CO alarms every time we turn on water heater

martom · 07-20-2015, 02:18 PM

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help us. We have a brand new 2016 Coachmen Clipper, about 3 weeks old now. The CO detector alarms fairly often when we turn on the water heater, but not always. It's the CO alarm light with the 4 quick beeps every few seconds, not the propane alarm. We can smell something like exhaust under and around the outside of the trailer and sometimes inside but very faint. We hold the reset button to stop the beeping and of course air out the trailer. The light stays red until we either shut off the water heater or it shuts off the gas by itself because the water is hot enough. We looked all around inside near the water heater and outside in the watr heater outside panel but nothing looks out of place, open, or blocked. Had it checked out by the dealer before we left home because it happened there too, and they did the soapy water leak test and found nothing. Still the alarm goes off when we turn on the water heater, though not every time.

We're on a 3 week trip, in South Dakota heading toward Spokane WA, so not at all close to our dealership in Wilmington, NC, where we live. We've already experienced dealers not wanting to get us in right away and don't have time to wait around for a week before they can look at it. Any ideas what could be causing it? I don't think it's a false alarm since I can smell some exhaust and it seems to be directly connected to using the water heater. But how is the CO getting in?

It's a brand new trailer so I don't want to have to just not use it. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks!

beachcamper · 07-24-2015, 12:20 AM

I would quit using gas and switch to electric until its fixed. A CO leak can kill you in your sleep.

asquared · 07-24-2015, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachcamper

I would quit using gas and switch to electric until its fixed. A CO leak can kill you in your sleep.

X2. Also if you explain to a dealer you are on a trip and have a CO leak that could be life threatening they may be able to squeeze you in quicker. Is your dealer part of a network, i.e. rv warranty forever, route 66 or camping world? If so you may have better luck at one of those network dealerships

Batts-toy · 07-24-2015, 02:34 AM

Low house batteries will cause the CO alarm to sound, have you checked your charge level?

martom · 07-24-2015, 08:57 AM

Unfortunately, our trailer does not have dual source for the water heater, just propane with battery for ignition. But we only turn on the water heater when we're going to shower, and shut it off if it alarms. And it doesn't always alarm, about 50% of the time we turn on the water heater. It doesn't alarm when the water heater is off.

Also, the CO detector is on the wall of the box around the water heater, so it just separated from the water heater by an inch or so. Could the heat be affecting it?

We do belong to Route 66 but have found that means nothing in terms of getting in right away while traveling. Ive tried calling all the Route 66 dealers in the areas weve been and a few non-Route 66. Theyre all so swamped they just don't seem to care about anyones problems. We've had several dealerships say they're booked out to September and they can't put us in front of their own customers. Very frustrating when we thought we would be able to use the club as advertised. Especially since our trailer is only about 3 weeks old and this is our first trip!

Batteries are fully charged since we've been driving several hours or all day every day, and plugged into electric on still days. Also, we have 2 12v batteries in series, so plenty of battery power.

I've been reading all the other posts i can find about this and none of the other situations seem to apply. If it is CO, I don't know what's wrong with our trailer to make it leak inside.

Davidceder · 07-24-2015, 09:16 AM

Mobile RV repair????????????

Batts-toy · 07-24-2015, 09:31 AM

Batteries are fully charged since we've been driving several hours or all day every day, and plugged into electric on still days. Also, we have 2 12v batteries in series, so plenty of battery power.

DO you mean 2 - 12 volt batteries in parrallel? if your batteries are in series your running 24 volts.

