Tank alarm on 2011 Shasta Revere 21TBLE

[jayds]

I noticed there wasn't a sub-forum for the Shasta series.

I bought a 2011 21TBLE (travel trailer - pull behind) back in September for a place to stay while working out of town.

Structurally, everything has been fine. However, the tanks and alarm system seem to be quirky at times. Well, not "at times"; really it's most of the time.

Since I first began using it, when either the black or gray tank gets 2/3 full on the indicator, the alarm will go off. If it goes off, I go ahead and empty both tanks... black first, then gray, then flush the black again.

So when I get back into the trailer, the indicator will show the tanks empty, but the alarm will continue to go off at 5 minute intervals for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour sometimes.

If I take a shower too late at night and try to go to bed, I'm up for an hour baby-sitting the alarm.

I use drop in cleaning/deodorant pods. Tried different brands.

Does anyone have any suggestions???

Thanks in advance!


Jay

[jayds]

And.... another long night of babysitting the alarm.

[bikendan]

frankly, i've never heard of tank alarms on any RV, in the 6 years i've been on numerous RV forums.
so i have no idea what you're talking about. are you sure it's not the CO2 or propane alarm?

[jayds]

Originally Posted by bikendan

frankly, i've never heard of tank alarms on any RV, in the 6 years i've been on numerous RV forums.
so i have no idea what you're talking about. are you sure it's not the CO2 or propane alarm?

Frankly, you're probably right, except it should be a carbon monoxide and LP gas alarm, I believe.

For me, it's a freakin' "tank" alarm cause it always goes off when my tanks get full!!!

Any solutions suggested???

I understand these things can be sensitive to certain chemicals used for cleaning and such, but body soap and toothpaste??? C'mon! Is this what is causing the alarm to go off???

Again, I'm looking for solutions/suggestions.

[bikendan]

you're right, it's CO, not CO2!

first, is the trailer hooked up to shore power?
second, have you checked the battery?

the most common cause is the hard-wired propane alarm goes off, because numerous parasitic power drains, empty the battery.
that's why you have to keep the trailer hooked up to shore power or install a battery disconnect switch, which a lot of us do rather than take the battery out.

a rarer cause is a bad propane alarm.

[jayds]

Yes sir. Connected to shore power. And the battery is connected. So, my indicator always shows fully charged battery. Is this really showing shore power instead?

Is it best, then, to disconnect the battery while connected to shore power?

[LadyWindrider]

The propane detector will be the one near the floor. If it is near the bathroom door, and you use aerosol deodorant, hair spray, perfume, some of these may set it off. I have also found mine will go off if the tanks is fairly full, and you flush too long. The gasses from the tank will escape through the toilet opening, and cause an alarm. Try closing the toilet lid if you are doing long flushes to add extra water. Make sure to have the bathroom vent fan running if using aerosol products. If indeed it is the detector near the floor. No need to disconnect the battery, and would blow fuses if the hot wire became grounded, so leave that alone.
One last thing, a dog being near the detector and passing some gas can set it off also.

(OK you can laugh, but true)

Also, there is no tank alarm on a Shasta, or any other trailer that I have seen, so it must be one of the gas detectors. Propane down low, CO up high, and also a smoke alarm on the ceiling, that looks like a normal household smoke alarm.

[trudinator]

Originally Posted by windrider

The propane detector will be the one near the floor. If it is near the bathroom door, and you use aerosol deodorant, hair spray, perfume, some of these may set it off. I have also found mine will go off if the tanks is fairly full, and you flush too long. The gasses from the tank will escape through the toilet opening, and cause an alarm. Try closing the toilet lid if you are doing long flushes to add extra water. Make sure to have the bathroom vent fan running if using aerosol products. If indeed it is the detector near the floor. No need to disconnect the battery, and would blow fuses if the hot wire became grounded, so leave that alone.
One last thing, a dog being near the detector and passing some gas can set it off also.

(OK you can laugh, but true)

Also, there is no tank alarm on a Shasta, or any other trailer that I have seen, so it must be one of the gas detectors. Propane down low, CO up high, and also a smoke alarm on the ceiling, that looks like a normal household smoke alarm.

I can attest. My alarm went off last summer when I sprayed Downy Wrinkle Release. Got it to go off, then I put the shirt on that I sprayed, walked past the detector, and it went off again! These things are uber-sensitive, which is a good thing, but a PITA sometimes.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by jayds

Yes sir. Connected to shore power. And the battery is connected. So, my indicator always shows fully charged battery. Is this really showing shore power instead?

