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Atwood Propane Alarm


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When we replace ours (again) I'll probably look for separate rvia (maybe) approved co, smoke, and lp. 

Co mingles with air, so its location isn't as big a thing as you might think. Lp needs to be low, as LP is denser than air and sinks. Smoke alarm high. Co, well, as far away from appliances as possible. That's not easy in a compact trailer.

Rv manufacturers,  including Oliver,  are stuck with rvia guidelines on the items they choose. Not all devices are rvia approved.  

12 years on, I can make and live with my choices.

Edit to add: I'm not endorsing any particular brand here, nor do I  suggest removing safety devices. I see stories like this too often. A properly functioning co detector would have saved these 3 lives. https://amp.desmoinesregister.com/amp/2997719001

Sherry 

Edited by SeaDawg
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2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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3 hours ago, topgun2 said:

Older (I'm not too sure what that means) alarms had an expected life of 5 years.  But I've been told that the newer ones (not sure what that means either) have a life of 10 years.  Supposedly, the newer ones will also give you a warning via a certain series of beeps as to when they are at of approaching this end of their expected life.

All of the above is still no reason for the detector to die after only 18 months in service.  Once I get (another) reply from Dometic I'll update.

Bill

All of these "safety" things are a pain in the neck.  Our home's  hard wired smoke detectors started alarming for no reason; turned out they were bad and were replaced under warranty.  They are so unbearably loud!!  The only way we could silence them was to remove them from the ceiling and rip out the sealed battery (that's what our electrician said to do), since they were being replaced under warranty.  Smashing them with a hammer at least made us feel better 😁

I realize RVs must have these detectors installed to pass inspection, but it's just another annoyance we can live without.

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

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3 minutes ago, Susan Huff said:

All of these "safety" things are a pain in the neck.  Our home's  hard wired smoke detectors started alarming for no reason; turned out they were bad and were replaced under warranty.  They are so unbearably loud!!  The only way we could silence them was to remove them from the ceiling and rip out the sealed battery (that's what our electrician said to do), since they were being replaced under warranty.  Smashing them with a hammer at least made us feel better 😁

I realize RVs must have these detectors installed to pass inspection, but it's just another annoyance we can live without.

Ours talk to each other, all over the house. It's maddening.  Really. During hurricane Irma, one battery apparently failed. Every alarm announced "low battery. " it was a nightmare.

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Overland said:

For at least 3 minutes.

Agree.   They are a pain, but needed.  Just like the smoke detectors in our house that seem to start the “low battery chirp” at 3am, a pain but a needed pain.

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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

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6 hours ago, Overland said:

For at least 3 minutes.

Live for 3 at least minutes with LP/CO leakage or installed for at least 3 minutes lol 😏

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

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Two years, now, and after 2 early morning alarms,weeks apart for noreason,  the Atwood is history. Went to the closest place,  We are roaming Utah, and found a temporary replacement, but it's a 120 v with battery back up. Will suffice for now. The alarm I removed was from 2015, my rv is 2018. Will notify Jason monday, it's still under warranty...it just torqued me off however. 

 

.

 

Cindy,  Russell and  "Harley dog" . Home is our little farm near Winchester TN

2018 Oliver Legacy Elite II - 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax 

"Die young - As late as possible"
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BoB - 

I'm still waiting for a response from Atwood/Dometic.  I'm guessing that Jason will tell you to contact Dometic relative to the warranty - but - you never know.  Good luck.

Bill

2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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On 6/15/2020 at 7:38 AM, mountainoliver said:

I have had the same problem with my detector as well. It would go off more and more frequently even though it was only less that three years old. Probably a combination of age, normal dust, and the fact that my trailer had been in Oliver service very frequently. Remember the old service area was very dusty. Anyway, I decided to just replace the detector. I found the Atwood 36681 detector in white at Panther RV Products for $49.95. I paid around $20.00 for shipping but that may have been for quicker shipping, don’t remember. That was about a year ago and I haven’t had any issues since. These detectors don’t seem to have a very long service life to begin with (depending on environment) so I think that there are a couple things that can be done to lengthen the detector life. Cover or remove and seal it in a ziplock type bag would protect it during solvent cleaning in the trailer or if the trailer is in a heavily dusty place such as the old service area or similar. Simply covering with plastic wrap would help greatly. In reality, the detectors should be sealed in plastic at the factory (due to dust and solvent) At installation and until delivery day so that the customers can have a new detector with full life expectancy. 