French · 07-24-2015, 09:35 AM

Hello
We had our alarm go off repeatedly as well. We ended up purchasing a 110 volt home unit for CO Propane and natural gas detection. Plugged it in beside the 12 volt unit thst was alarming that came with the rig. The plug in did not activate so we then sleep well knowing the 12 volt was faulty. We returned the plug in detector and had the 12 volt replaced and no probs since

Chewie · 07-24-2015, 09:38 AM

1. Make sure burner inlet/ exhaust is clean if accessible. Dirt and debris/ insects can interrupt airflow and cause it to burn "dirty" producing CO.
2. Check with another CO detector. This is really the only way to know if there is CO present. Stop by a local FD and start the unit and see with their gas detector. Or use another plug in model with a readout.
3. Read the legend on the detector to make sure the beeps are an alarm vs a trouble alarm. Sounds like this is a real alarm with 4 beeps.
CO isn't something to be messed with. Have it checked ASAP.

martom · 07-24-2015, 09:40 AM

Thanks French, we might do that. I looked at some the other day at Walmart but the detection level was double ours in the trailer to make it alarm -70 ppm vs 35ppm. I saw on another thread it would be best to find one that actually shows the CO level detected, so I'll try to find one of those. In the meantime, I'm still trying to find someone to look at it.

martom · 07-24-2015, 09:45 AM

Thanks Chewie, we did check in the burner tube and all is clean, and nothing looked blocked or out of place. It's a really new unit so not messed up yet. Good suggestion about the fire dept. And I did check the manual and it is the CO alarm. This unit has propane and CO detection lights and a different alarm pattern for each of them plus low battery. I sprayed some lysol near it the other day (spraying shoes) and the same alarm went off right away. No gas appliances on at the time. So I guess it's pretty sensitive.

martom · 07-24-2015, 09:47 AM

Yes, sorry, in parallel.

Chewie · 07-24-2015, 11:31 AM

The other thing too is if it is CO, it's possible for the detector to become saturated and not work as effective as new.

Clipper1973 · 09-05-2015, 08:15 PM

Hello; are you still having this problem? We also just bought the same trailer and had the same problem while on a 10 day trip to Yellowstone.

catev · 09-30-2015, 12:12 PM

Btw, whatever it is you're smelling isn't CO...it's odorless and as someone previously stated, can kill you while you sleep. Hope you get it figured out, but don't fall into a false sense of security if the odor goes away. Trust the alarm...that's why it's there.

Kuba · 10-05-2015, 01:58 PM

Purchase an additional CO detector and put it by the original one, see what happens

RamblerGuy · 10-15-2015, 06:26 AM

I had many false CO alarms. I replaced it with a Kidde alarm that has a digital readout and a 10 year battery. I bought an LP - only alarm to replace the combination LP/CO alarm

Learjet · 10-15-2015, 09:21 AM

FYI...had electrical problems with a Vena AC/DC monitor once, every time the Water heater would start the meter would go crazy for a while. I checked and found the ignition lead for the Water Heater resting on the DC wires. So the ignition spark was sending interference through my DC system. After I moved the ignition wire a few inches away from the normal DC wires, I never had a problem again.

might be worth checking.

wboglejr · 10-26-2015, 10:32 AM

I just purchased my first trailer this year and bought based on my knowledge of the Coachmen reputation, however, I am concerned that my CO Alarm keeps going off when the hot water heater is running. I have had it back to the dealer about 3 times to resolve this issue and it continues to occur. First they resealed around the heater and we still received an alarm. Next they said it was a faulty alarm and replaced it, however, had to come back and have it installed. The alarm still goes off and they are now saying it may be a bad battery (brand new with trailer) and they also claim it is normal if the wind is blowing on that side of the trailer for the alarm to go off it is creates some back pressure. It is a major safety concern to me either way.

Has anyone found a resolution to their similar issue?

pgandw · 10-26-2015, 04:52 PM

Just another thought - check the factory wire connections. In my A-frame, I had to do some rewiring. My smoke alarm was chirping due to a dead 9V battery, but I was convinced it was the CO/propane alarm in my small A-frame. So I cut the wires to the CO/propane alarm to stop the chirping (which didn't happen because it was the smoke alarm with the issue).

During the re-wiring of the CO/propane alarm, I was disgusted with the number of those clear, crimp-on "wire nuts" that didn't even look like the wires were touching, much less properly twisted together.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 a-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage (minivan)
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

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