Electric-what have I done?

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

...When the unit is connected to power, the material is uses to function, begins to deteriorate. That's what matters, .....

What I wonder is, does the unit age, or the clock tick, when power is removed. In other words if the camper is stored (with the propane removed) for six months every year and the power to the propane alarm is disconnected, will that double it's life? It is just an academic question really, I still follow the replacement schedule. In fact when I installed it I wrote the "Replace by.." date right on the front with permanent marker.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by gordon2

What I wonder is, does the unit age, or the clock tick, when power is removed. In other words if the camper is stored (with the propane removed) for six months every year and the power to the propane alarm is disconnected, will that double it's life? It is just an academic question really, I still follow the replacement schedule. In fact when I installed it I wrote the "Replace by.." date right on the front with permanent marker.

When working we had contracts to changeout smoke detectors ( Apartments , schools , dormitories even homes ) There was a date on the detector and when it reached a certain age , whether in service or in storage it had to be replaced
We would make sure when we bought detectors from the wholesale house that they were recently manufactured and not some old stuff that had been sitting on the wholesalers shelf .
The other thing I noticed is that people don’t read the owners manual that comes with there detector . In one home I saw SD mounted at eye level in a room with 20 ft ceilings . When I inquired why the detectors were mounted so low I was told it was too hard to silence them or replace the batteries if they put them up high where they belong . I guess there’s some logic in that ?

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Oh thats funny (to me) because before I posted, I had to make sure about what I thought was true, so I had to find MY propane alarm manual to verify it. And that was not easy for some reason. But in the course of my research, I saw that different propane alarms have wildly different current usage. It is never a lot but it can be enough to make a good dent in a battery charge in a few weeks. It looks like mine is on the high end at 75 mA. Another one was only 10 mA.

I think at 12 years you should not look for the manual, but instead just go ahead and look for a replacement. And perhaps look at power use if you leave it on 24/7/365. I pull the fuse on mine for long term storage but when I replace it I will pay more attention to the power it takes so that battery discharge is less of a concern.

One reason for the wide variation of current draws for propane detectors is the technology used for most of them. It involves heating a platinum wire, which, of course requires current. Catalytic Beads have replaced the bare wire in most. For more than you need to know about the process, check this PDF.

[Bruce H]

Lysol spray makes the trailer smell good and makes the propane detector sound loudly.

[Bruce H]

EVERY! RV owner should find/get/have one of these and learn how to use it, it is not rocket science:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Midtronics-...EAAOSwx2hawXd8

Midtronics has quit making them. There are still several new old stock ones available around the internet. I have had mine 10 years and am considering buying a second new one to keep in case my first one quits. I don't ever want to be without one of these the rest of my life. The clamp part will measure DC amperage draw down to 1/10th amp and the wire leads will measure voltage down to 1/10th volt. No other clamp multimeter that I know goes down to that level of accuracy. If you know of one please post.

You can quickly tell if there is any (or how much) draw on your battery simply by placing the clamp over one of the battery cables. If you have everything turned off and there is draw then you can start disconnecting appliances, devices, etc. to find out which one(s) it is.

You can also get a very accurate reading of how much voltage your battery(s) has/have. When plugged in to shore power or plugged into your running vehicle you can get a reading of how many amps charge your battery(s) is/are getting. In addition you can diagnose about a jillion other things.

Here is a picture of mine testing a 6 volt tractor battery:

[Darral T.]

Dunno if you have it working yet or not. BUT, go out and make SURE your converter is plugged in to the AC power panel. Mine is down under the seat and not sure where yours is. This happens alot on a Scamp. If the converter is not plugged in and your battery goes dead, there's NO way to charge it!



Please check this!


Darral

Originally Posted by Sue and Henry

We returned home from the last trip 2 weeks ago and are set to head out tomorrow....maybe. When we got home last time, all was well. I switched off the propane and plugged into shore power. I switched the refrigerator over to the shore, pulled the sheets and towels for the laundry and went on my merry way.

I just went in to restock the refrigerator and make the bed. There is a problem. The only power I can spot is on the tv, the air conditioner and microwave? No lights, no fantastic fan, no refrigerator.

I plugged in the little battery checker in the casita dc power and it doesn’t register so whatever charges the battery wasn’t working either.

Any prior experience out there? I sent my hubby down for a bunch of fuses...but is there something else obvious to you guys. If not, just send sympathy [emoji22] I want to head out to Mt. St. Helens!

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Dunno if you have it working yet or not. BUT, go out and make SURE your converter is plugged in to the AC power panel. Mine is down under the seat and not sure where yours is. This happens alot on a Scamp. If the converter is not plugged in and your battery goes dead, there's NO way to charge it!

on both the casitas and escapes, at least, the converter/charger is hard wired to the AC cord or inlet socket. the power to the converter/charger does go through a circuit breaker, so you need to be sure that breaker isn't tripped, but otherwise, its pretty hard to mess up.

[Darral T.]

I think that's better because it's (coming unplugged) happened to so many and been a headache until it was discovered or someone was told what was happening. It's especially easy to come unplugged on my Scamp the way the AC cord is rammed in there from the outside to store! Being hard-wired will make it a little more troublesome to change out...but then again, how often is THAT going to be?? Mine's lasted 8 yrs so far.


It's hard on people that's not use to "trouble-shooting"- like checking the output of the converter with a volt meter, etc.

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

on both the casitas and escapes, at least, the converter/charger is hard wired to the AC cord or inlet socket. the power to the converter/charger does go through a circuit breaker, so you need to be sure that breaker isn't tripped, but otherwise, its pretty hard to mess up.

[Lynn Eberhardt]

Every trailer owner should have an inexpensive (sometimes free at Harbor Freight) volt/ohm meter. You don't need high accuracy to check basic 12 volt circuits. Check battery voltage with trailer disconnected from shore power, then plug trailer in again. If voltage doesn't go up to about 13 volts or more, it's time to look for what's not connected or working properly.

An easy test to see if power is being used when it shouldn't be is to use a 12 volt bulb as a tester, preferably the older kind with the contact on the bottom. Disconnect shore power. Disconnect or turn off all 12 volt devices, pull fuses if necessary. Disconnect the negative battery terminal. Hold the disconnected wire to the metal side of the bulb while touching the base contact of the bulb to the negative battery terminal. (It won't hurt you.) If the bulb lights, or even glows dimly, something is using power when it shouldn't be. Time to track it down.