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08-11-2011, 10:37 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Vintage RV Owners Club Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Somewhere in the woods in Belfair, WA, WA
Posts: 1,250
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Propane detector going off when driving.
Three times in the last few days the propane detector located in the hallway of our '89 Fleetwood Southwind has started howling while I'm driving down the road.
The first time, I know for sure it could not have been detecting propane since we were actually OUT of gas and on the way to getting it filled. The valve on the tank was off in addition to being empty.
It has happened twice more, but did not happen this last time I drove it.
Could it be detecting exhaust somehow? Or is it just old and failing? Its the original 1989 version; I presume I can get a new one if necessary.
It has never gone off while parked; for now I'm just turning it off (and the propane as well) while driving.
Any thoughts?
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Life rocks when your house rolls
Senior Chief & the Cheese Queen
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08-11-2011, 10:54 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
KZ RV Club
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Idaho
Posts: 507
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Ours started doing that on the last trip. In fact, when we pulled up to the park and I got out, I smelled propane. It was very windy on the road, so John was thinking that the propane for the frig got extinguished in the wind. Did you smell propane?
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John & Cathy Lamb
2022 Durango KZ
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08-11-2011, 01:16 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Vintage RV Owners Club Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Somewhere in the woods in Belfair, WA, WA
Posts: 1,250
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No, nothing. None of the propane appliances were lit (everything is running on electricity, since electric is included in our space rent). These were just jaunts to the AC repairman and so on
Its a mystery. I hate to ignore it but I just can't figure what might be leaking when we move, but not when were stopped. And I know the first time the detector went off, NOTHING could have been leaking, since we were totally out of propane at that time.
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Life rocks when your house rolls
Senior Chief & the Cheese Queen
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08-11-2011, 01:36 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: PNW
Posts: 220
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I have never had mine go off while driving. However if I let the engine idle and only have the screen door closed mine will go off due to exhaust. My tail pipes are a few feet from the door with the house about 3 feet from the MH. So there is not a lot of air flow preventing the exhaust from entering. I try to run the engine once a month or so during the winter when we do not use the MH that often. So I would look for an exhaust leak since you think that propane leak is not probable.
Mike
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08-11-2011, 01:39 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Forest River Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Vaughn, WA
Posts: 1,460
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Lay off the bean burritos before driving it.
Seriously, maybe the detector just needs to be replaced - they don't last forever.
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Nick
1995 Coachmen Santara 360MB 36' w/slide.
Ford F53/460 chassis, 2020 Chev Equinox "toad"
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08-11-2011, 01:46 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
National RV Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Federal Way, Wa.
Posts: 2,901
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These detectors need to be replaced every so often--they just go bad and begin sounding off for all kinds of reasons. Once they sound off they just get worse. You might consider just changing the thing particularly if it is an original---believe me you have your moneys worth out of it; time to say goodbye.
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I do all my own stunts
03 Dolphin LX 6355, Workhorse W22, 8.1 vortec, 04 CR-V, Blue Ox, Brake Pro----Norm, Barb and
Doc(He's a PhD)
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08-11-2011, 03:33 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Oregon
Posts: 252
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Assuming your talking about a hard wired detector I would start by double checking whether you have a loose wire.
With that said - everything has a useful life - including propane detectors - I have gone through at least 3.
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08-11-2011, 06:25 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Oklahoma Boomers Club Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,801
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This same thing kept happening to us and it would be worse(more often) when going up hill or if downshifting to pass or gain speed from a stop. Turned out the exhaust pipe had a few leaks that I didn't see but could feel the exhaust coming out once I got under and checked.
The exhaust was coming up into the rig where the shower drain was coming down. same wall as the LP detector. Sealed the area around the drain with some foam.
New tail pipe and an extra hanger at the bend plus the foam made the difference.
Ron
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Ron & Wendy-Kansas
94 Pace Arrow 34 ft
25 yr Army retired 2006
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08-11-2011, 08:03 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Vintage RV Owners Club Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Somewhere in the woods in Belfair, WA, WA
Posts: 1,250
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Knights
This same thing kept happening to us and it would be worse(more often) when going up hill or if downshifting to pass or gain speed from a stop. Turned out the exhaust pipe had a few leaks that I didn't see but could feel the exhaust coming out once I got under and checked.
The exhaust was coming up into the rig where the shower drain was coming down. same wall as the LP detector. Sealed the area around the drain with some foam.
New tail pipe and an extra hanger at the bend plus the foam made the difference.
Ron
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This is a good thought and may be what's happening. I think I've gotten a whiff of exhaust every now and then, and I have not done a thorough inspection of the tailpipes.
So, first I'll crawl around underneath and if nothing discovered, time for another detector.
Thanks for everybody's feedback- its appreciated.
__________________
Life rocks when your house rolls
Senior Chief & the Cheese Queen
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