What's that alarm?

[Tom]

Late Friday night Chris was alseep in bed and I was nodding off at the keyboard when the peace and quiet was pierced by a high pitched alarm. Half asleep, I fanned the smoke alarm before realizing the sound was not coming from that direction. By now, Chris was up and asking where the noise was coming from. Still half asleep, I told her I couldn't understand why the microwave was making that noise. Then I realized it was the LPG detector. About that time, the detector went silent, I sniffed around and couldn't smell LPG, then settled back to the keyboard.

15 minutes later the LPG alarm went off again and shut off several seconds later. One false alarm I could buy, but not two in such a short time. Looking closely, I found one of the rings on the stove wasn't fully shut off.

As most folks know, propane is heavier than air and will seek the lowest level, which is why the LPG detector is located near the floor. Left alone, it could be a potential bomb, so I opened the coach door and set up a high powered fan to exhaust any residual LPG from the floor and the cabinet beneath the stove.

Moral of the story - make sure those rings are turned off and don't ignore an alarm.

 

[Tom]

I related this story to Gary Brinck Saturday morning and Gary shared some of his LPG stories with me. While we were talking, I could smell what I thought was LPG outside his coach. Gary promptly got out his portable LPG detector and proceeded to check external LPG connections on his coach and his BBQ.

It turned out to be a false alarm - we concluded that the smell was actually propane coming from the vicinity of the adjacent campground bathroom and sewer tank. But I decided that a portable LPG detector would be a useful safety device to have on board. They're available at RV Upgrades for around $39.

 

[Jim Dick]

Tom,

Whenever we PDI a unit we always do a propane leak test. Thursday I found we had a pretty large leak in a new class C. After using the liquid to check we finally found a loose connection by wrenching all the fittings. Because of the high pressure, the leak detect would not show any bubbles. We couldn't drop the pressure because it wouldn't maintain that level. It appears this tester just might be the answer to our situation. Thanks to you and Gary. I've sent it to our PDI co-ordinator.

 

[Chet18013]

It's not uncommon for folks who have pets to have their LPG alarms set off if the pet is lying near the alarm and happens to pass some gas. <<GG>>

Chet18013

 

[Tom]

LOL Chet. I heard that from several folks here when I related our story. In our case, we have no pets and the gas ring was definitely on. OTOH I wonder if the detector would alarm when humans pass gas  ???

 

[Shayne]

Come on
Tom  time to fess up.  It was probably you in the 1st place. 
That was what woke you up. At the prices of gas today, maybe your should have bottled it,  Just  a few gallons can bring huge profits at little more than general food input.  Might help you pooter down the road a bit more inexpensively.

 

[Tom]

LOL Shayne. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten those beans at dinner time.

 

[Shayne]

The beans would be fine as long as they were cooked in Pineapple Juice for those of us that enjoy the Hawaiian music.

 

[Steve CDN]

Tom,

Many LPG detectors will emit an alarm when the voltage drops below 12VDC as a precautionary measure to ensure the coach has enough voltage to activate the LPG detector in the event of a propane leak.

Were you boondocking at the time?

 

[Tom]

Steve,

We have full hookups, so I doubt it was a low voltage condition. Furthermore, as I explained, I found one of the gas rings turned partially on (the cook hadn't turned it all the way off), so we really did have a propane "leak" and this was not a false alarm. The point of my posting  was to let folks know they shouldn't ignore the alarm.

FWIW the LPG detector on our old Pace, in addition to activating the main LPG valve, also had an on/off switch. Every time I entered the coach in preparation for a trip I'd turn it on and it would alarm. I'd turn it off and back on again and all would be well.

 

[Woody]

>>FWIW the LPG detector on our old Pace, in addition to activating the main LPG valve, also had an on/off switch. Every time I entered the coach in preparation for a trip I'd turn it on and it would alarm. I'd turn it off and back on again and all would be well.<<

My 93 Pace does the same thing. Even though I have the coach plugged in at home I generally turn the main battery off, which turns off power to the LP Detector. When I turn it back on the detector will go off and not reset until I turn it off and then back on again. Not sure why it does it though.

Woody

 

[BruceinFL]

Moral of the story - make sure those rings are turned off and don't ignore an alarm.

Same thing happened to me a while ago. I wish the RV manufacturers had a manual LP shutoff valve at the stove. It's too easy to bump those stove rings and just have the gas on a little and maybe not even notice it.

 

[Just Lou]

This post has been good for me.  My Bounder lpg detector does that bit of alarming when first turned on and requires a reset to be OK.  It's nice to know that it is not necessarily defective.  I wasn't planning to do anything about it since it seems to work fine after the reset.  Still, every bit of info brings reassurance.  Thanks guys.

 

[Wendy]

And if you have a dog prone to flatulence (like a labrador retriever), make sure his rear end is pointed away from the detector (this is the voice of experience speaking).