LP Leak detector going off...

RanchoVectra · 10-25-2006, 06:24 AM

Wife called me at the office about 5 yesterday to say she had heard a brief alarm twice within a half hour but couldn't find the source. Thinking about it on the way home I thought it might be CO2 since she would have smelled smoke. Once there she said it hadn't gone off since calling.

She had all the windows open, had turned off the LP Switch, and was cooking dinner in the mwave, so I read up on the detectors to see if I could suss it out. Tried the CO2 test, it worked, but nothing until a half hour later when the alarm went off again for about 4 beeps. Shut off before I got to the CO2 detector, and I didn't see that is was the issue.

Nothing further, we closed the windows and went to bed, and shortly after at 930 it went off again, this time not shutting off, and I could clearly see it was the LP. I then turned off the water heater and furnace, turned on the bath fan, opened some windows and we packed up and went home (20 min away).

The coach is hooked up to 50 amp service and nothing is running on LP, and the tank is full. I should mention the engine batteries went dead a week ago, but that has been the only other issue so far (the batteries will be replaced this week).

I am going to try a mobile service today to see if they will come out, as the closest dealer is 40 miles away and neither of us has the time to drive it there.

Any ideas from the group?

RanchoVectra · 10-25-2006, 06:24 AM

Wife called me at the office about 5 yesterday to say she had heard a brief alarm twice within a half hour but couldn't find the source. Thinking about it on the way home I thought it might be CO2 since she would have smelled smoke. Once there she said it hadn't gone off since calling.

She had all the windows open, had turned off the LP Switch, and was cooking dinner in the mwave, so I read up on the detectors to see if I could suss it out. Tried the CO2 test, it worked, but nothing until a half hour later when the alarm went off again for about 4 beeps. Shut off before I got to the CO2 detector, and I didn't see that is was the issue.

Nothing further, we closed the windows and went to bed, and shortly after at 930 it went off again, this time not shutting off, and I could clearly see it was the LP. I then turned off the water heater and furnace, turned on the bath fan, opened some windows and we packed up and went home (20 min away).

The coach is hooked up to 50 amp service and nothing is running on LP, and the tank is full. I should mention the engine batteries went dead a week ago, but that has been the only other issue so far (the batteries will be replaced this week).

I am going to try a mobile service today to see if they will come out, as the closest dealer is 40 miles away and neither of us has the time to drive it there.

Any ideas from the group?

MNGolfer · 10-25-2006, 06:44 AM

Detector will beep if voltage is low. Overcharging batteries can also set it off.

RanchoVectra · 10-25-2006, 06:50 AM

Thanks, Donn, but I am pretty sure my manual said the detector runs off the coach batteries, not the engine batteries. The house batts are at 13+ volts, and have been steady there the entire time we have been parked, so unless I misread the manual I don't think this is it.

LK23 · 10-25-2006, 06:55 AM

Phil,

I am on my third leak detector. The first two were sounding off for no apparent reason. When I returned them to the manufacturer said they the detectors were defective.

RanchoVectra · 10-25-2006, 07:16 AM

Thanks, I am hoping that's it. Funny thing is, though, I got a slight headache after getting home last night, and I NEVER get headaches (although I was thinking about the CO2 then, power of suggestion maybe?). Also, the dogs were acting really funny all night, and one kept trying to 'tell us" someting was wrong in the galley - food and water are right in front of the detector, and since they are yorkies they are pretty low to the ground. Could be nothing, but lots of circumstantial.

How did you determine the detector was faulty, just by sending it back?

ISLAPP · 10-25-2006, 07:25 AM

This may be way out there, but have you always placed the dogs food in front of the detector? Have you recently changed the food brand or do the dogs have any kind of cologne or whatever on them?
There have been cases where chemicals in fabrics can set the detector off. It usually when things are new and have that "smell". Is it possible the detector is getting something from the dogs or the food?
Mike

RanchoVectra · 10-25-2006, 07:44 AM

Islapp, yes, no and no, but after hearing from a couple friends who have also had detectors go bad, I am thinking that's the problem. We never smelled gas, and as I think about it, I am beginning to think our dogs weren't reacting to a smell but to the detector itself going off. They probably saw the red light the first time, and knew where the sound was coming from, and that's what they were trying to tell us (wouldn't be the first time they tried to alert me to something, that's for sure). The dog who was the most yappy is often directing my attention to the food (right in front of the detector) to tell me to fill it or put some on the floor (don't ask) and that's what I thought she was doing, when in fact I think she was barking at the detector.

Still scary the first time, but better to be safe then sorry.

jonny33v · 10-25-2006, 02:54 PM

A ton of things set those detectors off. Anything flamable sends them beeping, including bug spray, perfume, hair spray, household cleaners etc. That being said ours would go off for no apparent reason. Just replaced it and now all is well. They actually wear out i am told.
Jonny

LK23 · 10-25-2006, 03:52 PM

Yes, to determine if the detector is defective you have to return it to the manufacturer. It will take about two to three weeks turnaround.

