alarm goes off

[cyberspy]

Hi Guys

I have a 2001 jayco quest 8u. Once the camper is plugged in to power if we turn on inside lights about 30 seconds later the alarm goes off. This is only when lights are on.
everything works fine except for this. I do not have a battery hooked up. would this cause it ?

cheers
rob

[RedHorse1]

What is the alarm? Smoke, CO, propane?

[cyberspy]

To be honest I'm not sure.. We are new at this. No propane hooked up only the power.When lights inside are turned on alarm goes off. Turn light off.. alarm goes off Someone told me its because we don't have a 12v battery hooked up.

[emjayuu]

Converter?

[cyberspy]

nope. I guess I will try putting a battery. I was told it kind of like a smoke detector when the battery is low, it beeps. it needs it as a "backup" for safety. I just didn't want to spend the money if I didn't need it.. lol
will a 12v house alarm battery work for this purpose ? they are only 15-20$

[tnchuck100]

Smoke detectors usually have their own 9V battery. The CO/Propane detector uses the camper 12V power. This detector will beep when the voltage drops below 10V. Based on your description you indicate you do not have a battery connected. This could be an indication your converter may be defective. Since this is an older camper it may require a battery be connected. As for a 12V home alarm battery...No. You need a 12V marine battery.

[octane]

if you don't have a battery, you could get one of those small lawn tractor batteries for 40$, they are less than 15 pounds and will be enough to power the brakes if you have them, but they are not meant to be used like a deep cycle.

[Jagiven]

can you post a picture of the device that is alarming?

The CO/propane alarms do trip when the battery power is low/week. They also have issues with false alarms when they get old. You have a converter on board to run the 12V lights, which should provide enough power for the alarming device to be happy. My guess, the CO/Propane leak sensor needs to be replaced (due to its age). Next, I would wonder why it only trips with the lights on. Previous owner rewired the alarm only to work when the lights are on?? Or maybe the power level dips just enough with the lights on to indicate an issue with the aging detector. This could be checked with a volt meter.

[Hattie]

Our first 'shake down' trip was over a cold rainy November weekend in a state park with no hookups - so we were running the heater and the lights most of the time. 5:30am Sunday our alarm went off - turns-out we had run the battery down. Lessons learned, keep everything (battery, propane tanks, water) 'topped-off' whenever possible, and buy a generator just in case!

[cyberspy]

I guess im buying a deep cycle battery tomorrow..lol
I will give you guys feedback when I return. Thanks for all the input

[CanCamper]

Originally Posted by cyberspy

I guess im buying a deep cycle battery tomorrow..lol
I will give you guys feedback when I return. Thanks for all the input

Did the problem get resolved with a new battery?

We know on our 2007 1207 that the battery is not functioning. We are hooked up to power at our site, but about once a day if we turn on anything 12v, we hear a high pitched sound. Resetting the breaker fixes the problem.... until next time. Not sure we need a battery, for the type of camping we do, so I've been debating about spending the $ for a battery.... and not even sure that would fix the problem.

Comments or thoughts from others?

[cyberspy]

Hi Guys


well I bought a battery which did NOT solve the problem .. lol, Actually no lights work indoors now!! When I have time I will investigate the wiring. All other plugs and appliances work. I installed temporary led lights on ceiling which work great.

[campingva]

Did you hook up the battery properly? Trace both cables to see where they go. One should go tot he trailer frame and that is your ground side. The other should go back to a distribution point and that is your positive side. Do not trust color codes especially on a used trailer. If not you may have blown a fuse somewhere. Or there is another problem and that is the reason there was no battery installed. Electrical problems are fun

[cyberspy]

I'm assuming it was correctly hooked up. I will check the fuses. Where would the fuses be. is there a fuse box on these small campers ?
The leds gave me a temporary fix or the vacation.. I plan to do a bit of work and modifying to the camper as well. Hopefully I will locate the problem.

[TWP723]

Fuse should be inline with the battery cable.

[Greydog]

I honestly cannot make sense out of the propane detection that Jayco is outfitting the trailers with. We have a 2012 32 BHDS and it has the combo propane/CO detection but it goes off in the middle of the night like I have read in soooo many instances on line. Knowing we are not running any propane and are plugged in to power, we have gambled and just removed the fuse instead of waking up to the shrill alarm at 3 a.m. I think this will be the option many take and that should be a very serious concern for Jayco and the alarm folks. If it is too sensitive then fix it and recall the units. Owners should not have to shell out $150 -$200 for a new alarm but there is not an alternative option. Dangerous and annoying. Calgary, Alberta

[CanCamper]

Originally Posted by campingva

Did you hook up the battery properly? Trace both cables to see where they go. One should go tot he trailer frame and that is your ground side. The other should go back to a distribution point and that is your positive side. Do not trust color codes especially on a used trailer.

I know I need a new battery, but in trying to take some voltage measurements to try to understand how well the converter was functioning I was confused with what I saw at the battery. It seems to conflict with what is written above...and particularly that it was written not to trust colour codes especially on a used trailer (which mine is)!

If it matters, I have a 2007 Jayco 1207. The wire attached to the frame is white and has been attached to the positive side of the battery. The other wire is red coming from under the trailer and I presume is attached to the converter. There is a 30amp fuse before that red wire gets connected to the negative side of the battery.

Does that sound reversed? I'm going to get a new battery and don't want to hook it up wrong!

[Edd505]

That sounds like the wires are reversed ground (negative) goes to the frame. Positive grounds went out in the 50's

[Rapidly]

The propane detector is also a low-voltage alarm. The alarm may be going off because it is detecting low voltage, but it may also be, and probably is, going off because it is old and needs to be replaced. Those things have a definite shelf life of only 3-4 years and should be replaced regularly, well before they get to the point of waking you up in the middle of the night. Ours was about $14 on Amazon.

[dewey02]

My alarm was going off on my 2012 Starcraft.
It was in my driveway.
Propane off at the tanks.
I took a look at it and it said Replace by March 2015.
So I guess they are built to last 3 years.