NO Canned Air on your Propane/CO Alarm

[jimmoore13]

My Propane/CO alarm aged out. In my misguided efforts to quiet the alarm, I cleaned my battery terminals, verified 13.5 volts or so while on shore power, and, and, and... Well, at least that maintenance is done...again.

My rig is a 2020, so I thought aging out was premature. So, in desperation, I "tested" the alarm, and it shut up. The "aged-out" alarm stopped (continuously alternating 2 red and 2 green), and the display went green. Shoulda left well-enough alone, but that's not my style. No-sir-eeeeeee.

In my infinite wisdom I figured I'd blow out the sensor with computer-grade canned air. A bunch of dust came out, but then the alarm sounded a propane alarm. I wasn't too surprised, but I figured it would shut up sooner or later.

As it turns out, the propane sensor DOES NOT LIKE CANNED AIR! The alarm read something in the canned air as a VOC, and it went nuts. I figured it would "dry out" and "air out" so I used the test button to quiet the alarm a whole bunch of times...to no avail. The sensor was NOT HAPPY.

I ripped the thing out of there, and low and behold the date on the alarm is 8/12/19...5 years and 3 months ago. My rig might be a 2020, but my alarm is from the previous decade.

But the point of this is that if you ever get the bright idea to blow the dust out of your alarm with computer canned air, DON'T. And it tells you something about that canned air...not as "clean" as they'd have you believe.


P.S. I did NOT shake the canned air...instructions on the can are very clear about that. It appears to mix propellant with the air. I learned that lesson long ago...the hard way...like every lesson I learn. My replacement alarm is on order from Amazon.

 

[5picker]

Many aerosols are propelled by... you guessed it... propane!

Read the can.

 

[NJKris]

As I found out recently, hydrocarbons other than propane will activate it. Who would have thought 'compressed air' contained hydrocarbons. I could have saved you 10 bucks with the marine company I used for OEM replacement, cheaper than Amazon. Also, as soon as you hook it up, the countdown clock begins. Guess what? I'm not hooking mine up until Spring when we start to use it again.

 

[TeachTexas]

The compressed gas that we use for dusting off electronics and other items is NOT air. Most contain either -Difluoroethane or a similar gas. This gas is flammable and subject to inhalant abuse. Turn it upside down and you can get frostbite if you spray it on skin for too long.

 

[Reverse_snowbird]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's not something I would have considered.

 

[Larry-NC]

In case you didn't know it...

In my infinite wisdom I figured I'd blow out the sensor with computer-grade canned air. A bunch of dust came out, but then the alarm sounded a propane alarm. I wasn't too surprised, but I figured it would shut up sooner or later.

As it turns out, the propane sensor DOES NOT LIKE CANNED AIR! The alarm read something in the canned air as a VOC, and it went nuts. I figured it would "dry out" and "air out" so I used the test button to quiet the alarm a whole bunch of times...to no avail. The sensor was NOT HAPPY.

In case you didn't know it, Jim, after the EPA banned fluorocarbons as aerosol propellants, a lot of manufacturers simply switched to propane. See this link at the highlighted part. Hold a lighter in front of a can of Right Guard and press the button sometime.

Also in case you didn't know it, drop a banana peel in front of the detector some time and wait a few seconds.

 

[TitanMike]

The compressed gas that we use for dusting off electronics and other items is NOT air. Most contain either -Difluoroethane or a similar gas. This gas is flammable and subject to inhalant abuse. Turn it upside down and you can get frostbite if you spray it on skin for too long.

This is simply because if you put compressed air in a container the quantity is limited. If you put a gas that is liquefied at low pressures you can get a lot more gas from the same container. Propane, Butane, etc are such gases.

 

[VagabondLove]

NFN my dog’s fart set a propane detector alarm off…I kid you not. And he was rarely gassy, so those things are sensitive.

 

[jimmoore13]

In case you didn't know it, Jim, after the EPA banned fluorocarbons as aerosol propellants, a lot of manufacturers simply switched to propane. See this link at the highlighted part. Hold a lighter in front of a can of Right Guard and press the button sometime.

Also in case you didn't know it, drop a banana peel in front of the detector some time and wait a few seconds.

Good to know. I thought most were using CO2 as a propellant. Anyway, I gather the propellant was more than just gaseous. I blew my beath into the alarm sensor, and it would not clear it. Typically, if you exhaust the gas with clear air (and I had not been drinking), the alarm will be happy. I gather some semi-liquid must have adhered to the sensor...because it would not clear. Live and learn.