Smoke Detector Batteries

Just something to think about when you take your camper out of storage from the winter. This morning as I was leaving for work, I could hear a beeping noise from inside the wildcat, upon inspection it turned out to be the low battery warning in the smoke detector. Had the camper been farther away from the house or timing a bit different I would have never heard it and the batteries would have gone dead during the winter and I may have not even been aware. A step that should be added when cleaning the camper from storage would be to change the batteries in the smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. Also remember there is an expiration date on carbon monoxide detectors that is anywhere from 4 to 7 years depending on manufacturer. This is a cheap piece of insurance, I even installed a second smoke detector in the other bedroom just to be on the safe side.

Good advice. When I was a firefighter, we would go to the local schools for fire prevention week. We would advise the kids to have an adult in their house change the batteries in the smoke detectors when they turned the clocks back in the fall.
Jim

We got in the habit of removing the batteries at the end of every season. I leave the smoke & CO detector on the couch to remind me in the spring to get fresh batteries.

John

We might overdo it - we change the batteries in the house and trailer in spring and fall. Small price.

Tater

The battery only smoke detectors should have the batteries replaced every six months, the battery and A/C ones could technically be done once a year, but what's the price of a 9 volt battery compared to your lives in a fire. I change the house ones every six months too and save the old ones to use in the kid's toys or some other non-important electrical device, for some reason I didn't think about changing the ones in the camper.

AVid wrote:We got in the habit of removing the batteries at the end of every season. I leave the smoke & CO detector on the couch to remind me in the spring to get fresh batteries.

John

I do exactly as John does. I also take the clock down, remove the battery, and leave on the couch.

I put new batteries in every spring. Also replace the unit(s) before the expiration date. I also test my units every trip. RV's burn fast, so I want as much warning as possible.


Earl

When I pulled the security detail at the KOA in NC I would ride through the storage area about 4 times during my shift (8 p.m. to 2 a.m.). I would always hear one or two trailers in the yard beeping like that and report them in the morning.

By law, we had to replace the batteries in the Kamping Kabins each year (usually in April). One thing I learned was to take a Sharpie and mark the installed date on the side of the 9V battery. Just another little helper.

I replace mine once each year in the spring (smoke and CO) and dust out the LP one too. Never had one start beeping due to a low battery.

Good advice here!