Last night was the first time we ever turned on the heater despite owning our 2015 Max S for more than a year.
In the middle of the night we were woken up by an alarm going off -- the one that I think is also the smoke detector, next to the a/c unit over the window. We were afraid it was the Co2 warning, so we cracked the windows. However, an hour later it went off again, so we just turned the heat off altogether. No more alarms.
Any idea what this is, and how to keep it from happening?
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Chris/Sarah - How warm did you have it in there?
2021 T@b 320 Boondock "Mattie Ross" | 2021 T@b Nights: 239 | Total nights in a T@b 455 | 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland | T@b owner since 2014
2015 Outback L max, Jeep Diesel TV
My T@B originally came with three detectors, smoke alarm, using it's own batteries mounted on the ceiling, C02 alarm, mounted on the wall near the ceiling using it's own batteries, propane alarm, mounted on one of the bench seats wired into the camper battery.
I have since purchased a dual C02/smoke alarm, and have gotten rid of the standalone smoke alarm.
MOUSE-KE-T@B
2007 Dutchmen T@B Clamshell #2741
2022 nuCamp T@B 320 CS-S
2021 F-150 502A Lariat SuperCrew, 3.5 EcoBoost 4x2
Harvest, AL
CO is the alarm in most campers and is emitted by improperly burning of fuel (propane in our case, but is emitted by any engine like a generator - it's why PXL moves his genny depending on the wind).
CO2 above 5% is also dangerous and people feel like they can't catch their breath... something I experienced in the tightly well-made Reverse Teardrop. Cracking a window prevented that. My T@B has enough venting for the frig, AC, etc I haven't worried about CO2. PXL has found all the places where a brisk wind can blow in and where tiny dust particles sneak in as well.
In my T@B, my propane and CO alarm are a combo. It's under the driver's side bench.
CO isn't any lighter or heavier than regular air. I've had CO detectors on walls, ceilings and straight up plugged into an outlet in my house. My big genny was running and exhaust blew in the basement dryer vent I was using as a cord access. The CO alarms (one installed at eye level near the dryer and one the ceiling on the finished side of the basement) went off about the same time.
I once had one installed high on a wall that had red LED digital numbers. Apparently, the flue on the fireplace fell shut when I had lit a fire and walked out for a moment. I heard something bang, but didn't know that's what it was from the other room. After returning, out of the corner of my eye, I saw what was normally a zero on the display turn into rising digits. The alarm didn't go off, but it was scary to see numbers go up like that - especially since my parrot lived in that room too. Flue re-opened, windows opened, fans for fresh air in windows... the numbers dropped fairly fast. Scary lesson learned.
One, to keep me alive, and two, prevents condensation.
MOUSE-KE-T@B
2007 Dutchmen T@B Clamshell #2741
2022 nuCamp T@B 320 CS-S
2021 F-150 502A Lariat SuperCrew, 3.5 EcoBoost 4x2
Harvest, AL
In the T@B, the air volume is much larger, plus there are many places where there is covert ventilation (under the frig, the venting with the second fan for the frig, if you are off-level, the door will let in light and air too). They *do* make CO2 detectors if you are concerned.. just for peace of mind. Many people (like Mousie said) crack a vent to prevent condensation from breathing, so curing one issue essentially eliminates the CO2 issue.
It's very hard to get to 5% CO2 with a window or vent cracked open. In the lab, my delicate cell lines needed 37C at 5% CO2 in their incubator - and that huge thing was water-lined to keep temp steady and had an automatic CO2 injector that activated every time someone opened the outer and then inner door for even less than 10 seconds. FYI, CO2 is one oxygen heavier than CO and does layer towards the floor (i.e., place detector low).
I hope this info helps!
MOUSE-KE-T@B
2007 Dutchmen T@B Clamshell #2741
2022 nuCamp T@B 320 CS-S
2021 F-150 502A Lariat SuperCrew, 3.5 EcoBoost 4x2
Harvest, AL
Pulled by a silver 2017 Chevy Silverado
Leaves on T@bventures from Spokane, WA
You should have gotten a CO detector specific manual with the literature packet that came with your T@B--it includes a key to interpreting the various beep patterns, but I don't recall offhand what's what.
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Leaves on T@bventures from Spokane, WA
I also keep my batt on a trickle charger when not in use. Check the fluid level once in awhile. Seems to keep the charge better for us.
There are also low power alarms, but the manual claims they are visual only. My model does not have a user-serviceable battery inside--it gets its 12V power strictly from the T@B battery or the converter.
Clearly others have had different experiences, so there may be variations in the detectors installed over different model years. Good luck and let us know what you ultimately figure out!
We are so new, we don't even know what setting the battery needs to be on to charge while we are traveling. Is it supposed to be on the green or red (horizontal is the green setting and vertical red)? I think we had it wrong because we had very little battery power left when we arrived at our campsite. We are taking her out again this weekend to dry camp, and hopefully get some of our glitches resolved.
The battery line connects to the tow vehicle charge line at a junction box near the bottom front of the camper. Having the disconnect "off" will prevent tow vehicle voltage from reaching the battery.
This assumes we are talking about a disconnect mounted at the battery and that your tow vehicle actually has an operating 12 volt aux/charge line.
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Leaves on T@bventures from Spokane, WA
Any ideas?
Pulled by a silver 2017 Chevy Silverado
Leaves on T@bventures from Spokane, WA
Sure your SO didn't "crop dust" the area while you were getting ready?
Pulled by a silver 2017 Chevy Silverado
Leaves on T@bventures from Spokane, WA