Smoke Detectors -Important

[Les Brandt]

As spring has sprung and many are setting up to head out for the camping season, it's important to check your smoke detectors.

The company I work for participates in an annual smoke detector checking program in retiree's homes with the local fire dept.

It's important to note that smoke detectors have a shelf life. Meaning, they don't last forever!

Smoke detectors react by means of a photoelectric cell or ionization. They have a chip in them that senses smoke. Over time, these chips collect a film that actually de-sensitizes as it ages. Just because you put a new battery in them and push the test button and you get a loud audible sound, does not mean that the smoke detector works, it just means the detector has power to sound off.

It is highly recommended that you replace your smoke detectors within a 5-7 year period from its original manufacture date. If you notice the smoke detector has yellowed sooner, change it.
If the detector is within range, change your battery. It's wise to change it yearly....not when it's dead!

This is your first early warning device and a fire in an RV only takes minutes to become engulfed in flames. Death from smoke inhalation occurs before flames get to you.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favour and ensure you are protected!

The cost to replace a smoke detector isn't worth a life!

[Fred Brooks]

      Hi Les, Thanks for the recommendation. Better safe than annoyed. We all know how easily they can go off when cooking. Just bear with it and don't disable them is my suggestion.
    On another note, the CO detector is another device that is accumulative, life expectancy is 3-4 years. They are there for a reason and as we all know CO is a very subtile gas.
    Regards, Fred

[Roy Warren Co-Admin]

Fo-or All,

Don't just replace the smoke detector with the same type, photo-electric or ionization, replace it with one that has both sensors in it.  We know a coach that had only an ionization type in it and it was a brand new coach that developed an electrical fire up by the driver's seat during the night.  It was a short of some type.  Anyway, the fire investigator told us that because it was slow burning and the smoke took a time to build, the detector became de-sensitized.  Had they had a detector with both types of sensor, one of them would have gone off and the coach could have been saved.  The cost difference for one with both sensors is less than $20 so save that life.
Roy

[Joel Weiss]

The problem with dual sensor detectors is that photoelectric sensors are far more sensitive to moisture droplets than are ionization detectors and a location suitable for one type may not be good for the other.

Several months ago we replaced a detector that had originally been located by Beaver near the kitchen.  With an ionization detector at that location we would get only occasional alerts as a result of cooking but when we tried a photoelectric at the same location it went off several times a week while we were doing things as innocuous as boiling water.  We ended up putting that one in the bedroom and buying a new ionization detector for the spot near the kitchen (we have to have one in that location because of the holes in the ceiling from where it had been mounted).

It might be worth also mentioning that there now are detectors being sold with non-replaceable 10-year lithium-ion batteries.  No need to routinely change batteries and simply throw the detector away when the battery fails.

[Les Brandt]

Joel,

My recommendation would be to have a smoke detector in the kitchen as well as one in the bedroom anyway.

There are occasions where the bedroom door gets closed and if the kitchen one malfunctions due to constant exposure to cooking vapors, it will add that secondary backup for safety.

[Matthew Harger]

I doubt that the previous owner(s) of our coach ever replaced any of the detectors.  Any recommendations on a brand or type for the motorhome or are they all just a universal fit to residential models ?

[Joel Weiss]

Mine are standard Lowe's or Home Depot

[Les Brandt]

Roy mentioned a dual sensor style earlier. (Ionization and Photoelectric)

Here is a link to that style by Kidde, a well known brand.

http://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us/products/fire-safety/smoke-alarms/pi9010/

The decision to have one with both is yours. At minimum, the Ionization style would be good.

[Bob Jae]

The Smoke Detector that Les recommended is the one that Mac the Fire Guy recommends.  He has researched it and it is one of the few that meets the fire standards for use in RVs.  It is made to work in the cold and the heat that we encounter.  I also replaced mine with these after a class with Mac at the Escapees Boot Camp last year.  Mine are working just fine.

Here is a link to Amazon for the Kiddie dual detector
http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-Battery-Operated-Photoelectric-Ionization/dp/B00PC5THCU/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1428886665&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=kiddie+pi9010

Good choice Les.

[Joel Weiss]

He has researched it and it is one of the few that meets the fire standards for use in RVs.  It is made to work in the cold and the heat that we encounter.

Those requirements may be significant for RVs that are stored during the offseason.  However, as full-timers, the temps in the interior of my MH aren't any different from those in your home.  I see no reason why any residential unit wouldn't work. 

[Tim Bentley Co-Admin]

Here is a quote from Mac the fire guy on why you should not use a household smoke detector in your RV.


"Alll smoke detectors are not equal," McCoy says. Smoke detectors approved for RV use have to meet different standards than regular detectors. They are tested at a wider range of temperatures and for longer periods of time than household detectors, and are tested against animal-fat smoke, vibration and salt spray. When you buy replacement detectors, be sure you get RV-approved models."

There is a lot more info here. 

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/rv/RV-Fire-Safety.htm

[Joel Weiss]

That Kidde detector cited earlier in this thread is no different from the many Kidde detectors sold at Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart.  There is no special "RV certification" described on it.  Mac's a good guy, but there are lots of things we use in our RV that are not "RV certified.  The next time you go to an RV dealer look in the parts area for smoke detectors; I'm pretty confident that what you'll find are regular ones that don't even say "RV" on them; that's what I found the last time I looked.

IMHO for the most part RV certification is nothing but an excuse for overcharging on a product.  The best example of that I've encountered are the cheap Jensen TV's sold at ridiculous prices because they are "RV certified".  I've not had any problem with my Samsung and LG TVs, but, if I did, they're so much cheaper than the Jensen that I wouldn't hesitate to toss the broken one out and replace it.

Four years ago when we were early adopters of installing a residential fridge we were told that it wouldn't work well in a MH; now they've become the new standard. 

At least "RV certified" doesn't seem to have quite the price penalty as does the designation "marine".  When we owned a boat, it was amazing how much extra one paid just to get the word marine on something!