Smoke alarms when boondocked

[DonTom]

I was just using my stove and forgot about running the fan. Smoke alarm sounded.

I forgot about the fan that will not work in this RV anyway if everything is left as stock.

No problem here at all, thanks to my added inverter. AC output right in the kitchen where I need it.

But this RV was designed rather dumb, and I wonder if most other new RVs are designed the same.

This RV has a stock small inverter, 1.2KW. That is not enough for the MW to cook, but it is more than enough to use the fan in the MW oven, which is located just above the stove. But when the stock inverter is used, the kichen AC outlets are not activated. So obviously, they do not expect us to use the fan in the MW when boondocked. So how does one cook without the smoke alarm sounding off?

I assume one trick would be to run an extension cord from an outlet that is activated by the inverter to the kitchen so the only fan in the kitchen can be used (in the MW often), even if you cannot cook with it.

Isn't it a bit ridiculous to not have a vented 12V van in a new motorhome? Or do they? My Y2k Class C does. Or what do you do, open all the windows and doors and hope the smoke alarm does not sound off? I doubt if many use the extension cord trick or add their own inverter as I did.

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[Old_Crow]

Heck, my 22-year-old coach has a 12v fan vented through the wall with a cover that automatically opens and closes as you use it. For most of my cooking the low speed keeps the smoke detector from going off. If it's raining and I decide to fry a steak instead of grille it...not so much.

 

[DonTom]

Heck, my 22-year-old coach has a 12v fan vented through the wall with a cover that automatically opens and closes as you use it.

I think this is only an issue with newer RVs, like this one. My Y2K RV is also 22 years old and has a 12 V fan for cooking.

It is as if they expect everybody these days to have shore power at all times or to run the genny as that activates all the outlets in this RV. But here there are quiet hours, so I would not have been able to do that when I got here starving late yesterday as this place has quiet hours and I got here about a minute after all gennys had to be off.

-Don- OPCNM, AZ

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Is that microwave fan even vented outside? Most just suck the smoke through a filter and blow it out into the room.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[donn]

Years ago after getting tired of the smoke alarm going off for no reasons I added a mini switch so I could turn it off easily.

 

[DonTom]

Is that microwave fan even vented outside? Most just suck the smoke through a filter and blow it out into the room.

I have wondered the same. But I can tell you my smoke alarm will NOT sound if the fan is used but will if it's not used and in just seconds when I am using the stove.

It probably is not vented to the outside, but it at least doesn't blow it on the smoke detector.

-Don- Lukeville, AZ (having a Chorizo Breakfast Burrito).

 

[Mitch Hates CT]

Get a smoke detector with a "hush" feature. Most of them have it now. When it alarms you push the button and it disables the device temporarily.

 

[Rene T]

That would be much safer than a mini toggle switch. I know I would forget to put the switch back on.

 

[Mitch Hates CT]

Yes and I am a Fire Official so we deal with this stuff regularly. Everything has to be forget-proof. I-thinnk you get like 10 minutes of silence and if it alarms again you can hush it again.

 

[DonTom]

Get a smoke detector with a "hush" feature. Most of them have it now. When it alarms you push the button and it disables the device temporarily.

Yes, mine has that, and I have used it. But it's better to have no alarm sounding off in the first place. I noticed my MW oven just blows the smoke out the side through a filter, but it somehow does the trick of preventing the smoke getting to the alarm.

But this RV was designed to not be able to use that fan when boondocked, but I took care of that issue as well.

-Don- New Castle, CA

 

[Heli_av8tor]

The smoke detectors in our S&B home were chirping intermittently. Blowing the dust out with an air hose solved the problem. I'll be trying that in the MH when we get home.
It goes off when the toast reaches medium darkness.

 

[Mitch Hates CT]

Yes, mine has that, and I have used it. But it's better to have no alarm sounding off in the first place. I noticed my MW oven just blows the smoke out the side through a filter, but it somehow does the trick of preventing the smoke getting to the alarm.

But this RV was designed to not be able to use that fan when boondocked, but I took care of that issue as well.

-Don- New Castle, CA

Ah man I almost yelled at you for saying "better to have no alarm sounding in the first place" thinking that you removed them until I read it again. Oddly enough I was thinking about the "venting the kitchen" issue a few days ago while I was cooking fish outside in the freezing cold so I didn't stink-up the house. (12 more months)

 

[Old_Crow]

My coach came with a hard-wired propane detector in the galley area, and a standard battery-operated CO detector in the berth, right above the on-board generator. When that CO detector died of old age, I went to Wally World and bought a 2 pack which included a smoke detector along with a CO detector. Mounted the smoke detector on the ceiling, near the fridge (which is right next to the stove. I regret that choice of locations every time I decide to fry something for dinner or cook bacon for breakfast.

 

[Rene T]

You should have put one on the ceiling right outside the bedroom door and one inside the bedroom door.

 

[Larry N.]

Thankfully, in my coach, there is a Fantastic Fan directly over the microwave and cooktop, thus the vent fan on the microwave exhausts just under the FF, so turning that FF on eliminates chances of a smoke alarm from cooking. Previous rigs weren't quite so well done.

 

[DonTom]

Ah man I almost yelled at you for saying "better to have no alarm sounding in the first place" thinking that you removed them until I read it again.

Well, you read it right the first time as well as the 2nd time. I reread my own message and realized what I said wasn't clear. So I edited it to make clear what I really meant. I added the word "sounding" when I edited it.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Old_Crow]

You should have put one on the ceiling right outside the bedroom door and one inside the bedroom door.

Berth=bedroom. The CO detector went right back where the old one was. Didn't even have to move the screws. As it happens, the berth is right above the generator, if I run the genny with that window open, depending on the wind, it'll set off the CO detector.
The smoke detector is actually in the passageway between the galley and the head. I wanted it fairly close to the fridge in case it caught fire in the night.