LPG Leak Detector Troubles/False Alarm beeps

[Tim_S]

My 2005 Intl 25' CCD came with a stock "Protechtor LP Gas Detector Series 2001", which I believe is made by a company called Atwood; though it says it was manufactured in China. It's giving me troubles, we just got back from a fall Rally and the darn thing started beeping every 30 secs in the middle of the night. There are three possible light colors flashing on led: Green - Power; Yellow - Fault; and Red - Alarm. The unit was solid yellow and beeped (very loud) every 30 secs. There was no gas leak, no problem, except with the unit. I could find no way to turn it off, and it caused my wife to have go outside with the dog into the cold weather for almost 90 mins as I tried to trouble shot everything. I, unfortunetely, couldn't find the owners manual on unit; did find a reference to it in the Airstream Owners manual, which said consult the manufactures guide. I discovered enough to know this wasn't an indication of a gas leak but that the unit was malfunctioning, why I don't know. I Unscrewed the thing, it's mounted 6 inches off the floor right near the furnace and discovered there is nothing to unplug and no way to turn the darn thing off. I was getting ready to just cut the wires and get my wife and dog in from outside when I noticed a black button which I pushed and it went back to green-power mode (no test tone sounded). This was all occuring from 3am to 4am so I wasn't thinking the clearest. As I checked the next morning I noticed that the button I pushed would have been the test button. Has anyone had a similar problem and know a solution. I am happy to replace the unit with a new one, but don't want to waste the money if all that was needed was an occasional test. Not sure where I read this, but somewhere I recall seeing something to the effect that the unit should be tested weekly or it can malfunction from something crudding up the sensor and it will go off to burn the crud away. I was actually at a weekend Airstream Rally and the folks I asked about this were long-time Airstreamers, but all had older units that came with no LPG detector so had no real insights. I am at loss and am going away for our last camping of the year over Thanksgiving and would be most grateful for anyones insight, so as to avoid a repeated sleepless night. I was told that LP gas has a scent added to it so if there is a leak it smells like rotten eggs (just like my homes natural gas) so with that informatiion I atleast know I'll smell a gas leak so am wondering what's the point of the detector; is this just something the lawyers thought up to avoid potential liability (I'm a lawyer so not being derogatory, I know what a litigous society in which we reside).

Thanks in advance,
Tim

[jkcru]

It will also go off because of low batt voltage

[Tim_S]

Thanks, I don't think that was the case for us this time since we were plugged into AC. But who knows maybe I am missing something

[Silver Goose]

Here's a link to the manual for your detector:

http://www.atwoodmobile.com/manuals/...%20LP%20RV.pdf

The chart says for a solid amber light and repeating chirps to press test button to reset the device, if problem persists to contact manufacturer. Sounds like they anticipate that can happen! Too bad this is not included in all the warnings printed on the front that are so useless when you're standing on your head at 2AM trying to read them.

LPG being heavier than air will collect near the floor. It could possibly go unnoticed until the oven pilot for example set it off and that would be too late for everyone. The detector is hardwired to the battery so even putting the battery in store mode or pulling the shore power doesn't kill the power to it.

I think I have a new task on my to-do list... Install a disconnect in the wire behind the detector so if it wakes us up at 2AM and won't reset I can pull the 4 screws and kill it.

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by jkcru

It will also go off because of low batt voltage

Since it is hard wired to the battery, if the batteries were in store mode and got down to about 8-10 volts, the alarm would give a low battery alert even though the coach was fully powered by the converter.

[RamblinManGa]

Hi from GA. . .the same unit did the same thing a month ago in my 05 Safari 25, so I did the American thing and threw it away and bought a new one (from Dyers) regards, Craig

[aftermath]

Tim,

I have an '06 and experienced the same problem. There are two issues usually involved here. A low battery will cause this and just because you are hooked into AC it doesn't mean your battery will be up to snuff. You could be having some problem with your converter.

Mine "requires" a test on a regular basis. I remember reading something about how dust can settle on the important parts over time and the test procedure is supposed to help clean things. I reset mine just like you did, in the middle of the night, and it worked fine the rest of the season. I tested it before the next season and so far, so good. I would try these things before I went and replaced it.

Good luck.

[Frank&Mike]

We had the same problem. There is a thread somewhere on the forums discussing this. Regardless, we found out these devices are intended to be replaced on a regular bases like smoke detectors are intended to be replaced on a regular basis.