Not the same thing, but we recently had to have our home smoke detectors replaced (under warranty).  The replacement came with a plastic cover like a small shower cap.  We use it to cover the RV smoke alarm while cooking!

I think all of the new safety "detectors" have sealed batteries, as well as being hard wired, so you cannot simply remove the battery.  We are not given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to having common sense and a brain.

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

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On 6/15/2020 at 5:03 PM, SeaDawg said:

Ours talk to each other, all over the house. It's maddening.  Really. During hurricane Irma, one battery apparently failed. Every alarm announced "low battery. " it was a nightmare.

Where we live, we have routine weather related power outages.  These apparently reduce the life of the sealed battery so replacement is needed more often than every 10-years.

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

AZARCAIDNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAsm.jpg

 

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26 minutes ago, Susan Huff said:

Where we live, we have routine weather related power outages.  These apparently reduce the life of the sealed battery so replacement is needed more often than every 10-years.

We fixed that with a Tesla powerwall battery backup after Hurricane Irma.  We also have frequent, though usually brief, power outages. The changeover is so quick and transparent I usually don't even notice that we've lost power.

Sherry

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2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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2 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

We fixed that with a Tesla powerwall battery backup after Hurricane Irma.  We also have frequent, though usually brief, power outages. The changeover is so quick and transparent I usually don't even notice that we've lost power.

Sherry

We had our house wired for a stand-by LP generator, but haven't justified spending $15K to install one. Occasional power outages are tolerable.  It's just with appliances having electronic components, power outages can be pretty damaging.  We finally had a whole house surge protector installed, but it doesn't protect from drops in power.  Little annoyances . . . . . some days we are more tolerant . . . .  others, not so much . . . . It is what it is. . . . . . things just aren't as simple as in the "good ol' days"

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

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I won't say the powerwall install was inexpensive  (it wasn't), but in the range of , and less than, a generator to do the same work, without using fossil fuels. Without monthly or weekly  test cycles. Without maintenance. 

That said, we originally set up our electrical panels with battery backup in mind. We don't power everything. We power what we use most. Upstairs ac unit, plus what we felt to be essential and useful circuits in a power outage (fridges , outlets for small appliances and tv/ wifi, 110 to power ignition on instantaneous gas water heater, many lights, all the ceiling fans, etc.)

We had originally planned on battery backup, as our home runs 100 per cent  on grid-tied solar, but we waited for the larger powerwall, and their ul approval on the larger gateway.

Edit to add: our power outages are most frequent in the summer, with abundant solar. Might not work as well in other areas.

Sherry

 

Edited by SeaDawg

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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On 6/15/2020 at 7:12 AM, bhncb said:

Same exact situation with alarm in late 2018 LEII, usually around 2 AM, and even if no propane tanks are near the trailer. Since the CO detector function is redundant, I'm looking for another LP-only solution. Sometimes it's not worth the aggravation of trying to get a warranty replacement of a part that will likely just fail again.

Why is the CO detector function redundant?  Is there another CO detector in another location?

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

AZARCAIDNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAsm.jpg

 

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Thank you Susan for asking this question about redundant CO detectors.  My 2017 LEII came with two CO detectors.  One of them is paired with the Atwood Propane/CO detector under the dinette.  The other is paired with the First Alert Smoke/CO Alarm unit, which is under the attic near the television. 
And I will state that I am not sure if the 2020 or 2021 Oliver’s are equipped with two CO detectors, so there is a small chance that topgun2 is correct.
 

