CO or smoke alarm going off in the middle of the night

[BrianKrueger]

Has anyone had a shrill 1-second alarm go off in the middle of the night? Apparently it is coming from either the CO detector or smoke alarm--in our 2014 AI, they are located right next to each other. I'm guessing it was the CO alarm, since we didn't have any smoke in the rig.

However, we did have several windows open and the propane was turned off. This happened twice in the middle of the night, once at about 2a and again at about 5a. Not an ongoing alarm, just a single 1-second shrill alarm. This has happened two different times on other trips, just once each night and again just one second alarm, then nothing.

If there was a true CO emergency, I assume the alarm would have kept going. Why would it do a 1-second burst, just long enough to wake us up?

[mojo]

If the batteries start to get low, they will start to chirp. Your propane alarm will also chirp if your house batteries get low.

[Boxster1971]

I've has CO/Smoke detectors go bad in both my new home and in my Interstate. There is information in the alarms manual about indications of a bad sensor, assuming you have already made sure you have a good battery.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[UKDUDE]

Yes, my CO detector started to beep intermittently about 6 months ago while we were driving. Installing a new battery didn't help. The dealer replaced it with an upgraded model under the manufacturer's warranty.


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[73shark]

IIRC, there was an alarm recall by Airstream a year or two ago. Or maybe my memory is misremembering again.

[Richard Kern]

I had my CO2 alarm give me fits one night. BUMMER

[BrianKrueger]

I thought I found the easy fix: replace the dead battery on the smoke detector and the nearly dead battery on the CO detector. New batteries put in, one night it was fine, the next night (last night), we had two of the one second alarms. They are piercing noise (as you would expect from a safety alarm), not the normal short chirp you get from the smoke detectors in our home that are low on batteries.

So apparently it's not a battery issue. We had the windows open and it was not a normal CO or smoke full alarm. It simply went off for one second (long enough to wake us), then nothing. No lights, no indicators.

Any other suggestions?

[Boxster1971]

Replace the offending alarm unit, sounds like the sensors are bad.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[BrianKrueger]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Replace the offending alarm unit, sounds like the sensors are bad.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

I guess that's my only choice at this point. Unfortunately, I am not under warranty since Airstream will not cover our unit (since it was a dealer buyback). So I will bring it into Camping World when I winterize next week and check out the options.

[djarrett]

Ours went off when we turned the heat on the first time this season. I guess it was burning off dust and what not. Never has gone off since.

Had you had your heat on at all?

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by BrianKrueger

I guess that's my only choice at this point. Unfortunately, I am not under warranty since Airstream will not cover our unit (since it was a dealer buyback). So I will bring it into Camping World when I winterize next week and check out the options.

Appliances and items like that are usually not covered by Airstream's warranty, but by their own warranty. If it's similar to mine (Costar), call the manufacturer (Quantum Group - 1-800-432-5599) and see if they'll help. Have all the numbers and manufacturing date on yours at hand when you call.

[BrianKrueger]

Originally Posted by nashrover

Ours went off when we turned the heat on the first time this season. I guess it was burning off dust and what not. Never has gone off since.

Had you had your heat on at all?

We have not had the heater on. Frankly, I don't even know how to turn the heater on, apparently you need to remove the black vent in front of it (to the right of the convection oven near the floor), right?

[BrianKrueger]

Originally Posted by UKDUDE

Appliances and items like that are usually not covered by Airstream's warranty, but by their own warranty. If it's similar to mine (Costar), call the manufacturer (Quantum Group - 1-800-432-5599) and see if they'll help. Have all the numbers and manufacturing date on yours at hand when you call.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for providing the info, I will give them a call.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by BrianKrueger

We have not had the heater on. Frankly, I don't even know how to turn the heater on, apparently you need to remove the black vent in front of it (to the right of the convection oven near the floor), right?

Should just set your t-stat to heat and turn the setpoint up above the ambient temp. in the RV. Make sure the propane is on also. I've never checked but the 12V probably has to be on and maybe the inverter also.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

Should just set your t-stat to heat and turn the setpoint up above the ambient temp. in the RV. Make sure the propane is on also. I've never checked but the 12V probably has to be on and maybe the inverter also.

The Inverter doesn't need to be on for the furnace; the furnace fan is 12vDC and so is the thermostat.