RanchoVectra · 10-25-2006, 07:47 PM

Thanks, guys, the techs will be out tomorrow, I will let everyone know what they find.

wagonmaster2 · 10-25-2006, 08:33 PM

Much to my concern, I'm beginning to wonder how we can ever depend on the LP detectors. A couple of onions setting on the floor close to the detector has set it off, a little cologne sprayed in the bath room will eventually set it off expecially if one of us walks thru the kitchen after using it(usually 30 minutes or so after going to bed), I read where one RVer found out his dog's gas was setting it off. I have mine unplugged about half the time because of the nuisance of it going off, and its been replaced once already by the dealer. Its kind of like the buglar alarms on cars going off all the time, no one really pays any attention to them anymore. It sort of scares me.
Wagonmaster2
2004 Meridian 36G

glenda1908 · 10-26-2006, 05:37 AM

I know how you feel Wagonmaster. Ours went off about 5 times in a row one evening. It may have been due to the generators running it in the parking lot(we were at a football game), but we finally had to disconnect it or we would never have been able to sleep ! They go off if you use any kind of cleaning stuff on the floor, sometimes from perfume, and YES, even the dog can set it off if you know what I mean.

We are having some work done on the coach now, so our tech is going to check it to be sure there are no leaks. We have slept in the coach since we disconnected it and we are still alive, so I am guessing it just needs replaced. I have been told that they become "over sensitive" to other things, and that will cause them to malfunction.

Geechee · 10-26-2006, 06:11 AM

Just to repeat what has already been covered. From personal experience here are some of the culprits that can cause a false positive for the presences of a LPG leak in your MH system.
-Discharging batteries
-Leaking aerosol cans (a number use LPG as the propellant now that Freon is banned)
-Methane emitted from the holding tanks
-The breakdown of some types of solid Ant/insect repellants

But most likely you have a defective detector.

rgrstndgby · 10-26-2006, 06:23 AM

Phil, I see in your original post that you are experiencing battery failure. I would wait until that issue is resolved before I replaced the detector. It will go off from gas issuing from a failing battery(s)..BTW, I had to replace my detector about 6 months ago. The tech at the factory ( CCI Controls) said that their circuitry has been "greatly" improved since my original was built (04 Advent.) We spent 4 months aboard this summer without a single "false alarm"..rgr...

BaldEagle · 11-22-2006, 08:17 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RanchoVectra:
Thanks, Donn, but I am pretty sure my manual said the detector runs off the coach batteries, not the engine batteries. The house batts are at 13+ volts, and have been steady there the entire time we have been parked, so unless I misread the manual I don't think this is it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>The LP detector must be hooked up to the chassis batteries, not the house (coach) batteries. If hooked up to the house batteries they would be inoperable if the batteries were shut off.

cbeierl · 11-22-2006, 08:47 PM

The LP detector is indeed hooked up to the coach batteries in my Vectra and has no power when the coach battery cutoff switch at the front door is turned off.

Izzyblueye · 11-23-2006, 03:47 AM

My LP detector is powered by the coach batteries. If the battery switch is off there is no power to the detector. When shore power is hooked up, the converter supplies the power to the detector and the battery switch can still be in the off position, but the detector is powered up.

JanBCarter · 11-23-2006, 02:25 PM

Our detector went off on a trip, so we did the required thing and then took the rig to an LP gas distributor who "went totally over it" and found nothing. Several weeks later in the middle of a 7000 mile trip it went off at 10pm in Laramie Wyoming with it 10 degrees outside. I was tempted to just disconnect the darned alarm, but instead closed off the LP tank and froze our tootsies (and other things) off!! Even the water tank froze without the heater.

Made an appointment at the nearest Camping World where they found a weld on the manifold on the stove had indeed sprung a leak before the control knobs and we did in fact have a hazardous condition. I now carry a portable propane sniffer....sort of belt and suspender approach I know, but who knows what might have been the result of simply turning off the alarm. Happy ending and a Happy Thanksgiving all.

OldBaldGuy · 11-30-2006, 07:27 AM

Ours was doing the same thing last week, low voltage and alarm lights lit, alarm going off from time to time. We are on shore power, all of the batteries (coach and chassis) are charges, nothing in the coach giving off a strange odor, no reason we could find for it to do what it was doing. I disconected the dectector and tested the voltage coming into it, no problem there. We were making a run to Camping World anyway, so we bought a new detector. Of course the new one is a different shape, going to require some cutting and a "patch" to cover part of the old hole in the wall. Just for kicks, before doing that cutting I plugged the old detector in, and guess what...it is working fine. No lights on except the green "operating" light.

%&*(*^%$%^&*(&^% things!!!