I always wonder if that's why Atwood propane alarms were pulled off the market and are no longer made.

[John in Santa Cruz]

fwiw, my 2014 came with the MTI SafeTAlert, and it started going off randomly when it was about 4 years old, so I replaced it. haven't had an alarm since, except when I used too much aerosol bathroom cleaner

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

fwiw, my 2014 came with the MTI SafeTAlert, and it started going off randomly when it was about 4 years old, so I replaced it. haven't had an alarm since, except when I used too much aerosol bathroom cleaner

Maybe the real end of life indicator for a propane detector is when it starts nuisance alarming.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

Ok, here's some of the stuff I have had to do to get the propane detector to stop going off.

1. Vacuum the front of it. I know, that seems stupid but for some reason - Atwood propane detectors don't like dust and will sporadically alarm until you clean them.

2. Check to see if the trailer battery(ies) are currently being charged. Batteries, when charging, emit hydrogen gas. The Atwood propane detector thinks hydrogen gas is propane so off it goes into alarm. Other than sealing the battery box perfectly or changing the battery to AGM or lithium, not much can be done about this.

I do believe (could be wrong) that the battery(ies) on the 19 are outside on the tongue and if so, hydrogen from charging battery(ies) would seem to be a stretch. Also, perfumes, aerosols, and canine flatulence have been known to set off propane detectors.

3. I know your trailer is only at most a couple of years old and the life of an Atwood propane detector should be about 5 years, but... I ripped out the 3 yr old Atwood in my trailer and replaced it with a new MTI.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Constant false alarms before with the Atwood - no false alarms with the MTI. With the Atwood, I could leave the trailer for a while and when I came back, the propane alarm would be going off. No cooktop on, no furnace on, etc. but the alarm is sounding. Or my favorite - getting up in the middle of the night to reset the propane alarm because it is blaring.

MTI’s propane alarms have also been known to go off when propane is not present. IMHO, they all have their idiosyncrasies. I could be cute and say “don’t ask me how I know that” but I can empathize with you about being blasted out of bed in the middle of the night. My 5.0TA’s propane alarm is in very close proximity to a poorly vented inside the trailer battery box. My false alarms were caused by batteries off gassing, but I have pretty much eliminated the problem. Unfortunately, my solution may not work in every situation. But in reality, I would say it is preferable to have a very sensitive propane detector rather than one that is insensitive.

It may be I had a lemon but I always wonder if that's why Atwood propane alarms were pulled off the market and are no longer made.Hasn’t Atwood been bought by Dometic? If that is the case, perhaps Dometic did not want to make propane detectors.

I think we must all accept that the perfect propane detector is yet to be engineered and manufactured.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

I do believe (could be wrong) that the battery(ies) on the 19 are outside on the tongue and if so, hydrogen from charging battery(ies) would seem to be a stretch.

I keep forgetting 17 and 19 trailers have their batteries outside the trailer! Well, that scratches the batteries being the cause.

[sherminator]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

I keep forgetting 17 and 19 trailers have their batteries outside the trailer! Well, that scratches the batteries being the cause.

21NE has its batteries outside as well.

[Emjay]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

I keep forgetting 17 and 19 trailers have their batteries outside the trailer! Well, that scratches the batteries being the cause.

Well not exactly. I have a 2010 19. Was boondocking in the southern AZ desert in november when my propane detector went off. Actually, it was blinking and beeping.... not exactly “going off. “.

Not having experienced this alarm ( as opposed to my previous Forest River cheap trailer’s replaceable detector blaring in the middle of the night to indicate end of life) I frantically threw open the door and waited to see if the alarm would stop. It didn’t. There was no propane leak and I had only used the stove to heat water for a beverage. Thinking it through and in a cell phone discussion with a fellow Escape owner, I realized it had to be the result of a low battery because I had not plugged in the generator in two days boondocking. Hooking up and starting the generator solved the problem. This solution was confirmed last week at home when I heard beeping again while it wasn’t hooked up to a battery tender. Sure enough, after properly tending battery upkeep, the beeping stopped and hadn’t restarted since.

Perhaps this all portends needing a new battery or a waning propane detector. Or not. Time will tell.

Emjay (learning how to read my Escape’s idiosyncrasies. )

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Emjay

Well not exactly. I have a 2010 19. Was boondocking in the southern AZ desert in november when my propane detector went off. Actually, it was blinking and beeping.... not exactly “going off. “.

Not having experienced this alarm ( as opposed to my previous Forest River cheap trailer’s replaceable detector blaring in the middle of the night to indicate end of life) I frantically threw open the door and waited to see if the alarm would stop. It didn’t. There was no propane leak and I had only used the stove to heat water for a beverage. Thinking it through and in a cell phone discussion with a fellow Escape owner, I realized it had to be the result of a low battery because I had not plugged in the generator in two days boondocking. Hooking up and starting the generator solved the problem. This solution was confirmed last week at home when I heard beeping again while it wasn’t hooked up to a battery tender. Sure enough, after properly tending battery upkeep, the beeping stopped and hadn’t restarted since.

Perhaps this all portends needing a new battery or a waning propane detector. Or not. Time will tell.

Emjay (learning how to read my Escape’s idiosyncrasies. )

If and when it actually goes off, you will not mistake it for blinking and beeping which indicates low battery power or end of life. When it detects propane or some other substance, the piercing scream will almost hurt your ears. A few years ago in another post I stated that (I don’t remember the exact words “you haven’t lived until you are ripped out of your sleep by a shrieking alarm three night in a row between 2 am and 3 am.” Try falling asleep again after the adrenaline rush it causes. Numerous occurrences led me to put a switch on the propane detector. After a few phone calls to manufacturers, much research, and experimentation, I determined the cause to be hydrogen off-gassing of the batteries in a poorly designed vent of the battery box under the dinette bench, and a battery box that is difficult to completely seal, exacerbated by the fact that the flush mounted detector is mounted in the wall of the bench some 20 inches from the battery box. I has since learned that if the batteries are fully charged by the solar panel during the day, and if I am on shore power, I turn the battery switch off so the converter does NOT send additional current to charge the batteries. I came to this conclusion after boondocking for an extended period; all of my false alarms had happened when connected to shore power, and none when off grid.

As an aside, I have a small placard I set in front of my truck’s steering wheel to remind me to turn the battery switch on before towing. I have never had to be reminded because turning it back on has become an ingrained part of our departure procedure. As to the switch on the propane alarm, it stays on when we are away from home. Since I store my trailer in a three sided carport blocking the solar panel, I keep the battery switch on to keep the batteries fully charged, but the propane detector turned off. For those who believe the propane detector should never be controlled by a switch, the president/CEO of MTI told me the critical material inside the detector only deteriorates when power is supplied (I have to assume he knew what he was talking about) and if power is cut when not being used, the lifespan of the detector will be extended. Since a quick look at the detector (lit LED) reveals if it is on and the replacement cost is around $90, I’m glad I installed the switch. And should the alarm sound, it can be quickly silenced while you address the cause, then switched back on to verify that the cause has been successfully addressed.

[brroberts]

I too have switched mine, but admit that a few times I have forgotten to turn it on when we’ve been in the trailer. It’s certainly a potential risk.