CO Alarm Mystery

BluJay · 10-21-2016, 08:29 PM

Just snoozin' away on the last nite of our final trip for this season when (at 1:30 a.m.) the CO alarm goes off.

!!

Once I got it silenced & DW got the door/windows open, we realized that there was no possible source of CO in the trailer (propane was off, and we were running the same small ceramic heater we've been using for a number of years).

Any thoughts, folks?

Screwby · 10-21-2016, 08:49 PM

Expired and or malfunctioning CO detector? They have a lifespan

SouthCo · 10-22-2016, 01:41 AM

Are you plugged in to power or boon-docking? A low 12v battery will make it go off from what I've read.

edatlanta · 10-22-2016, 03:51 AM

Every one I have ever had or even heard about fails/wears out, etc. in the middle of the night. How do the manufacturers do that since these things don't have a clock in them, OR DO THEY?

shadester · 10-22-2016, 08:30 AM

We have had that issue on several occasion when parked next to vehicles with engines or generators running like at the flying J's. After we leave the detector works fine. So I don't know if it has something to do with voltage or what. We eventually bought a battery one also and when it happens the portable one doesn't show anything as it has a digital display. It's usually like 3am when it goes off. So it is still a mystery.

jgerhard · 10-22-2016, 09:19 AM

I've had it happen to me a few times. It's always been a low battery issue.

Face value: $.02

James

My garage · 10-22-2016, 09:47 AM

Been trying to locate same issue as just installed new one in motorhome a year ago turned out to be the stuff my bride put in to make fresh pretty smell was in a small vase on counter in kitchen looks like a bunch of small sticks in vase the company said that and spices can cause problems ours sits in garage took about a week each time to go off

DaveT · 10-23-2016, 09:51 AM

Temps go down at night, weak battery becomes less able, alarm chirps.

My garage · 10-23-2016, 10:02 AM

Stick meter on in am I thought batteries too mine were six years old by the way I put the extender in the batteries first time I've gotten that long out of a set usually less then 4

Steamboat_Willie · 10-30-2016, 12:02 PM

Same problem here. We've now gone through TWO Safe-T-Alert CO detector alarm failures on our 2011 22FB camper. SAME identical symptoms. The alarm starts blasting away at some awful ungodly early morning hour when you're fast asleep. When the first one went at the 3 year mark we called the mfg, MTI Industries, and the customer service rep that we spoke with said that they're "usually" good for 5 years. But not always. She said that at 3 years the product was well out of 12-month warranty period and thus there was nothing they could do for us. She also said that no one else has EVER reported such a problem. Yeah, ... "wink wink"!! So we replaced it.

After that, the replacement unit started blaring away again at 2AM at just about the 14 month mark. I couldn't believe it. So again I called MTI and spoke with a customer service rep whom I told that the unit failed at 14 months. The lady I spoke with REALLY seemed uninterested at my recurring failures and could care less at my dilemma. She said, "Well, the units are ONLY warranted for 12 months. So I guess you probably should just replace your detector every year just be sure." Amazing. At once a year that becomes a cost issue as far as I'm concerned. Yes we were connected to line power when both failures occurred and the DC voltage at the detector power input looks fine.

So my question is: Is there perhaps another manufacturer of a CO/LP alarm/detector other than MTI Safe-T-Alert that others have found to be a bit more reliable than this particular brand? At the moment there is no alarm unit installed in our camper. I know it's probably prudent to have one installed. But with our typical camping we rarely, if ever, use the gas stove and for any heating requirements we've relied on one of those small ceramic type heaters which work just fine. So under those conditions I'm not overly concerned. Any suggestions?
Ed

My garage · 10-30-2016, 12:20 PM

I spoke to lady who gave me the tips I posted room freshener ,spices some types of toilet. Chemicals mine stopped after removing air freshener, it's been 4 weeks no noise .i checked mine even with the op off before calling them

oldmanAZ · 10-30-2016, 12:43 PM

Do you have a dog? Someone in the JOF said their dog's flatulence (methane is one of the gasses expelled) set theirs off. A stretch maybe, but ????

**norty1** · 10-30-2016, 01:02 PM

Where did you buy the replacement? Reason I ask is I bought one off ebay that was over a year old when I got it. Sent it back and got another.

They do go bad and I have NEVER heard of anyone getting any type of reimbursement if it is over 1 year from the date stamp on the back.

I have a 3 go bad over the years and just bite the bullet and replace it. Hopefully you just got a bad one.

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