Question:
I have a 2005 Fleetwood Sequoia. I plugged it into an outlet in my
garage to charge the battery. After a few hours an alarm was going off
inside the camper. I unplugged it and cranked up the camper enough to
crawl in. The alarm subsided after a few minutes. I was not able to
determine where the alarm was coming from. There was a strong odor
involved as well. I did check the LP tanks and they were closed. Any
ideas??
Answer:
-Do you unplug the battery from the pop up and reconnect to charge? It
does sound to me that the LP sensor has gone off. Remeber the lines
still hold gas even after the main valve is closed. Your converter may
also have a low voltage censor that may go off if the battery drops to
a certain voltage (this I am not sure of). Sounds to me its time to
crank it up and do some CSI work!
-Where was the alarm noise coming from? The LP sensors look like home
smoke detectors and are visible somewhere inside the camper, usually low
down, near the furnace.
What was the "strong odor" like? LP gas has a distinctive odor. Just
take off the fitting at the LP tank and you can smell remnants of it
there to compare.
LP sensor's will respond to gases other than LP as well. Is there some
dead mouse or other animal rotting in there, giving off gases near the
LP sensor.
Make sure the LP tanks are REALLY shut - perhaps even disconnecting
them, then opening the camper and letting it air out for a while. Then
see if the alarm goes off again (and if the smell is gone). Then
reconnect the LP tanks, wait awhile, check for the smell, and then see
if the alarm goes off again. Oh yes...don't light any matches!
Batteries being charged give off gases. Is the battery inside the
camper?? (It shouldn't be, and I do not think they give of gases that
the LP alarm will detect.)
Finally, it is remotely possible that the converter in your camper has
some kind of alarm on it. Perhaps overheating - thus the smell?
