Generator makes CO2 detector go off

[Loudy13]

So we are boondocking this week and have to run the genny twice a day to keep the battery up. We only have the fridge running on propane so for one I’m not sure what is draining my battery so fast my old camper definitely lasted longer.
So 7 out of ten times the co2 alarm has gone off after about an hour Of run time. I have tried everything closed (windows doors and vents) and combo of open and closed.
I wonder if it’s because I don’t have a tail pipe on my generator? I think it should have one but who knows with the lack of information that comes with these things now.

I will call the dealer Tuesday but no confidence there!

Any thoughts

Oh 2022 freedom elite 24HE with a Onan 4000 gen

[JimOIB]

CO Alarm, not CO2. I have a similar coach - FW24F. I need to close the slide when running the genset. The genset exhaust is only 6 inches forward of my slide and when the slide is open fumes get in the coach along the front slide seal, the utility slot under the slide and any break in the under slide seal especially where the tee bars are located. Absolutely the worst design I’ve every seen. I’ve been boon-docking more this year and have noticed it. There are solutions, store bought and ghetto, online. I’m leaning towards ghetto - a 1-1/2 flex duct extending the muffler. Just need to find an ACE hardware store on my travels in northern MT.

As far as battery drain, turn your water pump off when you go to bed. It seems to help with battery drain. And make sure nothing is plugged into the dash USB or 12v ports, and radio is off.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Is this the original battery? It takes the sales staff at RV dealerships a very short time to destroy a typical marine lead-acid battery. They are often discharged completely several times while sitting on the dealer lot.

If your battery depletes quickly, it may be toast... even though fairly new. If you boondock frequently with relatively low power consumption (like a 2-way fridge) I suggest investing in a low end solar setup (100 - 300 watts) to keep your batteries topped off.

Our coach also has the generator exhaust just forward of the full wall slide, but I've not noticed exhaust fumes... and no CO alarm issues. CO is nothing to mess with... it's known as a silent killer. I like Jimbo12's idea of using a flex hose extension. I'm now adding that to my "list"!

Regarding the water pump... I'd suggest leaving it off when boondocking except when you need it. Even if left on at night, unless you hear it cycle frequently (you have a leak) it should not discharge a healthy battery, because it's not running.

[JimOIB]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

Is this the original battery? It takes the sales staff at RV dealerships a very short time to destroy a typical marine lead-acid battery. They are often discharged completely several times while sitting on the dealer lot.

If your battery depletes quickly, it may be toast... even though fairly new. If you boondock frequently with relatively low power consumption (like a 2-way fridge) I suggest investing in a low end solar setup (100 - 300 watts) to keep your batteries topped off.

Our coach also has the generator exhaust just forward of the full wall slide, but I've not noticed exhaust fumes... and no CO alarm issues. CO is nothing to mess with... it's known as a silent killer. I like Jimbo12's idea of using a flex hose extension. I'm now adding that to my "list"!

Regarding the water pump... I'd suggest leaving it off when boondocking except when you need it. Even if left on at night, unless you hear it cycle frequently (you have a leak) it should not discharge a healthy battery, because it's not running.

A point on the water pump - while it may not be running, the relay that controls it is drawing power when the pump switch is on. I’m fact any of the relay controlled devices will continue to draw power like the 110 switch for the water heater - throws a relay. It might not sound like much but when you start adding the power draws up they make an impact.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Loudy13

So we are boondocking this week and have to run the genny twice a day to keep the battery up. We only have the fridge running on propane so for one I’m not sure what is draining my battery so fast my old camper definitely lasted longer.
So 7 out of ten times the co2 alarm has gone off after about an hour Of run time. I have tried everything closed (windows doors and vents) and combo of open and closed.
I wonder if it’s because I don’t have a tail pipe on my generator? I think it should have one but who knows with the lack of information that comes with these things now.

I will call the dealer Tuesday but no confidence there!

Any thoughts

Oh 2022 freedom elite 24HE with a Onan 4000 gen

That's a serious problem.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by jimbo12

A point on the water pump - while it may not be running, the relay that controls it is drawing power when the pump switch is on. I’m fact any of the relay controlled devices will continue to draw power like the 110 switch for the water heater - throws a relay. It might not sound like much but when you start adding the power draws up they make an impact.

Agreed... but the relay draw is VERY small, usually far less than 1 amp. My point is that a typical healthy fully charged lead acid battery should be able to handle the load of a propane fridge overnight without going below 50% DOD. Otherwise there is a bigger issue - phantom loads and/or a destroyed battery/batteries. Plus, the switches for both the water pump and water heater should be OFF when sleeping. As far as I know, the relays are de-energized with the panel switch OFF.

Phantom loads can be a problem, and should be tracked down. And knowing how to analyze battery health is another important skill... especially when depending on batteries for boondocking.

BUT... the generator exhaust issue is THE serious issue here. I would NOT operate the generator until the exhaust situation is resolved. EXTREMELY dangerous!!

[dkoldman]

In addition to going to Dealer Tuesday, I would write a formal letter to TMC (Not complaining) But just documenting what you have found. Stick with the facts ( no opinions).

I suspect they quickly track you and a Dealer down to get that fixed. In meantime, I would NOT use the generator if anyone is in RV unless driving. That would be true for me with slide open or closed.

On batteries, you need to have them load tested, Verify the batteries are good. I bet they are not. Then you need state type of batteries and specification to understand what they are should be able to do.

I have two fridges, the one outside (residential) can easily run overnight, but when boondocking like you my Norcold inside is on propane. I am kind of surprised that you have propane fridge on a Inverter circuit? I had to make mod to do mine. I never need my propane fridge more than hour on inverter.
Other than I don't worry about what I have on / off. I just live and turn on lights, TV as I please. I can go up to 2 days. It is not like we turn on all of the lights and all of the TVs. Note: If I am boondocking with no power my outside fridge is OFF; because my Norcold inside is ON Propane.

