Question for the rv gurus on here

[gdhillon]

Last night my lp went off for awhile so I opened some windows and turned the range fan on and my hwt off.Alarm went green after about 5 minutes.
So I went back to bed and closed all the windows I opened, in the morning my bedroom smelled pretty bad of that ethyl mercaptan stuff aka rotten eggs, but no alarms for the rest of the night. Any of you ever encountered this?
I only use propane for my hwt, I don’t use my stove and my fridge is on shore power

My tt is a 12 coachman Catalina

I am thinking since my alarm didn’t go off again I should be safe ?

 

[Bisch]

Be careful with the sensors... they don’t stay calibrated if they have significant concentrations.

I would get your system checked out, and if needed replace the sensor. They expire after 5 years, so check the date of manufacture as well.

 

[sirkdev]

Where is your sensor located? Should be low propane is heavier than air

 

[imdoo'n]

if you smell mercaptain, you have a gas leak/ your heater went out, find out why? at the very least you need to see what is causing the smell, chuck the sensors and replace them as already recommended. face it you got lucky may not be so next time.

 

[blubbles]

I would be replacing the gas sensor to error on the side of caution, and really its cheap safety. The thing you have to remember is a human can actually smell that mercaptan at an extremely low level, so you may still have a small leak but it just happened to not be enough to cause the alarm to go off.

Normally on RV's they have pretty strict venting requirements, so it should take care of that pretty easily though.

Other thing to consider is getting something like one of the "Hott Rod" conversion heaters and running your hot water tank only on electric power... If you are connected to shore power all the time that eliminates propane in its entirety. Ive heard mixed reviews about how well they work but worth a try, worst case the propane will still kick in to help heat up the water, and reduces the amount of propane you go through.

 

[DaveB]

I imagine you already did...but check that the obvious stuff is off. More than 1 person has been killed by someone stumbling into a stove knob in the dark and having it hsssssss for hours......

 

[kimrick]

I wouild check the oven.
Alot have folks turn on the pilot and then forget to turn it off after they shut the propane off for travelling.

On goes the propane, pilot for stove is not re-lit and slowly you start getting the propane smell.

Some of the burner type stoves also have pilots. Just a quick check.......as DaveB stated.

Might be off the mark but at least you can rule these out.

Use SNOOP or soap and water and check lines. Easy and fast to do. Bubbles show up immediately. A loose connection (minor) will produce lots of smell.

Good luck! Stay safe!

 

[arff]

We had a small crack in the copper pipe connection. Took us months to find it.

 

[Bisch]

We had a small crack in the copper pipe connection. Took us months to find it.

I had one of those too.. ended up being a cracked connector on the side you couldn’t see it.

 

[doorfx]

I had a leaky connection at the tank that would trigger the alarm in the trailer when the wind was right.

 

[c_nelson99]

spray windex on any suspected leak areas and look for the bubbles. also not a great idea to use a fan to exhaust the propane, the motor can be an ignition source. would hate to read about you in the paper man.

 

[kimrick]

Did you find the issue?
If so, what was it?

 

[imdoo'n]

I would be replacing the gas sensor to error on the side of caution, and really its cheap safety. The thing you have to remember is a human can actually smell that mercaptan at an extremely low level, so you may still have a small leak but it just happened to not be enough to cause the alarm to go off.

Normally on RV's they have pretty strict venting requirements, so it should take care of that pretty easily though.

Other thing to consider is getting something like one of the "Hott Rod" conversion heaters and running your hot water tank only on electric power... If you are connected to shore power all the time that eliminates propane in its entirety. Ive heard mixed reviews about how well they work but worth a try, worst case the propane will still kick in to help heat up the water, and reduces the amount of propane you go through.

^^^^^^ good info^^^^^^


these sensors have a shelf life,