Carbon Monoxide Sensor Question

[m35a2]

Be darn sure there's no carbon monoxide (no cars idling near by, no generators, no lit pilot lights, etc.)

CO is nothing to mess around with.

Ours went off recently at Camp Walmart and someone was parked in front of my tow vehicle idling. So a good 30 feet from the detector.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by grandpawrichard

Thank you for your answer.
2/3 rds. of battery power should not be low enough to make the sensor go off in the middle of the night, or at least a person wouldn’t think so.
I will ask the service department at the dealer tomorrow.

Dick

Go to walmart or a hardware store and buy a CO detector that uses a battery. Not very expensive. Place it near the one in your RV. Then you will know if yours is faulty. Another cause may be off gassing of materials in a new RV. Those detectors they use are cheap and the weirdest things seem to set them off. I replaced mine almost immediately with a better one.

Let us know what your dealer says/does. Good luck.

[grandpawrichard]

Well, it went off again at 3 am this morning! Everything was Shut Off and the doors and windows were Wide Open!



So I hooked up the trailer and towed it to the dealership. I was parked well away from the building and all of the other RV's with the doors and windows open when the shop guys showed up for work.


They came Immediately to see what was wrong. Diagnosis is that the Carbon Monoxide Sensor Was Defective!

I now have a new Carbon Monoxide / Propane Sensor in my trailer that Doesn't go off every few seconds!

Thank you All for All of Your Suggestions and Help!


Dick

[m35a2]

Thanks for updating us on how this worked out. All too often we get left hanging.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Oakman

Are you sure it's the CO detector going off, or is it the propane detector? Also why don't you tell us what brand of trailer you own and what model.

CO detector is on the ceiling.
Propane (LP) detector is on the floor.

Larry

[Big Shoe]

I don't know which detector you have and whether it's a dual CO/LP unit of just Carbon Monoxide Detector, but I have read a bunch of articles and remarks concerning the same problem.

Our last trip out our went off in the middle of the night but I was able to reset it and that did the trick.

It sounds like you have covered most of the bases as per what I have read except you didn't say anything about pushing the reset button. Also, if you have a vacuum handy, run that across the front of the unit to remove any dust that may have settled on the sensor. Also, wipe the outside off with a damp cloth, not wet, just enough to remove any foreign substance that could be around the vents aggravating your detector.

I found with ours we had three grand kids sleeping in the living room area, which is only a few feet from where the detector is mounted. We had all the windows and vents closed. I suspect it was just enough carbon dioxide going into the air that it set it off. The first thing I did was open the roof vent and turned the exhaust fan on. Then I used a damp cloth to wipe the front of the detector off and I reset it again. This time the flashing red light went out and stay out. The green stayed on and we got some sleep.

There are all kinds of mysterious reasons why these detector go off and if yours continues you may want to consider replacing it with a brand new one. They say they should be replaced every five to seven years.

Good luck.

[grandpawrichard]

12 hours spent resetting the alarm. 100% ventilated, All sources of Power and gas turned off. Total Frustration caused by a Defective unit.
It was replaced by the dealer immediately today! They checked the electrical system, Propane system and No Problems! Just a Faulty unit.

Dick

[grandpawrichard]

I reset the darned thing so many times that I was blue in the face!
Then 12 hours later it came back on while nobody was in the trailer. I even left the door and the windows open to make sure that it wouldn’t come back on, but it still did! I think that it was possessed by an evil spirit!

Dick

[Big Shoe]

At least you now have peace of mind in knowing it was a faulty detector and not something more serious or deadly.

[mjones12]

I have heard that pet-generated methane has also been blamed for setting off such alarms.

[Larzy]

First time I used my new to me camper I was running the shower and antifreeze was coming out. I hadn't flushed the system enough beforehand. Dumb newbie. The windows were closed up and the smell of the RV antifreeze filled up the camper and the alarm went off. Had to flush and fill the system again while camping. When I got home I set an opened jug of the RV antifreeze in front of the alarm and fanned it into the sensor and it went off again so I know it was the antifreeze.

[HappiCampr]

We are having the same problem, so I want to follow all suggestions. Our CO detector has gone off 2 or 3 times in the middle of the night. We have to pull the fuse to get it to stop. This has happened both on shore power and on battery alone (I believe) using the heater or not. No pets ever in the trailer. Trailer is only 15 months old. Sonoma Expedition series, like an Evo. Also, our furnace fan doesn't shut off until we turn off the thermostat completely. Could these be related issues, or should I post separately about the furnace?

[Marnenorden]

I learned last year that these things are notoriously sensitive to power. Mine would go off when running on battery and levels showed 2/3rds power available. I disconnected mine and re-installed it to hide the hole. Then I replaced it with a plug-in model that detects LP gas as well as carbon monoxide that has it's own battery backup.

[Bob53]

Had a similar issue months ago and my problem was an overcharging battery . Don’t know if your issue is the same. Hopefully this may help.

[ronschmucker]

There is no shutting it off, you must disconnect it from power. Mine started intermittently going off when it hit its age limit. Sometimes they put detectors into trailers that are a good way thru their lifespan cause they can get those extra cheap.

[Rick Davidson]

The carbon and propane sensors are very sensitive, my bathroom door opens up to it and I can use spray deodorant and when I open the door sometimes it go off, and I've had it go off early in the morning , don't know why if the reset button doesn't work, I just pull the fuse for a few minutes and it's resets, been doing this for 1 1/2 years since we have had it, and it's will go months before it happens again.

[moodog]

Low battery will cause this or blown D.C. charger fuse.

[offgas]

Originally Posted by mjones12

I have heard that pet-generated methane has also been blamed for setting off such alarms.

Also, a well aimed bottom burp will set it off.

[MR.M]

You all know that the manufactures of these so called detectors program them to fail/go off between the hours of 2 am to 5 am . They sit back in their offices laughing everyday

[Silverbirch]

I read somewhere that if anything is set in front of the sensor blocking the airflow, the alarm will go off. When I stopped setting the cooler in front of ours, it stopped waking us up in the middle of the night.