CO / Propane alarm sounding - solutions?

K

Karlton

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2017
Messages
172
Location
Southern Idaho
Hi all - I have my 2017 Hawk in the garage for the winter. I did not have it plugged into shore power for a month or so as the chord gets in the way of other garage stuff. I had the main power button pushed in, so there wasn't much to draw power. Earlier this week, I noticed the Atwood carbon monoxide / propane chirping. I checked the Victron BVM, and the volts were about 10, so I plugged it into shore power.

Since plugging in, the alarm was making 4 chirps every 5 or so seconds with the CO light solid red; the frequency has decreased to 4 chirps every 60 seconds. The other light is a green power light. Concerned that there might actually be a CO leak from my water heater or heating unit, I moved another CO detector into the garage and it did not sound an alarm.

So, any suggestions on how to address the alarm are appreciated.

Thanks,
Karl
 
You shouldn't let your battery go under 12.1-12.3. You need to have the power button on and plug into get your system charged. I have a 2014 and had to replace the propane/CO detector on mine. I don't believe shore power will charge if you have the power button in the off position. Try opening up the camper. I had mine outside, closed up, in hot weather when it started acting up. Hard to believe the unit would go bad on a '17 camper.
 
I have it plugged in to shore power and the fan on and will check in the morning. It is in the garage so the beeping isn't a big issue. Given the winter we are having in North Idaho, it won't emerge from hibernation for a few months!

I am pretty vigilant about the batteries, and was disappointed to see the low voltage reading. My assumption was that having the power in the off position would result in very little discharge over a month or so.
 
Karlton said:
I have it plugged in to shore power and the fan on and will check in the morning. It is in the garage so the beeping isn't a big issue. Given the winter we are having in North Idaho, it won't emerge from hibernation for a few months!

I am pretty vigilant about the batteries, and was disappointed to see the low voltage reading. My assumption was that having the power in the off position would result in very little discharge over a month or so.
Click to expand...
Mine is stored outside with the power off, so zero draw. Every 6 weeks I plug in my portable panel. At the 6 week mark, I'm at 12.6. I charge it back up to 13.1. Loading the camper in 2-3 weeks
 
Karlton said:
I am pretty vigilant about the batteries, and was disappointed to see the low voltage reading. My assumption was that having the power in the off position would result in very little discharge over a month or so.
Click to expand...
That is indeed surprising. With zero draw (an you confirm on the Victron BMV?) the batteries should last a long time.
 
Your information is a little unclear. If the 12 volt grid is disconnected with the master switch, how can the propane-CO detector chirp the first time (i.e. no power)? Also, for our camper the 12 volt grid for our camper needs to be turned back on to measure battery voltage and to charge the batteries using shore power. Propane-CO detector's have historically had poor reliability, i.e. not lasting the 5 year design life. We had to replace ours prematurely. In addition, you have a 12 volt power issue which could be as minor as master switch/circuit breaker settings or as large as an electric short somewhere. I have mixed up my 12 volt master switch position and/or a 120 volt inverter circuit breaker several times. My camper is unplugged all winter and the 12 volt master switch off with no larger voltage drops.

Another 12 volt system thought: one battery could be draining the other, uncommon but possible. One battery could have a bad cell or simply operate at a lower voltage than the other and so the battery pair would self-discharge. Charge the batteries and check the "at rest" voltage of each battery isolated from the other.
 
I've unplugged it from shore with a voltage reading of 13.54, and have the main power switch in the off position. I'll be monitoring voltage over the next few days to monitor change. Unplugging and turning off stopped the chirping, at least.

Karl
 
Interesting about you voltage dropping with the master switch off. Mine 2018 Hawk does that as well. The BMV-712 shows a draw of 0.2A with the master switch off, and I have correctly calibrated it. The only things I thought taking current with the master switch off was the BMV and MPPT, and I thought that was quite a bit less than 0.2A. So I assume something else has to be pulling current with the master switch off.
 
The CO2 alarm in my 2017 Hawk was faulty. Stan from FWC was generous enough to replace it for me at the BCOR last summer and we have not had any more false alarms since.
 
Didn't see this thread...see my new thread above....pull out the fuse on the alarm...problem solved...hundreds of posts on "why" the alarm randomly fires off with "false positives" yet no real definitive answer...so out come the fuse for me..

Phil
 
I had nothingbut problems with the original CO propane detector, withing a year or two of being brandnew.
Replaceed with a direct replacement a few years ago from Amazon and haven't had a problem.
 
I have the same problem with my 2017 Fleet. The alarm would randomly go off for no reason. I unplugged it. Got zero help from the dealer in Oregon where I bought it.
 
I know of a dealer that disconnected his.

They're mandated by law, like the emergency window exit, and the smoke detector that goes off with normal cooking.

The CO2 detector can set off by dog farts! When mine starts acting up it will be sionara.

Keeping opposing window flaps & vent cracked gives a lot of fresh air, and cuts down on condensation. Fresh air = realistically no dangerous CO2 buildup. FWC can't tell us this, only common sense.
 
MountainSufi said:
I know of a dealer that disconnected his.

They're mandated by law, like the emergency window exit, and the smoke detector that goes off with normal cooking.

The CO2 detector can set off by dog farts! When mine starts acting up it will be sionara.

Keeping opposing window flaps & vent cracked gives a lot of fresh air, and cuts down on condensation. Fresh air = realistically no dangerous CO2 buildup. FWC can't tell us this, only common sense.
Click to expand...

Just returned from 2 weeks in BC...I pulled the fuse [in panel and labeled] on the "propane, CO, et al" detector that was always going off at "O-Dark-Thirty" [around 0200 hrs]...so nice not to have that SOB blasting at, what, 100 DBs?

Disabled the smoke detector [what does it 'detect'?] also...all our cooking is from just boiling water...no frying...

Question: Did [past tense] the propane, CO detector also detect CO2?

Phil
 
CO2 was a typo on our parts. CO is an accurate description of killer dog farts. CO2 is in the beer I drink. I want more.

Disabling the smoke alarm just takes removing the battery.

Thankx.
 
Our CO/Propane alarm goes off about once a month. Fortunately, it resets if I hold the reset button long enough or cut power.

We replaced the smoke alarm with a $15 photo-detector alarm. No more false alarms but still safe sleeping.
 
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