I learned something new: CO detector

[Rapidly]

Camping out last weekend in our 2010 Jayco 1007, it was chilly so we ran the heater despite we were on battery power alone. I'd charged the battery before the trip plus it wasn't that cold, so I was fairly confident we could have heat at least 1 of the 2 nights. First night, no problem. Second night, all well til the CO alarm woke us up. Flashing red/green LEDs and beep every 30 sec. I thought maybe it was just that we had the table bed set up and some stuff jammed into the space below it where the detector is and it wasn't getting enough air, so I switched off the heat, cleared some space and in a couple minutes the alarm stopped and the LED went back to green. Back to sleep. Little while later, same thing. So we gave up and turned off the heat for the night. Great I thought, we have a combustion problem and now I gotta go get expensive diagnostics and repair. There was some text on the face of the alarm about low voltage but without the manual (I have it somewhere but middle of the night without glasses, forget it) it didn't make much sense to me; after all it's a CO detector, right, not a battery monitor. Next (last) day we were running the water pump and a light, and the alarm went off again. Without the heater having been on at all.

Aha! I'm pretty ignorant about electricity but I can put 2+2 together, so now I know the thing has the dual purpose of warning you when your battery voltage is getting too low, presumably for safe operation of the heater. Even though the lights and pump seemed normal, trial and error showed it had to be low voltage. Good to know. Just one of those many things about trailering you learn the hard way.

I also learned last year -- also the hard way, of course -- that the CO detector has a finite life, after which it starts beeping to tell you it's no longer functional. That of course happened in the middle of the night too. Since there's no shutoff switch, I ended up pulling it out and cutting the wires so we could get sleep. I asked the dealer about it later and he said yeah, those things are a real pain. Of course they can save your life, but I wish we'd known more about how they really work and what else they're for. At least I know now when to replace it.

[Murff]

They're very sensitive, too! Don't put your dog's bed near it!

Murff

[AKGperson]

We had a similar experience at 5am the morning we were leaving so we just packed up and left in the dark. We now take at least one of our generators to charge the batteries during the day.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Murff

They're very sensitive, too! Don't put your dog's bed near it!

Murff

??? That's where my dog's bed goes! Granted, he doesn't sleep there the whole night (he's a wanderer) but nothing has happened so far...

I may have to consider finding him another place!

[FPM III]

I once worked for a company whose offices/warehouse were located within a self-store. Quite often I could hear the beeping "low battery" warning of the CO detector coming from the RVs parked in the outdoor storage area.

[Murff]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

??? That's where my dog's bed goes! Granted, he doesn't sleep there the whole night (he's a wanderer) but nothing has happened so far...

I may have to consider finding him another place!

I was referring to "dog gas", Bob. The CO detector can detect a dog fart.

Mine did.

Murff

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Murff

I was referring to "dog gas", Bob. The CO detector can detect a dog fart.

Mine did.

Murff

That's what I was afraid of! LOL!

[rryman]

Aerosol hair spray and deodorant will also set them off.

[bedrck46]

That is why I disconnect the battery whenever I put the RV in storage. The CO detector will cause the battery to discharge and will start beeping when the voltage gets low. And being its in storage who is going to hear it.
I would do the same thing even if I had it parked in the driveway in-between trips unless I was plugged into shore power.

[Brownie]

Funny? how those things always go off at 3 - 5 a.m.! I'm sure mine was at the end of its life. Kept going off - even when propane was shut down. Tried vacuuming it, blowing air on it. Finally pulled it. Have to call Jayco to get a replacement under warranty . . . one of these days.

[bedrck46]

easiest way to shut them off is to remove the power Take the time to determine which fuse provides power to the CO detector And while your doing that you can also find out what all the fuses control. Make your self a chart, can save you time if and when something doesn't work or doesn't power up. It also help to have a test light or a DVM

[Jim-n-Ash]

Ours has been going off at least once during every camping trip, and we're pretty sure it's not low voltage, because we have a solar charger and when we check the batteries they're always above 12. Sometimes hitting the reset button works, but .... This weekend we heard other people's going off too (not the same brand), so at least we know it's not just us. Still, it is unpleasant to hear ~any~ alarm in the early morning hours. (Our dog sleeps nowhere near it.) When we get our new TT, about the CO detector is going to be one of the questions we'll want answered in detail.

[Matt Chapter]

It's interesting to note that the propane detector has the same behavior. I don't have a CO detector in my camper, but low battery has triggered the propane detector several times! As others have said, always in the wee hours of the morning.

[SeanJ2173]

The owner's manual for my 2014 says that a beep every 25-30 seconds means that the alarm has reached end of life and should be replaced.

[RoyBraddy]

Generally a BEEP-BEEP alarm is only the LOW battery alarm. When they are set-off for gas or smoke they make a loud continuous sound...

I have two of those units setup for the CO detection. Guess my theory is both of them are not going off it is a TEST alarm for some reason...

I kinda wish there was a way to test them for actual Gas or Smoke to be sure they are really working...

Someone told me to use one of the pocket lighters by pulling the trigger without lighting them for a quick test. That is a GAS only alarm I guess... Not a CO alarm...

Roy Ken

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by Brownie

Funny? how those things always go off at 3 - 5 a.m.!

I have replaced 2 of the CO detectors and as mentioned they both died in the middle of the night. I tried to turn them off with the internal switch, but that only resets them. So, I had to remove the unit and cut the wires in the middle of the night.

So, as part of my last project (adding a floor level outlet) for the ceramic heater, I installed a cut-off switch for the CO Detector. Now that I installed it I should never need to use it.

Don

[norty1]

Originally Posted by Mustang65

I have replaced 2 of the CO detectors and as mentioned they both died in the middle of the night. I tried to turn them off with the internal switch, but that only resets them. So, I had to remove the unit and cut the wires in the middle of the night.

So, as part of my last project (adding a floor level outlet) for the ceramic heater, I installed a cut-off switch for the CO Detector. Now that I installed it I should never need to use it.

Don

Mine looks just like yours. I cut the wire on mine and spliced the new one in with a wire nut. We keep a screwdriver in a drawer nearby and 2 screws gets me to the wire nut.

[pop up pilot]

Thanks for the post, Rapidly. I had my pup stored in my garage, and could not understand why the CO detector went off. I have the battery on trickle charge, so I knew I had full voltage. The solution ultimately was a complete replacement. Not a big deal, and no problems since. I did not know about the low voltage alarm, although it makes sense. As voltage drops, you would not know that the detector became ineffective unless it made noise.