With an open flame gas stove, you can see that the gas is burning cleanly and efficiently if it has a nice blue flame. With other appliances, you cannot see the condition of the flame so easily so you don't really know how well it is burning. After inspecting and performing combustion analysis on over a hundred RV water heaters, we have seen that a misaligned burner can cause carbon monoxide (CO) levels to escalate dramatically. While RV water heaters are generally well sealed to prevent CO from entering the van, it's still preferable to not have high levels of CO discharging into the atmosphere.
In it's simplest terms, good combustion produces carbon dioxide (CO2). If there is insufficient oxygen at the point of combustion (due to varying factors), then there may not be enough oxygen molecules to bind to the carbon molecules so CO2 becomes CO. The only way to know what is happening for sure is with a combustion analyser.
If you are concerned about the performance of your RV water heater or any gas appliance, please get in touch. We also stock RV approved battery operated carbon monoxide detectors. You can buy CO detectors from many places but the Quell ones that we stock have been through rigorous testing for life in a recreational vehicle.
Important! Suburban storage water heaters manufactured bewtween 4th April 2018 and 1st August 2019 have been under recall for some years now. The affected serial number range is from 181515075 to 191302511D. If you have one of these affected models that has not been inspected, please call the dedicated hotline on 02 9645 7685 or contact us for more information if you are on the Sunshine Coast.