Is it best, then, to disconnect the battery while connected to shore power?

the indicator doesn't show true battery power if you're hooked to shore power.
it'll always show full when hooked up.
you should have a good 3-stage converter/charger, so you don't need to disconnect the battery. just keep an eye on the water level once in awhile.

[jayds]

Originally Posted by windrider

The propane detector will be the one near the floor. If it is near the bathroom door, and you use aerosol deodorant, hair spray, perfume, some of these may set it off. I have also found mine will go off if the tanks is fairly full, and you flush too long. The gasses from the tank will escape through the toilet opening, and cause an alarm. Try closing the toilet lid if you are doing long flushes to add extra water. Make sure to have the bathroom vent fan running if using aerosol products. If indeed it is the detector near the floor. No need to disconnect the battery, and would blow fuses if the hot wire became grounded, so leave that alone.
One last thing, a dog being near the detector and passing some gas can set it off also.

(OK you can laugh, but true)

Also, there is no tank alarm on a Shasta, or any other trailer that I have seen, so it must be one of the gas detectors. Propane down low, CO up high, and also a smoke alarm on the ceiling, that looks like a normal household smoke alarm.

Thanks windrider~

I believe this to be the case here.

The alarm is on the floor next to the bathroom entrance.

Though I use no aerosols in the bathroom, it may be the sewer gases coming up through the hose. But immediately after dumping the tank, I flush with the water connection in the back, step inside, run about a gallon of water into the bowl and drop in one of the cleanser/deodorant packs, then flush. I generally keep flushes short & sweet... so to speak.

And the small motor on the vent burned out a couple of weeks ago. However, as a protocol, when emptying the tanks, I will still open the bathroom vent and set a box fan I have in the trailer facing the bathroom to ensure air flow is moving quickly through the bathroom.

[jayds]

Originally Posted by trudinator

I can attest. My alarm went off last summer when I sprayed Downy Wrinkle Release. Got it to go off, then I put the shirt on that I sprayed, walked past the detector, and it went off again! These things are uber-sensitive, which is a good thing, but a PITA sometimes.

Thanks tudinator
Sounds like these things ARE extremely sensitive!

[jayds]

Originally Posted by bikendan

the indicator doesn't show true battery power if you're hooked to shore power.
it'll always show full when hooked up.
you should have a good 3-stage converter/charger, so you don't need to disconnect the battery. just keep an eye on the water level once in awhile.

Thanks Dan~

Your info is a big help! Obviously my first TT...

Last September, I bought it on a Friday and hauled it off the lot Saturday. My "orientation" was a quick tour of the locks, storage, fridge, microwave and stove. The sales guy handed me a big folder packet and said, "It's all in there". Lol !!! Not quite!

I bought it from a motorhome consignment place in Texas, and they only had these to satisfy insurance regulation requirements. Listed for $17,000; they sold it to me for $9,700, so I'm not complaining one bit!

I'll hang around the forum and try to learn more. Again, thanks for the info.

[RollingDownTheHighway]

I have a 27ft BHS Revere and the only alarm I have in mine is for Co2 and a low propane alarm, other then that, there's no other alarms in ours. Is it one of those 2?

[LadyWindrider]

If you have a trailer, that is no older than 5 years or so, it must have a smoke alarm, usually on the ceiling, near the main sleeping quarters. It must have a CO detector, usually up high on wall near the kitchen area. It must have a propane detector, usually down low, near the floor, again near the kitchen. The propane detector is also wired to the trailer battery for power. The other detectors usually have there own batteries. All of these must be working before a dealer can sell the trailer. I have never seen a trailer with a "low propane" alarm, as mentioned in post #13. This is especially true of Shasta, and we sell those and I have seen many.

Remember, good idea to take inventory, and replace all your detector batteries at the start of every camping season, which I hope our next one is soon.

[jayds]

Originally Posted by jayds

Frankly, you're probably right, except it should be a carbon monoxide and LP gas alarm, I believe.

For me, it's a freakin' "tank" alarm cause it always goes off when my tanks get full!!!

Any solutions suggested???

I understand these things can be sensitive to certain chemicals used for cleaning and such, but body soap and toothpaste??? C'mon! Is this what is causing the alarm to go off???

Again, I'm looking for solutions/suggestions.

It's not a tank alarm, but it always goes off when the tanks are 2/3 full.

I have had better success with quick flushing and fast emptying.

I emptied the tanks Thursday night as I was leaving to go home for the weekend, the alarm went off only once... I reset and it never went off again.