Mystery Light Switch

[edwards_josh]

Hey All, We picked up a 1993 Travelaire Rustler RW245 fifth wheel back in June - we've been out for a few weekend trips and spent this past week with it at the Old Man Dam PRA in Southern Alberta.

So far everything on this, almost, 30 year old trailer has worked perfectly - the previous owner took great care of it - there is, however, a mystery light switch that I can't figure out the purpose of - It's located down by the floor, below the refrigerator, to the right of the fuse box and directly beside the gas detector - It is same type of switch that controls the exterior light on the trailer - everything in/on the trailer seems to work fine with the switch turned off and I don't notice anything happen when I turn the switch on - It just occurred to me, as I was typing this out, that the switch may control the gas detector (and I should probably leave it on)?  Any other thoughts on the purpose of the switch?

TIA!

 

[Kevin Means]

Welcome to the RVForum. I doubt that it's for the gas detectors - they should be hardwired to the batteries, but who knows how they were wired 30 years ago. Gosh... who knows what it might control - if anything. Its location tells me that it might be an aftermarket switch for something that's not even there anymore. Might be worth giving the previous owner a call.

Kev

 

[richardhufford]

Our 1991 motorhome has a switch on the gas detector panel, which remotely turns the propane on or off.  It operates a valve near the propane tank which is in addition to the hand-operated valve.  My understanding is that RVs haven't been built with the electric valve for decades.

 

[ChasA]

My 2010 Winnebago has an electric propane valve.

 

[viceprice]

I helped my son add an aftermarket electric heating element to his hot water heater (it was a propane only unit). A switch was added as part of the installation to turn this on and off. Our location was down low near the hot water tank. Maybe  the same for you?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

As ChasA mentioned, some RVs have a remote shutoff for the LP tank, usually models where the tank is located between the frame rails and ths not very accessible to close the main manual valve.  The valve that Richard refers to is also electric but works with the LP detector as an emergency shutoff in case of a leak.  The NFPA 1192 safety standard used to require an emergency LP shutoff for a fixed tank, but that requirement was dropped about 20 years ago.

 

[edwards_josh]

Thanks for the feedback everyone - We're heading out for an 8 night trip at the end of the month - I might spend an afternoon trying to trace the wiring to see where it leads (if I can get to it)

Josh

 

[edwards_josh]

I wasn't able to trace the wires very far, unfortunately.  I've got to get an RV tech out to fix up the fridge in the spring... I'll ask them if they have any ideas what it's for.

 

[84southwind]

I wasn't able to trace the wires very far, unfortunately.  I've got to get an RV tech out to fix up the fridge in the spring... I'll ask them if they have any ideas what it's for.

It is a manual shutoff for the propane detector to prevent the detector from killing the battery when the unit is not in use.

 

[longhaul]

My first 5th wheel rv trailer was a 1984 Aljo.  It had a mystery switch next to the fridge. Some how it got left on for a couple of days while we loaded for a 6 week trip.  We made about 400 miles and pulled into Clayton, NM. Before I could get set up on 110/water  the wife says  we have hot water.