Getting ready for shakedown cruise - Montana Owners Club

mitchlakind · 08-28-2015, 08:24 AM

So my wife and I planned on taking our Montana out this weekend to an empty camp ground about 10 miles from home to get familiar with all the systems, appliances, etc. We will have full service hook-ups and be covered by a giant awning as this is the host spot that is not being used for the summer.

Out beast has been sitting in front of our house overnight, hooked up to our newly installed 50-amp connection and cooling down the living space and the refrigerator.

The only strange thing that happened was that the installed CO2 alarm started going off about 2 hours after I hooked us up to shore power. At that point I turned off the LP gas and cranked up the magic fans. Then I went into the house and took out a known good CO2 alarm and placed it next to the installed unit. This home unit has an LCD and showed that there was nothing abnormal about the air in the RV. As this is the 2nd time this has happened since buying the RV, I cut the red and it made it's last chirp. I would be interested in hearing if anyone else has experienced this and how they dealt with it.

In the mean time, I am assuming that since the LP alarm did not go off, I should be safe. Of course I will head any advice that is given by the experts.

Also, is it recommended that we sanitize the water system before we depart home or deal with it when we get to the campground?

Finally, I was wondering if anyone had created a Montana specific checklist that is used when setting up and tearing down and that they would be willing to share with me. I have seen many lists out there, but was looking for something specific to the Montana. We happen to have the 3402RL, but my guess is that many of the systems are standard across the floor plans.

Thank you in advance

Mitch

**DQDick** · 08-28-2015, 09:54 AM

On the propane detector it can be detecting other things as well. Ours has gone off due to cat pan oder, booze that got spilled and something else I don't remember. Also if your unit is only new to you, they do go bad. I had to replace our first one when it was about two years old.

Lkelly3400 · 08-28-2015, 10:28 AM

Also added to DQDICK, the battery may need replacing. Mine started chirping within th first few months. Getting to the battery can be baffling. Get the name of the manufacturer off the device and then go online to get instructions.

jimcol · 08-28-2015, 10:31 AM

Sanitize the water system at home if you have time. Here is the procedure I use:
http://rvbasics.com/techtips/sanitiz...er-system.html
Enjoy that new unit. Jim

**Rondo** · 08-28-2015, 03:14 PM

Jim and Mitch-- Learned a new way to sanitize the water system and it is a lot easier too. Mitch if you have a new unit you cannot just add the chlorinated mixture to the water tank, you have to go thru the convenient center. What I do is take a whole house water filter that I carry with us and remove the filter and put in the furnished plastic tubing for flushing. I pour a large bottle of hydrogen peroxide into filter bowl connect it to the top and connect a hose from the filter to the tank fill valve, hook another hose from the faucet to the other end of the filter top and fill the water tank. I then turn on the pump and run the water from the tank through the lines using the onboard water pump and let it set there for as long as you want. The hydrogen peroxide combines with the water since water is H2O and the system is sanitized and you don't need to flush the unit lines and tank at all like you do with using bleach. Any questions just PM me.

PackerFan · 08-29-2015, 06:24 AM

The CO2 alarms put in by the factory are not the highest quality! Neither are the smoke alarms! Go buy a better quality one and replace it. We had to do the same thing to ours when we first bought the rig.

TAKPAK · 08-30-2015, 07:44 AM

[quote]Originally posted by Lkelly3400

Also added to DQDICK, the battery may need replacing. Mine started chirping within the first few months. Getting to the battery can be baffling. Get the name of the manufacturer off the device and then go online to get instructions.

To the best of my knowledge, none of the OEM detectors have batteries, they are "hard wired" to the 12 volt system. It's a liability thing. That said, it probably is a defective unit. I've seen a couple of them go bad. And, it wouldn't hurt to have another unit inside either. That goes for the smoke detector as well. We have the original, and then I placed one in the bedroom, and one in the basement. Got to be careful with that one though, as to location. And, if you leave the basement door open, and have a smokey campfire, well...don't ask.

Lkelly3400 · 08-30-2015, 09:37 AM

The OEM detectors are connected to the 12 volt system, but also have a backup battery and will chirp when that needs to be replaced.

TLightning · 08-30-2015, 10:03 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Lkelly3400

The OEM detectors are connected to the 12 volt system, but also have a backup battery and will chirp when that needs to be replaced.

That's what I have, too.

mitchlakind · 08-31-2015, 07:11 AM

First, thanks to all the replies. In the end I compared a known good working carbon monoxide detector to that of the installed unit and decided to cut the red wire. I found that the original manufacturer charges double what First Alert and Kiddie does for dual and triple alarm units cost at Amazon, so I will likely replace it with one of those.

As for the sanitization, we do have a gravity fill on the back of the Montana that can be used for this process. We were hooked up to city water and our water filter for the weekend, but plan on sanitizing the fresh tank prior to our next trip.

The dealer has a list of things they need to work on prior to our next trip and from what I have read and understand, Keystone is not very responsive to dealer requests. We have already waited 3 weeks for a broken cabinet door and broken rear view camera system replacement.

Otherwise the shakedown cruise went off ok. It was insanely hot, which was expected since we live in Arizona, and the A/C's just couldn't keep up until well after dark.

rohrmann · 08-31-2015, 04:17 PM

Just to clear things up, these rigs do not have CO2 alarms. They are CO, carbon monoxide alarms. CO2 is carbon dioxide, what we exhale when we breathe. That said, our 2012 Montana came with a battery only CO alarm in the bedroom, which failed last year, and I replaced with the same. The LP alarm, wired 12 volt, in the kitchen failed this year, also replaced with the same. So far, the smoke detector, battery only, above the steps going to thee bedroom is still going strong. DW tests it on a regular schedule when cooking, and it is so sensitive that you can't see or smell any smoke, but it gets triggered that easy and the exhaust fans go on and the door gets opened up.

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