# Urgent help with Alarm please



## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Hi Some urgent help needed please not sure if it is the right forum.
I have an Autotrail Cheyenne 696 g the carbon alarm has been beeping l thought it was a simple change battery so he went in today to have his bumper sorted and l asked them to sort the battery please as they do little jobs for me.
Just come back it is a sealed unit and has a cable going out the back so they were not sure what to do.

The gas is turned off so l am happy it isnt that and the fault button isnt flashing. When l push test it works but it is an intermittent LOUD beep about 1xs a minute.

Please could l have some urgent advice as l am going away in him Tuesday next week and need to get him sorted can l do it or will it need some one? can l disable it or what? 
It is a white unit not sure if standard.

Mod edit; I have amended your title slightly as to give a clue as too what help is needed. I have also moved it to a more appropriate forum. Hopefully it will get more attention and some helpful person is able to assist you. Angie


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I imagine that you have accidentally posted in the wrong forum. I think you may do much better if we get your post moved from furnishings so if you like you could report my post to attract attention and ask a mod to move the thread. I don't imagine many of the techies read furnishing posts.

Sorry if I you meant it to be here, Alan


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

*Re: Urgent help please*



bulawayolass said:


> Hi Some urgent help needed please not sure if it is the right forum.
> I have an Autotrail Cheyenne 696 g the carbon alarm has been beeping l thought it was a simple change battery so he went in today to have his bumper sorted and l asked them to sort the battery please as they do little jobs for me.
> Just come back it is a sealed unit and has a cable going out the back so they were not sure what to do.
> 
> ...


If it has a cable going out the back I assume it's on hard wired to a 12v supply, so it sounds like you either have a blown fuse, a loose wire, maybe the test button is jammed or it may simply have died.


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## kandsservices (Sep 5, 2010)

If it a carbon monoxide tester and it is bleeping i would have it checked out at your dealer just to be on the safe side as carbon monoxide is a killer (dont want to scare just to advise) it might just be a blown fuse as already posted but you never know it doesnt have to be your normal dealer or mobile engineer as long as they have a flue gas analyser they can check your appliances and carry out a room carbon monoxide test.
kev


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Good advice but if it is still beeping try turning all your gas off at the cylinder, open the doors and windows so that there is plenty of air circulation. If it still beeps it is faulty.

It is there to detect gasses which are the product of combustion. If there is no combustion and it's alarming it is faulty or needs a battery or some such, Alan.


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Many thanks for that sorry l couldn't reply before l was on the phonenet & trying to sort mum so was a bit fraught. Gas has been off for last month at the cylinders hence me being happy it isnt them, have also had doors etc open in fact drove with windows open and still it gives this beep.
Alan l thought it was a battery but with a wire l assume it is electric and as sealed l guess not able to get in although it has a light that lights up saying battery when l press test and as l say the alarm doesnt flash nor does trhe error light so l assume faulty. 
It took me ages to track the beep down as nothing gave away where it came from and it refused to beep while l stared at it, the only thing l could thionk of that may be beeping... as soon as l turned it would beep but of course l spun round to silence :twisted: 

Will do urgent area hunt for someone to help with sorting it. if worse comes to worse do you think it would be a problem if l just cut the wire myself?


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

bulawayolass said:


> if worse comes to worse do you think it would be a problem if l just cut the wire myself?


I would advise against cutting the wire as you will then be without a potentially operable smoke alarm (unless you replace it) and you may cause a fuse to blow that might knock out anything else connected on that circuit. Unless you know that it wasn't a factory fitted alarm, why don't you phone either Autotrail directly or an Autotrail dealer and ask them if they can advise. If all else fails can you put a bag or cloth or something similar secured by tape over the alarm to suppress the noise?


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Will do peribro but bag/cloth wont work l fear l can hear it 20 yds with all doors/windows closed sitting in my patio door ajar not fully open. 
Every time l think l have taken a step forward l take 2 back


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

If it's not factory fitted then I guess that it must be wired into the base vehicle side of the electrics if the beeping continues after the 12v circuits are switched off. Someone therefore needs to find where it is wired in and disconnect it. A lot of local garages should be able to do that if you explain the problem - failing that an auto-electrician.

I would have thought it must be possible though to access the connections in the detector as otherwise how was it connected in the first place? If you or someone can disconnect it there, then that would be easier but it would be advisable to disconnect the vehicle battery first - assuming it is ultimately connected to that.


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Some carbon monoxide alarms are fixed to the wall by sliding down onto a backing plate. The only way to get inside them is to slide it upwards to release. Then you can access the inside, from the rear, to remove the battery.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

If this was my van I would be happy to cut the wire to stop the noise. My guess is that it's hard wired rather than battery powered and is just telling you it is buggered. There will be two wires in there and you would be well advised to cut back the covering insulation and cut them one at a time to avoid short circuiting them and possibly blowing a fuse. Having done that tape the ends up so they can't touch each other and short out. For me that would be a temporary remedy which I would be happy with till after my holiday.

