A Smoke Detector is one of the most important warning systems that your RV can have. Check your battery and the function of your Smoke Detector with the test button. Just like a sticks and bricks house you should always check, replace and test your functionality of your Smoke Detector.

Your RV is mostly made of wood, light, thin wood. The thinner wood can catch fire faster and burns faster. RV’s are made in such a way with thin lightweight wood since they need to be as light as possible to be towed or driven down the highways. A sticks and bricks house has many more preventable items in place to give you have a better chance of escape than an RV will have.

Check your battery if you are buying a used RV as the previous owner may have never done so, just replace the Smoke Detector no matter what when you take ownership of a used RV. Even with a new RV, remove the Smoke Detector and check the date printed or stamped on the reverse side so you know how old it is too. An RV Smoke Detector should not be older than 5 years. If you are buying a used RV older than 5 years replace the whole Smoke Detector and put in a new battery, go buy a new one don’t use batteries that have been sitting in your closet as batteries have dates too, make sure both are as new as possible.

As I was doing my first RV Inspection in class from a classmates RV I discovered that his Smoke Detector was not functioning, because there was no battery. Furthermore his RV was ten years old at that time and the Smoke Detector was just as old and very out of date. So check your RV and make sure the Smoke Detector is up to date and functioning properly.

Don’t go buy a Smoke Detector from a local store unless it is a RV store. An RV Smoke Detector is different and you need one specifically for RV’s. You need a duel sensor detector for smoke, one that detects ionization and photoelectric. Ionization is from smoke/fires from wood or cooking, Photoelectric is smoke/fire from electrical issues, remember you have AC & DC power in an RV. Consider buying a combination unit, one that is a Carbon Monoxide (CO) and a Smoke Detector for an RV. Your RV may have a CO detector combined with a LP detector, though not wrong per codes, CO is lighter than air and is better detected higher up along with a Smoke Detector where they are typically mounted. To put it plainly, get a Smoke Detector that detects smoke from both Ionization and Photoelectric smoke and is also a CO detector made for an RV. So make sure you get the right one.

I’m Tim with RV Safety Inspection and Artymappin blog. The idea of creating a blog to showcase my business and personal travels comes from my wanting to help people and inform them about RV life. I choose RV Safety Inspection as a name because in my training class one student had all non functioning and out of date Life Safety equipment. There was no battery in the Smoke detector, the Carbon Monoxide detector was unplugged, the LP detector did not alarm, and the Fire Extinguisher and all other items listed were past their expiration date for use. A lot of people get into RVing and do not understand the systems they have in their unit and how to protect themselves. I took a year of searching the best items, RV's, and took both RV Inspection classes to learn about RVing. There are many used RV’s and quite a lot of them are older than ten years and that means unless they were updated most of those Life Safety items are expired and out of date. So many people are starting to buy RV’s and that could mean the unit you choose could need to be updated so that you or your family can be protected and alarmed of an issue should one arise. I hope to help as many people as I can understand RVing and do my best to inform them of the Life Safety items in their RV and how they can stay safe for years to come.

Artymappin Blog will be my place to share my experiences with you about my RVing life, I am a full time RVer and have had my share of issues in my short journey so far. I hope to share my experiences as well as issues from inspections that can help everyone. I will also share my travels and where I am or what I am doing. So check back and I’ll share my travels and experiences with you.

A little about me. As a kid I had some RVing experience as we lived in a RV for about three years. I remember gas leaks and floods in the RV from back in those days so safety is always been a consideration. In 2001 I purchased a truck but could not get the RV at that time and had intended to go full time then. Now in September 2017 I was able to get a truck and a travel trailer to start my full time travels. I intend to work from the road on RV Safety Inspection and other jobs as they may come. I've liked to hike, ride a road bike and would like to learn to mountain bike. My on the road companion is my dog Rosko, a long haired dachshund who is just awesome to have along on this journey.