Furnace & the Propane Detector...

[PEIslander]

When I was recently in New Brunswick camping at the 1st Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree thingie it was cold in the evening. As we were turning in for the evening my wife & I decided to let the furnace take the chill out of our small but mighty Camplite 11FDB. About 20 or 30 seconds into the furnace run the cabin's propane detector started chirping. (Chirps quite loud!). We promptly turned off the furnace & turned on the fantastic-vent roof fans (we have two) full blast to evacuate whatever fumes were triggering the alarm. Several seconds later the alarm ended -- after likely waking up the entire campground.

Because it coincided with the furnace run I associated it with that. On the other hand I had just been drinking David's bourbon so it may have been my breath!

The next morning I mentioned the alarm to Paul -- and he remembered hearing the alarm. (How could he not remember? - It seemed loud enough to make eardrums bleed). Paul & I discussed and he noted hearing that when new, furnaces often need to burn off any factory oils that could have been on the parts & that can trigger the alarm. Made sense to me. Although the trailer is now in its third season, previously I had only turned on the furnace long enough to confirm it worked & would then promptly turn it off. Perhaps those earlier times I just didn't have it on long enough to do its initial burn-off.

Does this make sense? Or does the alarm suggest I have a bigger problem?

[djsamuel]

The detector will start to go bad and set off the alarm after a period of time.  I believe I read 5 to 8 years.  It could be directly related to the heater, but the alarm could be starting to go. 

[Merlin]

Home Depot sells a portable propane leak detector for $25. Perhaps you could use one to double-check the one in the trailer? Our furnace definitely burned off something when we first lit it and ran it for more than a few minutes. However, it did not trigger the alarm. I know the alarm is loud because I've accidentally hit the test button. At least one dealer mentioned to us that the propane alarms are hyper-sensitive and can be set off by a variety of "smells", whatever that means. I'd suggest a re-test by running the furnace again, this time for several minutes with the trailer all opened up to dissipate anything on the furnace burning off and then for a few minutes closed up to confirm no alarm. If you get another alarm, either check the detector with a portable one, or get the furnace checked out. And, FYI the burner and propane lines on ours are sealed off from the interior, so if propane is leaking into the air duct when the furnace is running, it may need replacement. 

[DavidM]

My experience with propane detectors, at least on boats, has not been good. They last about a year and then start giving spurious alarms. Don't know about RV detectors but I would have thought that they are supplied by the same people although the environment is better on an RV..

If mine started alarming and I knew it wasn't a leak, I would just bypass it.

David

[Paul]

When I first used my furnace it's not the propane detector that started it's my fire detector.

[PEIslander]

Sh*t -- now I'm not sure! It might have been the smoke detector???

[djsamuel]

Was the alarm coming from the ceiling or the floor?

[gbpack]

I realize that this thread has been idle for a while, but we had the same thing happen the first time we fired up our furnace. The smoke detector went off until the excess manufacturing oils on the interior metal portions of the furnace burned off. The service people at our dealer confirmed that this type of thing is typical with a new furnace. Haven't had any problems since.

[rideandfly]

Made the mistake of spraying disinfectant on a pair of shoes with an aerosol can close to the camper's LP gas detector one night.  The alarm works great and is loud!!!!!   

[Paul]

Made the mistake of spraying disinfectant on a pair of shoes with an aerosol can close to the camper's LP gas detector one night.  The alarm works great and is loud!!!!!   

Haha lol!

[PaulJ]

We finally used our furnace in North Florida a week ago.  The smoke detector went off.  I pulled the battery in the detector and let the furnace cycle.  When the furnace stopped I replaced the smoke detector battery.  Yes, the oils need to burn off when the furnace is new as ours was. This is normal.  No problem the very next time the furnace came on.

[Chappy133]

Word to the wise exhaust fans are not sealed electrically so they are not explosive proof. If you have a gas leak open your door and windows to get rid of the gas.

[Steve and Dana]

This is from past experience last year.  If your battery voltage drops the propane detector will begin to chirp and, with low enough voltage, will continuously alarm.  So you may not have a leak

[Pinstriper]

Imma guess it was just chili-cookoff night at the campground what done it.

[Merlin]

Imma guess it was just chili-cookoff night at the campground what done it.

Especially if you gave the leftovers to the dog(s).