We have a smoke alarm but not a Co2 alarm in the van. For certainty I should have both I know but at this time of year I don't think the Co2 alarm is really necessary. I would view it differently if we used gas fire type heating. All the same I will get round to buying a battery powered Co2 detector one of these days, Alan.

Edit: I just ordered this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kidde-900-0...EM00/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1310467190&sr=8-2

and will blue tack it to the van wall.


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Quick update l have found a mobile guy who does caravan and motorhome checks and electrics etc to come over friday to mooch and he does gas and carb. m checks as well. Will let you know how it goes many thanks. This site and members are briliant and make owning a mh less scary


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

Sorry if this sounds a bit dense - but our 696G has a smoke alarm, on the ceiling just behind the cab.

It IS openable - just take a little care - prise the cover off with your fingers, it is only snap-on.

Have you actually taken the battery out? The symptoms you describe have all the hallmarks of a flat battery.............and yes, ours has a wire leading into the back of the unit also......this is to provide the small current to power the 'beep' when the battery goes flat.

If it wasnt for this wire, then how would you know when the battery was flat? The smoke alarm has to be completely self contained for power (battery!) as, in the case of a fire, any external electrical supply could be cut off (fuses blow / wires burn out etc) and so the alarm would not function.........

Trust me - you CAN gently prise the cover off and change the battery........

The beep is meant to be very annoying - to ensure you do something to stop it........change the battery............please do NOT cut the wire!!!!

HTH
Carl


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

That's interesting Carl. The smoke alarms in our house and our van are battery only. The beeping starts when the battery gets low.

I did have a Co2 alarm a while back, also battery powered, it had a life expectancy and did a particular beep to indicate it had reached the end of it's life.

I will be interested to hear what the result is when Bulawayolass gets hers looked at, Alan.


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

I need to check on our van one, but I'd be surprised if Carl was wrong.

Our home ones are 240V supplied, interlinked (believe this is a building regs req't as 3 storey house), but each has a 9V battery purely as a backup if the mains supply fails.

My assumption on the van one is it's exactly the same principle...main feed is the 12V power lead, but with an integral battery for usage should that fail. Unit starts to "chirrup" when the integral battery's run down to warn you to change it. NB if it's like our house ones, you may find that after a while it gives up and accepts that you're not going to replace the battery and shuts up. Days rather than hours though...


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

We have the standard smoke alarm just behind the cab this is attached to the wardrobe. Has to be connected cause been beeping since about 3 june.


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

If you've got a smoke alarm already then this has to be a carbon monoxide detector that is wired to one of the batteries. It has to be possible to undo or detach it as otherwise it couldn't have been fitted in the first place. If it doesn't slide off vertically then try turning it anti-clockwise and if that fails pry the cover off. At least you will then be able to disconnect the wires.


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

Is this something like what you have???

http://carbonmonoxidedetectorzm.tk/costar-12rv-db-12v-rv-co-alarm-9v-bat-backup/

Carl


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Hi Carl no it is one of the one of the top 2 http://www.safelincs.co.uk/ei-electronics/Carbon-Monoxide-Alarms/ on this link probably the top one as second one down is battery powered


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

This link is to the user guide for the model in your last post. Looking at what it says, you should be able to slide up the top half of the cover to reveal the innards. On the Ei205ENA model, there is a wire shown in the instructions that you need to cut to stop the beeping once the unit is at the end of its useful life. However there are also instructions for replacing the batteries so that may be best before cutting the wire. According to the instructions, the alarm is battery operated so none of this explains what the cable is unless you have another unit in the garage or somewhere that has been linked to it.


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

Now THAT is a very useful link!!!!!!

Explains everything - Bulawayolass: Take a copy of this document with you to your 'man in the know'.........all will then become clear.

Carl


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Yup done that well saved it was to tired to look close last night away today sort tomorrow back on phone net so thanks to all via here button hard to fiddle with


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

The range of alarms indicated in your previous post are manufactured by Ei Electronics in Ireland. I have the same unit - battery powered. The non-battery powered versions run from the mains via a transformer, so unless yours was installed during manufacture with dedicated wiring, I would have thought it will be battery-powered. Bear in mind that these units have a service life of 5 years regardless of power source; then they need to be replaced.
This link is to the manufacturer's website and there is a download page where you can get instructions.

http://www.eielectronics.com/carbon-monoxide-battery/blog

Hope this is some help.


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Jon has just been lovely guy showed me how to use the switches for gas and electric when on mains as l get confused and never had need of them. I have stared at the switches worried about using them right, turns out l had understood the instructions jut was worrying l hadn't.

Best news is that he sorted the problem. It wasn't wired in just the way it was wired looked like it was & sealed so when Paul got the cover off to inside a wide looked like it went through. It is battery one so l will get 3x AA today and screw it back.

And finally he didn't charge me, guess who l will be using for the habitation service, he is fully registered for gas, electric etc 

Not sure if we are allowed to do this but anyhow many thanks to Jon of Acorn Leisure (Mobile)


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Glad you got it all sorted out, Alan.


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## suedew (May 10, 2005)

Glad it is all sorted, and great service too.

Sue


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