slide-out alarm

[gwncanuck]

Hope somebody out there can help me figure this out. We were awoken last night by an alarm coming from our jayco 23m. It sounded like the CO alarm but that was OK. It wasn't the smoke detector either. The sound seemed to be coming from inside the wall of the dinette but I couldn't see anything blinking. There was nothing inside the storage area beneath the dinette seats. The gas supply had been shut off and nothing else was on inside the camper. I checked the manual and there was nothing about a slide-out alarm. I tried shutting off all the breakers but that didn't work so that suggested that this alarm was either battery operated or worked off the 12v system, which would make sense for when you were dry camping. I finally tried retracting the slide and the alarm sound stopped. I can't figure this one. Everything in the trailer seems to be normal. We had just returned from camping and set up the trailer in its parking spot no differently than we have set it up dozens of times. It had been raining all night but we experienced no power failures. Does anyone have any ideas? I'd hate for this to happen again when we were in a campground

[norty1]

What type slide outs do you have?

[gwncanuck]

Hi norty1, thanks for the quick response. I found the problem and boy, am I embarrassed!! On my first inspection of the trailer I didn't notice that the smoke detector was missing. My DW said she saw a white round object on top of the slide. Well, I got the ladder out and there was our smoke detector on the roof of the slide. So, what obviously happened was that the detector dislodged from the ceiling when I extended the slide and the rain set it off. I'm going to let it dry with the battery out and hope that it hasn't been damaged.

[norty1]

Great, that one was throwing me for a loop. Those smoke detectors are very inexpensive and I would just replace it.

[gwncanuck]

Yeah, I know I said that it wasn't the smoke detector but I was half asleep and in that illogical-thinking panic mode worried that I was probably waking up the neighbours. I'm sure I told myself that, well, there's no smoke or burnt odours so it can't be the smoke detector.

[Robbbyr]

Speaking as a retired 33+ year veteran of a municipal fire department, please don't chance your safety on an alarm that has had a recent "bath". Many of the newer RV alarms double as a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide (CO) detector, and I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of having reliable alarms. While it may dry out and work, it also may not. And for the price, it isn't worth taking that chance.

In the fire service we refer to mobile homes, trailers, and motorized RVs as "chimneys on their side" because of how fast fire can progress through them. All RV'ers need to make sure their CO, LP gas, and smoke alarms are in good working order, because if something (heaven forbid) ever were to happen you do not have much time to react.

Rob Ross
Fire Chief (retired)
City of Akron, OH Fire Department

[mike837go]

^^X2^^


It's too inexpensive to replace than to risk your lives on 'washed electronics'!

[oldmanAZ]

My smoke detector fell off the ceiling onto the top of my slide, too.

It got lodged in the seal so didn't make the trip all the way outside. While the side was being moved in, the smoke detector pulled out a portion of the seal that fastens to the trailer. Trailer is at the dealer to fix that along with a couple of other warranty items.

[gwncanuck]

Thanks All for the helpful advice about the wet smoke detector. For the small price of these devices, you're absolutely right that it makes sense to replace it.