hello my names Mel welcome my world for those of you that are new to my
channel I'm currently turning this Mercedes Sprinter into an off-grid go
anywhere sleep anywhere kinda stealthy camper van so if that's something
that interests you then please do consider subscribing to my channel
today I want to talk about gas LPG in fact if like me you've got a campervan
the chances are you've got some kind of LPG system whether it be small little
bottles like this or you've got a big bottle in a locker you're going to need
a gas detector like this now I know you're thinking I've got the best gas
detector in the world me I'm noggin but that's not going to help you when you're
lying in bed and you've got a gas leak because all your gas is gonna sink down
low in your van it's simply not gonna smell it that's why I recommend everyone
get a gas detector they are really cheap they like between 1015 quid on a buy and
now so easy to fit as well and that's what this video is all about I'm going
to show you how to fit these and ninety that I talked a little bit about how
they actually work why you need to wire these up to 12 volt permanent supply
rather than I have a battery and I'm not you do a smoke alarm I'm pointing having
a smoke alarms up there so there's a big difference between smoke alarms and gas
detectors so I'm gonna sit down and explain why now gas detectors and smoke
alarms working completely different ways they're completely opposites a smoke
detector works by having a tiny little bit of radioactive material in it
surrounded by metal cage I mean smoke enters that metal cage it interrupts the
flow of electrons and turns off the switch basically and sets off the alarm
now a gas detector on the other end works in a different way it's more like
I switched it comes on and it works by heating an element and that's why you
need a constant 12 volt supply because I do use a little bit more electricity
than the average smoke alarm now what the heating element does these attract
oxygen particles out of the clean air the clean air we breathe the air we
breathe is 21% oxygen well not quite 21% it's more like twenty
point nine I have the same but black going that
won't get so geeky um yeah I only know this because of my scuba diving
background and I said well no these Eddie's work because I used to have to
check the gas inside my ear cylinder before each dive just so you know I do
actually know his work and this is why I work what so back to a heating element
sort of the element is heated oxygen particles out the air is attracted to
that heated element and the element because it's got oxygen attached to it
the resistance is increased the electrons can't travel across the
element freely because the oxygen increases the resistance in element so
now when you introduce gas in severe equation what happens is the oxygen is
drawn out an element and the resistance is reduced lust thus causing a switch
which sets off the gas and on and that is the difference between a gas alarm
and a smoke alarm the smoke alarm but works by an interruption of flow of
electricity and a guest detector works by an increased flow of electricity
completely different you see didn't know that did job all right so that's why we
need a constant four volt supply to a gas detector rather than a battery
because if you put everyone knows with a battery the battery wouldn't last very
long at all whereas a smoke alarm the battery lasts for a year or longer so
like where we're gonna fit this gas alarm I'll show you exactly where I'm
gonna fit this gas along now like I said earlier propane butane real now is
heavier than air so it rests down on the floor so that's why we need that guest
he takes out on the floor because that's where the gas is going to collect and in
this vein I'm gonna be putting it in the cupboard just there because there's no
bulkhead and I haven't feed guests to the strangest yet but I have got these
small guest cylinders you can see they're quite rusty so there's a chance
we might fail
but when I do fit guess in this van the guest bottles gonna be in the back
because the only reason I want guests in this van is to heat water for my shower
when I eventually get my own to fit in it but for now I'm gonna put a guest
detective down here because the way I see it doesn't know where the gas leak
is it's all going to click down low and this sure that set off my gas alarm and
this gas alarms gonna be why permanently to 12 volt but via a switch this switch
right here because every time I get into this van first thing I'll do is switch
this switch on because it powers all my electrical sockets and I've always got
some ink that needs charging when I leave the main I'll switch it off
thus switching off my gas alarm as well and not draining my batteries I haven't
got very big batteries in this room which is something I'll need to address
I suppose anyway nevertheless that's how I'm gonna
why early so this gas detector up so let's take a look at what's in the box
what do we actually get in here for our 15 quick yeah gas alarm
suppose some instructions a little
leaflet of instructions which is nice you don't need those either
so these gas alarms much like a smoke alarm come with a little test button so
you can test whether they're working or not but I'm gonna show you a neat little
trick to test your gas alone without using this button to make sure it
actually does work a hundred percent and you can do this little test periodic
periodically as well as you can say really simple to wire up to wise one
with one black one red one goes to your positive black one goes to your neutral
for Earth and there are two other or three other little wires here but we're
not going to be using those because they are for if you've got a gas cutoff valve
certainly alarm goes off it will actually cut your guests off as well if
you've got one of those valves fitted but we don't need those they look a bit
short as well anyway so this what is up and I'll show you how
to test it make sure it's working now talking about warming up I'm not going
to hardwire this I'm not going to solder these wires or use crimps or anything
like that I'm gonna simply use these connectors
and the reason for that is because these have got a limited shelf life they only
last for about two years I think because the element is heated like I said and it
does burning up so connect it using these then when you when you've
discovered it isn't working anymore it's easy to swap out so this is where my
alarms going to sit just know it's on a frame or just take it off so you can see
there's a frame there and there you go it's really easy there's two connectors
there and this cable that I use but get asked quite a lot what Cavin will use
and this cable are used throughout the van for all the light electrics like no
my ceiling lights my ceiling fan and it's basically just 30 name house I'll
cable which is used for table lamps and desk lamps and stuff like that so the
alarm simply clips onto that cradle and that's it it's as simple as that
now it's got a test button Bob just gonna show you a little neat trick I
like to switch it on first big I'll switched it on it takes a little while
to warm up because that heater element has to reach civil hundred degrees
that's for what it does get really hot in there another reason I don't like to
leave they switched on when I'm in the vein because I do get really warm you
can see the light flashing that means it's heating in a minute it'll stop
flashing and it will make a constant beeping sound to let me know it's ready
so whilst we're waiting for now I'll just get more a little special tool for
testing this and make sure it works and
there you go at constant beep and the lights it's not fashion as much you can
see stop flashing there that means it's safe really it's really a do its thing
so now that guess alarm is set with simply light Alaia blow flame out and
hold it down here and hopefully that should set the gas alarm off so there
you go that's where we check homeworks boo your ears out a little bit now on
I'm the gas alarms working on I'm safe I can sleep in me bed at night safely the
dollies that my gas alarm is gonna stop me don't boom in the night
so there you go that's how you fit and test a gas alarm in your camper vane now
if you found this video mildly entertaining or even interesting then
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feed a cat and I've got two and if I'm hungry thanks for watching I'll see you
next time Tata for now then the chances are your will
to get in a minute