Propane Detector (??)

woman_who_sees · November 1, 2020

Our propane leak detector keeps going off in the middle of the night! Bill gets up, checks everything, opens the kitchen vent and turns on the fan. Funny thing, it only happens at night. This is driving us crazy and I sure hope someone can give us an answer as to why this happens.....

SWharton · November 1, 2020

Time for a new one??? How old is yours?

Ray,IN · November 1, 2020

Keep in mind this is actually a combustible gas detector, it detects any gas that is explosive/flammable. It is not limited to propane. Off-gassing batteries can trigger the alarm, flatulent dogs are two of the most common false alarms.

Kirk W · November 1, 2020

Propane alarms are one of the most difficult things to deal with because it is a safety issue and propane is heavier than air so it will pool and trigger a real alarm with minimal amounts of propane well before it is dangerous, but should not be ignored. If you have one that is 5 years or more old, start by replacing it as the manufacturers suggest 5 to 7 years of reliable life. As has been pointed out, there are other things that can trigger an alarm like flatulence and off-gassing. But do be careful as you don't want to take a chance. One thing that we found would cause ours was the oven had a pilot light that had to be lighted to use it and if it got turned on but not lit, there could be enough propane supplied to cause an occasional alarm but yet we were never able to detect it by smell.

Wrknrvr · November 1, 2020

The other answers are really good.

But I have seen a pet cause that problem. Hair spray, perfume and glue can do that. One time I had a service call for a lp detector keep going off in a class c. They had left the southeast of the US headed to Alaska. They want to make the trip efficiently so said husband redid the shelving so to hold more food for the trip. My handheld lp detector will pickup molecules of combustible products. Well he made the shelves with particle board. Yep the glue from the freshly cut wood was letting the smell of the glue trip the lp detector.

Could be anything that gives off a gas.

Vern in a T-shirt

Bill Joyce · November 1, 2020

Another thing is does this only happen at one camping spot or multiple places? If only one camping spot the problem might be outside.

Darryl&Rita · November 1, 2020

It goes off in the middle of the night because that's when the RV is closed up. Try cracking a vent to increase air flow. Not a perfect answer, but it'll let you get some sleep.

StraitRVing · November 1, 2020

Many great answers here. Many things cause them to go off. We had the same problem with it going off in the middle of the night, especially on cold nights when the outside temp was at or below 35. Turns out it was a low voltage in the campground at night for some reason. I confirmed it with my meter at the pedestal. I was told by another camper that colder air on those cold nights (below 35 outside) in the RV can set it off if we keep the temp inside too low. During the colder nights, we usually keep the thermostat set at 64 at night when we are sleeping. The camper said it dealt with water/ice crystals in the air. I do not know if that is valid or not.

Spoke with the RV service center and they said it could also be caused by an issue with the inverter. They said to check the inverter for loose wires, signs of arching, etc.

I also had it happen when the house batteries were getting low on fluid. Low fluid caused low voltage. I check the battery fluid levels every week now.

Kirk W · November 1, 2020

Most of the RV propane detectors only chirp if voltage is low and low shore power voltage would have to fall low enough to discharge the RV battery below 10.5V, since they are powered by the RV's 12V system and designed to operate between 10.5 and 14V.

Infrared sensors or IR detectors work via a system of transmitters and receivers to detect combustible gases, specifically hydrocarbon vapors. Typically, the transmitters are light sources and receivers are light detectors. If a gas is present in the optical path, it will interfere with the power of the light transmission between the transmitter and receiver. The altered state of light determines if and what type of gas is present.

JimK · November 7, 2020

If it truly keeps going off in the middle of the night, then testing should be simple. Shut off the propane tanks and turn on the stove to burn off any propane in the lines. If it goes off again you will know for sure it is a false alarm.

I have had 2 detectors fail over the years and the symptoms were the same. In both cases I got false alarms in the middle of the night. Why in the middle of the night I could not tell you except if it went off in the day likely I was not around to notice.

Philipclopez · January 12, 2021

Agree with Kirk. If you have had a propane alarm for more than 5 years then you should replace it.

johnpeters · September 23, 2021

The service life of a propane detector is determined on how it was manufactured. Some older gas leak detectors have an average service life of five years, and the countdown begins on the date of manufacture. Many brands of detectors have a service life of six to eight years, and the clock begins the moment you turn it on.

travelinbob · October 24, 2021

Ronaldos, you should have both detectors, one mounts near the floor and the other mounts about chest high.

Edited October 24, 2021 by travelinbob
added info

Kirk W · October 24, 2021

11 minutes ago, travelinbob said:

you should have both detectors

For some reason the RV industry has moved mostly to the combination CO/Propane detectors and my present RV is one of them. I do not like those because it is so difficult to know which is alarming and I agree that they should be in different locations to be ideal. For that reason I replaced mine with a propane sensor in the location of the OEM combo unit that is down about 3" above the floor and then installed a CO detector that is located near the bed and at about the height of our heads when sleeping.