One other thing, we have AGS so if we do forget something and our batteries hit 12.5vdc, the genny comes on. Similar to what you state, we run our genny 2 hours every day regardless. I am at year 3 and still averaging less than 70 hours / year on my genny. I am trying to get up to 100/hrs per year but it seems like it will never happen.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

That's a serious problem.

Totally agree with Ted...very serious problem. I would jump the dealer option, forget about self-modifications and go straight to Thor and file a serious complaint...let them know you "fear for your life", "don't feel comfortable using your coach as it was intended" and put it in writing. This is a new coach and you have a very serious design issue. Any attempts to modify the issue may void their liability or give them an excuse to pass the buck to you.

[Loudy13]

So I already took the battery to the dealer and they couldn’t find their tester…it takes a charge but I agree it was probably drained and possibly frozen while it sat on the lot.
Solar is another point of contention salesman said this unit even has the panel installed already …..it most certainly did not , sounds like he is going to fix that since he told me and the wife it had one installed already.
My fridge is running off of propane which really makes me think the battery is junk.

As far as the generator, with the full side slide and the generator under that side that makes sense the fumes are getting in there.

But you talk about exhaust , is there suppose to some kind of exhaust pipe coming off of the generator ? Mine has nothing just blows straight out on the ground.

Water pump was not an issue only turn that on when I needed it

Thanks everyone for the input

[txc2936@yahoo.com]

My understanding is ONAN owns the exhaust manifold up to the exhaust tube which is a THOR part. I have added a picture of mine, the RED is ONAN the Green is THOR. I torque stripe these nuts for inspection if they come loose.

The exhaust flange is the interface point. It would be extremely helpful to snap a picture and add.

I have added a few configurations from the web. I would think THOR customer service will put you to the front of the line on Tue....

Call Meghan she is great!!..If you take pictures, she will send you the entire assy. If you have a 9/16" Wrench.. you can install, and make sure it is correct.

Meghan Knoff
Thor Motor Coach
Parts Specialist

[Loudy13]

I will contact Thor , they did call me shortly after I bought the rig and offered assistance anytime. I will let the dealer try and fix things first that will help my decision if I ever buy another thing from them again.

[Loudy13]

Originally Posted by txc2936@yahoo.com

My understanding is ONAN owns the exhaust manifold up to the exhaust tube which is a THOR part. I have added a picture of mine, the RED is ONAN the Green is THOR. I torque stripe these nuts for inspection if they come loose.

The exhaust flange is the interface point. It would be extremely helpful to snap a picture and add.

Now i understand why the extended exhaust tube past my rear bumper... EXHAUST FUMES circulating back into the RV. And numerous cautions about running GEN SET at night while we sleep... Good luck...

Thank you
I will snap a pic once it stops raining ….but I have nothing like that coming out of my generator.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Loudy13

I will contact Thor , they did call me shortly after I bought the rig and offered assistance anytime. I will let the dealer try and fix things first that will help my decision if I ever buy another thing from them again.

I agree with that premise to work with Dealer with a smile first, but this is potentially a life / death situation. Trust me, Thor will want to know about this, even if it is simple 10 min fix. Companies like that try their best, but some issues will occur. At the of the day a Dealer is a Profit center that is heavily constrained by costs and expenses, they do blush and make way for honeymooner such as you for repeat business.

Think about if it you are TMC, what about the type of person that may have bought your RV and noticed the sane thing, but unlike you; they assumed the CO detector was not working and they cut the wire to deal with it later?

It is also the kind of thing that should be on the permanent record of that coach with TMC.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Loudy13

Thank you
I will snap a pic once it stops raining ….but I have nothing like that coming out of my generator.

This is actually good bad news Really glad to see and hear of CO Detector doing what it is suppose to.

[Norrirn]

Originally Posted by Loudy13

So we are boondocking this week and have to run the genny twice a day to keep the battery up. We only have the fridge running on propane so for one I’m not sure what is draining my battery so fast my old camper definitely lasted longer.
So 7 out of ten times the co2 alarm has gone off after about an hour Of run time. I have tried everything closed (windows doors and vents) and combo of open and closed.
I wonder if it’s because I don’t have a tail pipe on my generator? I think it should have one but who knows with the lack of information that comes with these things now.

I will call the dealer Tuesday but no confidence there!

Any thoughts

Oh 2022 freedom elite 24HE with a Onan 4000 gen

I faced a similar genset exhaust issue. I bought a Genturi from Amazon. It routes the genset exhaust up above the RV’s roofline.

[txc2936@yahoo.com]

On the other subject. Its seems the Engine Alternator will charge the batteries at a higher rate than the converter, for daily battery charging. The GEN SET will provide AC pwr to the converter and then the converter DC voltage to the batteries.

If you start the engine and let it run, you will deliver over 14 volts to the battery for quicker charging than the converter. There are electrical Guru's on this site that can advise.

[OldWEB]

Originally Posted by Loudy13

Thank you
I will snap a pic once it stops raining ….but I have nothing like that coming out of my generator.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Norrirn

I faced a similar genset exhaust issue. I bought a Genturi from Amazon. It routes the genset exhaust up above the RV’s roofline.

Nope, not similar. The OP has no exhaust pipe and therefore nothing a Genturi can attach to and resolve any problem.

Now once he gets the exhaust pip issue resolved a Genturi may help move the exhaust farther away from any possible MH entry point.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by OldWEB

It may have gotten knocked of during delivery or at the dealership prior to sale.

[Sappy2]

You MUST have a tail pipe on the genset that comes out past the body.