bobsallyh Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Has anybody purchased a new fiver or travel trailer lately? Conversing with a friend that lives in the Petersburg, VA. area, two friends of his have bought new units in the last two months from two different dealers in the Richmond, VA. area. After both brought them home and parked them, they turned the battery switch to OFF and no 120V going to rigs. Shortly after they found the battery dead. Plugged the units in and turned the switch to ON. The battery charged back up on both rigs. Repeated the process with the same results. They both go back to their respective dealer and asked both the salesperson and shop foreman. The answer from the employees was that there is a new federal law that the LP detector is wired directly to the battery, bypassing the cutoff switch, so even with the battery cut off and the unit unplugged from shore power the LP detector runs until the battery is dead. My friend is well versed on RV workings. Has anyone else heard of this supposedly new law or anybody that has had results like above? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJTroy Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 This is certainly the way our current and previous rigs were set up. DH put in our own cutoff switch right inline next to the battery and solved the issue. The dealer told us they legally cannot install a cutoff switch to bypass the LP detector, but can tell you what to buy and how to install. It took less than 30 minutes to install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 This is a mixed bag. If your RV has all the electricity turned off and the battery isolated then one might assume that no one was in the RV. However, in order to protect us from ourselves at the the rate of 150% this kind of makes sense. I don't think this is a "law" as much as some bureaucrat's interpretation of a law. When we are not on the road I keep our rig plugged into our house. I can see where there could be a problem if you stored your rig somewhere. While there there are switches that you can hook up, the simplest solution is to just remove a cable from the terminal of your battery(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'mdonewiththis forum Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 I simply unhook a battery cable since I don't have a disconnect switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pugsly Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 I don't know about federal law but I suspect it is certainly in the RVIA guidelines and NFPA 1192. At the end of the day an LP detector is useless if it does not have power. Constant power is, IMHO, a good thing as a general requirement. If an informed end user wants to change that, then that should be their prerogative. I have the ability to turn off everything in my rig if I want to - because that's the way I have wired it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'mdonewiththis forum Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Just to clarify, the only time I disconnect the battery is when the trailer gets winterized so no one will be in it plus the tanks are turned off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldjohnt Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 I have owned/seen rigs wired that way yearssssssssssssss ago, so I'm not sure how "new" a law may be. Even though I'm an Attorney I'm NOT going to dig and wade through laws, rules and regulations to find out lol. I wouldn't doubt some big wig elitist smarter then thou government bureaucrat has dictated what's best for us peasants out here. I do agree its "safer" to have constant power to the detector even if it discharges the batteries, even if its NOT so practical. Of course, its an easy fix to rewire it as one pleases. Would I do such NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOT MEEEEEEEEEEEE lol John T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 I guess our motorhome must not be wired that way since we've put it in storage over the summer with the battery cutoff switch in the ON position and the batteries are fine at the end of the summer. We now have solar so don't even bother with the battery cutoff switch. LindaH 2014 Winnebago Aspect 27K 2011 Kia Soul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al F Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Your LP detector is NOT going to drain your batteries very quickly. The last time I connected and disconnected a LP detector, I only saw a current change of about 0.02 amp. Has anybody purchased a new fiver or travel trailer lately? Conversing with a friend that lives in the Petersburg, VA. area, two friends of his have bought new units in the last two months from two different dealers in the Richmond, VA. area. After both brought them home and parked them, they turned the battery switch to OFF and no 120V going to rigs. Shortly after they found the battery dead. Plugged the units in and turned the switch to ON. The battery charged back up on both rigs. Repeated the process with the same results. They both go back to their respective dealer and asked both the salesperson and shop foreman. The answer from the employees was that there is a new federal law that the LP detector is wired directly to the battery, bypassing the cutoff switch, so even with the battery cut off and the unit unplugged from shore power the LP detector runs until the battery is dead. My friend is well versed on RV workings. Has anyone else heard of this supposedly new law or anybody that has had results like above? Your LP detector is NOT draining your battery in just a week or two. The LP detector draws about 0.1 amp from your batteries. That mean in 24 hours it will pull 2.4amp hours. In 14 days that is 33.6 amp hours. If you have a single 12V battery that is just about 1/3 of your available 100 or so amp hours. If you are going to put the rig in storage for a month or more you do need to disconnect the battery cable or find some way to keep the battery charged. BTW, to get the 0.1amp figure I mentioned above, I just unplugged and plugged in my LP detector and the 1/10 of one amp is the change displayed on my Trimetric battery monitor, so I am not just grabbing the figure out of the air. Al & Sharon 2006 Winnebago Journey 36G 2020 Chevy Colorado Toad San Antonio, TX http://downtheroadaroundthebend.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 They both go back to their respective dealer and asked both the salesperson and shop foreman. The answer from the employees was that there is a new federal law that the LP detector is wired directly to the battery, bypassing the cutoff switch, so even with the battery cut off and the unit unplugged from shore power the LP detector runs until the battery is dead. I doubt that it is federal law, but it is the RIVA standard now and has been for quite some time that the propane alarm be that way and if present, the same is true for the CO detector. Either of those only use about 0.02a each unless alarming but if your propane alarm is one that turns off the propane supply when it alarms, then it does a valve in the propane supply that will draw down an RV battery in time. If you do a search on the net you can easily find power requirements for all commonly sold propane and CO alarms to confirm that. Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray,IN Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 It's kind of daisy-chained. Most RVIA regulations are derived from NFPA standards, NFPA standards are published in the federal register, making them the same as law. My NFPA standards book is in storage out in the RV garage. Some day I'll look it up if I get aroundtuit again. It's simple to just remove the negative battery cable, and there is no power to anything in the MH. You didn't do it to disconnect the LP detector, you did it to keep the batteries from discharging. 2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronbo Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 For some reason my 5th wheel had a LP detector installed with a propane cutoff sylonoid. I thought those were for motor homes that were occupied while traveling. Mine went bad and the price for a replacement was outrageous. I installed a new one without the disconnect. I don't travel with my propane on and only turn it on during the winter to use the furnace. No need for the auto cutoff. Ron C. 2013 Dynamax Trilogy 3850 D3 2000 Kenworth T2000 Optimus Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pugsly Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 It's kind of daisy-chained. Most RVIA regulations are derived from NFPA standards, NFPA standards are published in the federal register, making them the same as law. My NFPA standards book is in storage out in the RV garage. Some day I'll look it up if I get aroundtuit again. It's simple to just remove the negative battery cable, and there is no power to anything in the MH. You didn't do it to disconnect the LP detector, you did it to keep the batteries from discharging. yeah it's just a matter of semantics from a user perspective. Laws, regulations, and standards are technically different but still binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 For some reason my 5th wheel had a LP detector installed with a propane cutoff sylonoid. I thought those were for motor homes that were occupied while traveling. The only RV that I have owned which was set up that way was a travel trailer. Neither of our motorhomes had that feature. The idea is to protect the people who are inside of the RV when the propane is in use and most RVs are occupied when using the propane appliances. Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobsallyh Posted July 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Thanks everybody. When the friend asked about it, I had no idea, even though I fool with RVs quite a bit. Sure I know about the RVIA but never gave them a thought. And being this is a cross country conversation I too thought that killing the battery was too quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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