I must admit to a small amount of pleasure I gain when correcting a forum moderator.😂😂😂

Mossey

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Mike and Krunch   Lutz, FL  
2017 LEII #193 “the dog house”

 

 

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Dang it!  I hate when this happens - specially if it is Mike that points to the error of my ways.  I guess that I've never really looked at the smoke detector and just assumed that it was ONLY a smoke detector.  Sorry about that.

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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5 hours ago, mossemi said:

Thank you Susan for asking this question about redundant CO detectors.  My 2017 LEII came with two CO detectors.  One of them is paired with the Atwood Propane/CO detector under the dinette.  The other is paired with the First Alert Smoke/CO Alarm unit, which is under the attic near the television. 
And I will state that I am not sure if the 2020 or 2021 Oliver’s are equipped with two CO detectors, so there is a small chance that topgun2 is correct.
 

I must admit to a small amount of pleasure I gain when correcting a forum moderator.😂😂😂

Mossey

I know the feeling . . . . . 😀

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

AZARCAIDNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAsm.jpg

 

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The post I replied to has disappeared. ???????

Mossey

Edited by mossemi
The post I replied to has disappeared

Mike and Krunch   Lutz, FL  
2017 LEII #193 “the dog house”

 

 

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On 8/3/2020 at 7:17 AM, mossemi said:
On 6/27/2020 at 7:00 AM, mossemi said:

Thank you Susan for asking this question about redundant CO detectors.  My 2017 LEII came with two CO detectors.  One of them is paired with the Atwood Propane/CO detector under the dinette.  The other is paired with the First Alert Smoke/CO Alarm unit, which is under the attic near the television. 
And I will state that I am not sure if the 2020 or 2021 Oliver’s are equipped with two CO detectors, so there is a small chance that topgun2 is correct.
 

I must admit to a small amount of pleasure I gain when correcting a forum moderator.😂😂😂

Mossey

The standard features for 2021 models are listed as follows:

Smoke Detector with Alarm Standard
Carbon Monoxide Detector with Alarm Standard
LP Leak Detector with Alarm Standard

This makes it sound as if the '21 models have separate LP and CO monitors.  I don't know how the 2020 features were presented.  Adding this to my list of questions to ask my sales rep.

Once it is certain what components are being used (at least initially), Oliver should present a list of changes.  Many prospective new owners are using 2020 standards for decision making, so this would avoid a lot of confusion, especially due to the lapse in the online descriptions while transitioning from one model year to the next.

I did ask this question of my sales rep.  Waiting for him to investigate and reply.

 

 

Edited by Susan Huff

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

AZARCAIDNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAsm.jpg

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/15/2020 at 1:49 PM, topgun2 said:

Older (I'm not too sure what that means) alarms had an expected life of 5 years.  But I've been told that the newer ones (not sure what that means either) have a life of 10 years.  Supposedly, the newer ones will also give you a warning via a certain series of beeps as to when they are at of approaching this end of their expected life.

All of the above is still no reason for the detector to die after only 18 months in service.  Once I get (another) reply from Dometic I'll update.

Bill

I think the life expectancy is because the new units come with a sealed, non-replaceable long-lasting battery.  We had to have our house smoke alarms replaced and that is what they are.  I think the safety folks are trying to prevent people from disabling the alarms by removing the battery.  

Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

AZARCAIDNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAsm.jpg

 

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9 hours ago, Philipclopez said:

I bought MTI propane gas alarm to replace an older one. A friend told me we only exist for 5 years from production (not 5 years of use). Hope 5 years later I will remember to replace them

Sadly, these alarms are made for RVs that don't last more than 5 years!

Maybe the newer monitors will be designed like the smoke alarms that are now installed in homes - with a 10 year sealed battery.  Even at that, an Ollie will outlast the monitor 😁

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Ray and Susan Huff

Elite II Twin "Pearl" - Hull#699; delivered December 7, 2020

2013 F350 6.7l diesel Super Duty 4x4 long bed crew cab

1UP-USA Heavy-duty bike rack

2017 Leisure Travel Van Unity Twin Bed (sold)

AZARCAIDNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAsm.jpg

 

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