Propane alarm keeps going off

[Kodachrome]

So I can not pin this down for the life of me. When our gas is turned on and about 2-4 hours after we go to sleep, the propane alarm sounds, never while anything like the stove or heater is running. I can not smell a thing in the camper, nor can my wife but I do smell a really light odor in the propane tank compartment regardless of whether the gas is on, hose connected or not and at all times. It does not do it every time, but does seem to occur after driving on mild jeep roads or rougher 2wd dirt roads. And one time, the propane alarm sounded hours after I turned off the gas and fully disconnected the line, very unnerving and confusing.

How do I even start to approach finding this leak if there is one and should I just get my buddy from the local fire department to use a sniffer?

We have at least 100 more days of service we need to use the camper for before I can pull it apart so I need to get this looked at soon...

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Fill a squirt/spray bottle with soapy water, saturate the joints and watch patiently.

May "The Force" be with you...

 

[highz]

For safety's sake, keep looking for a leak, but also consider this.

What brand propane detector do you have?

 

[Kodachrome]

For safety's sake, keep looking for a leak, but also consider this.

What brand propane detector do you have?


Atwood combo Propane / CO2 detector.

 

[Kodachrome]

Fill a squirt/spray bottle with soapy water, saturate the joints and watch patiently.


Yep, gotcha...how do I do that with the T-connector behind the stove and then the connection down in the heater?

We just got home from a shoot, have to go right back out for 4 more days tomorrow AM. Even though I have the top down, I have turned on the gas to see if it goes off in a couple hours....

 

[K7MDL]

Long shot, but low voltage, either battery or bad electrical connections might cause it to go off. The rough road might be shaking up some crusty connections. Keep an eye on your battery voltage when it goes off next time, easy to do.

 

[Kodachrome]

Good thing to consider, but my remote meter records current, low and high voltage from the battery. The lowest we have seen this week is 12.39 volts. After a test this evening, gas on for 5 hours and no alarm. The thing of it is that it does not happen all that much, not at all after a normal drive. But on bumpy dirt roads or some rocky stuff, well, about an hour to 3 hours after we go to bed, lights out, only the fridge pulling some low draw, then it goes. Scared the living crap out of me the first time too, opened the door, shut off the gas, blasted both fans.

And even though it has happened at elevations that are higher than 10,000 feet, we did three days at 12,000 and nada. I am beginning to think this is a sensor thing rather than a leak, but....

Quite the irritating who dunit....

Might pull the thing tomorrow and check the connections, clean it out, etc...

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

...how do I do that with the T-connector behind the stove and then the connection down in the heater?

I know, right? Bad design sucks!

When I remodeled, I placed all LPG joints where they were accessible without unscrewing things. I no longer have buried tees. I also have shut-off valves to both the stove and the furnace placed right where they branch off the main tank line, applying the logic of the electrical code to gas plumbing.

 

[mangymarmot]

Did you ever find your propane leak? I had a similar issue that took weeks to track down. It ended up being a bad regulator that wasn't sealing correctly.

 

[leadsled9]

Sometimes when we have issues with a system it turns out to be the last time we messed with it. I seem to remember you going to a dc fridge. Well, you had to cap off the propane feed to the old fridge so I'd start there.

I was also going to suggest having a professional check out your regulator.

Good luck.

 

[Lighthawk]

Yep, gotcha...how do I do that with the T-connector behind the stove and then the connection down in the heater?


I had a leak with the T-connection down by the heater. Soapy water applied with a sponge let me test that area and under the stove. I found a leak at the Tee and outside on my fridge.

With apologies to Don Ho
"Tiny Bubbles, Tiny bubbles in the wine,make me happy, make me feel fine . . . "

 

[MarkBC]

With apologies to Don Ho
"Tiny Bubbles, Tiny bubbles in the wine,make me happy, make me feel fine . . . "

Tiny bubbles of propane don't make me feel that fine...