Drying Clothes CO Alarm Triggered

[sirweste]

This is driving me mental. 
 

I think it’s a false alarm but I’m not sure. Basically if I dry a washing load around the stove the CO alarm starts sounding - within 10 minutes of hanging stuff out.

It’s a Dicon CO-DI-9B and doesn’t have a readout if the current measurement. 

any advice? - I’ve got the windows open to shut it up, but it’s damn cold

 

[dor]

Are you using any fabric conditioner in the wash?  Could even be a reaction to the detergent.  Odd things will set off CO monitors, e.g. H2S (unlikely in your case) or joss sticks (recommended way of testing them).

[blackrose]

I've set mine off by poking the vacuum cleaner head too close to it.

[Yellowback]

6 hours ago, sirweste said:

This is driving me mental. 
 

I think it’s a false alarm but I’m not sure. Basically if I dry a washing load around the stove the CO alarm starts sounding - within 10 minutes of hanging stuff out.

It’s a Dicon CO-DI-9B and doesn’t have a readout if the current measurement. 

any advice? - I’ve got the windows open to shut it up, but it’s damn cold

 

Take a large piece of paper, write on it 'replace batteries' hang it visibly with the washing! Then remove them, it won't disturb you again.

[sirweste]

1 hour ago, Yellowback said:

Take a large piece of paper, write on it 'replace batteries' hang it visibly with the washing! Then remove them, it won't disturb you again.

I like this one!

 

not using any softener no. The installation guide does say not to mount it in a damp or humid room. Suspect the humidity in here is very high when drying clothes

[Rickent]

1 hour ago, sirweste said:

I like this one!

 

not using any softener no. The installation guide does say not to mount it in a damp or humid room. Suspect the humidity in here is very high when drying clothes

Humidity shouldn't be that high when drying clothes around the stove, the damp air from the clothes tends to get pulled through the stove , we dry all our washing in winter this way and our boat is always dry inside.

[Mad Harold]

Try putting your cigarette out!?

[sirweste]

33 minutes ago, Rickent said:

Humidity shouldn't be that high when drying clothes around the stove, the damp air from the clothes tends to get pulled through the stove , we dry all our washing in winter this way and our boat is always dry inside.

It definitely is high, the windows are always dripping when drying 

[OldGoat]

1 hour ago, sirweste said:

It definitely is high, the windows are always dripping when drying 

Well open the blurry windows, then.

Nowt so daft as folks...

Cheesh..

[Alan de Enfield]

11 hours ago, sirweste said:

This is driving me mental. 
 

I think it’s a false alarm but I’m not sure. Basically if I dry a washing load around the stove the CO alarm starts sounding - within 10 minutes of hanging stuff out.

It’s a Dicon CO-DI-9B and doesn’t have a readout if the current measurement. 

any advice? - I’ve got the windows open to shut it up, but it’s damn cold

 

 

Could it be that your stove is actually producing / leaking Co ?

Putting a rack full of clothes around the fire may 'collect' the Co and allow it to build up to an 'alarm' level rather than dispersing around the boat and out thru the vents

 

How does your glass fit ?

How is the door rope ?

How is the flue to stove connection ?

Any cracks in the stove ?

 

All possible sources of Co leakage.

[ditchcrawler]

9 hours ago, sirweste said:

I like this one!

 

not using any softener no. The installation guide does say not to mount it in a damp or humid room. Suspect the humidity in here is very high when drying clothes

So do I, Do you know what BS number it complies with, Just wondering if the boat approved ones are more moisture tolerant 

[Alan de Enfield]

35 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

So do I, Do you know what BS number it complies with, Just wondering if the boat approved ones are more moisture tolerant 

BS EN 50291- Part 1 are for 'domestic houses'

BS EN 50291- Part 2 are for 'boat use'

[ditchcrawler]

20 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

BS EN 50291- Part 1 are for 'domestic houses'

BS EN 50291- Part 2 are for 'boat use'

That is why I wondered which he was using

[tree monkey]

10 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Could it be that your stove is actually producing / leaking Co ?

Putting a rack full of clothes around the fire may 'collect' the Co and allow it to build up to an 'alarm' level rather than dispersing around the boat and out thru the vents

 

How does your glass fit ?

How is the door rope ?

How is the flue to stove connection ?

Any cracks in the stove ?

 

All possible sources of Co leakage.

That's a cracking bit of lateral thinking, I wonder if it's possible 

[matty40s]

It's probably the methane slowly but forcibly being evicted from the undergarments.

[frangar]

16 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

BS EN 50291- Part 1 are for 'domestic houses'

BS EN 50291- Part 2 are for 'boat use'

Also be aware that not all part 2 alarms are suitable for marine use! I found a fire angel one that said it was part 2 compliant but not for marine use...this was confirmed when I checked with the manufacturer. Hopefully theve sorted it now. 

[Alan de Enfield]

8 minutes ago, frangar said:

Also be aware that not all part 2 alarms are suitable for marine use! I found a fire angel one that said it was part 2 compliant but not for marine use...this was confirmed when I checked with the manufacturer. Hopefully theve sorted it now. 

That's confusing - how can they claim Pt 2 compliance but 'not suitable for boats' when Pt 2 means it is 'suitable for recreational vehicles eg caravans & boats'

 

Part 2 - Recreational

This part defines additional testing required for carbon monoxide detectors, which are likely to be subject to movement or vibration during their lifespan. Therefore alarms conforming to this standard tend to be more robust than alarms simply carrying the part one f the British standard BS EN 50291.

With high publicity around carbon monoxide caused deaths in recreational settings (camping, caravanning, boating etc.) this standard is becoming more sought and common place. And now leisure users have a way of understanding quickly which carbon monoxide detectors will be suitable and keep them protected. You should always ensure that any carbon monoxide detectors for use outside of a standard domestic setting conform to part two of BS EN 50291.

 

List of Co alarms approved for boats :

 

https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/294453/bss-co-alarm-guide-2019-comp.pdf

Edited December 25, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[frangar]

15 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

That's confusing - how can they claim Pt 2 compliance but 'not suitable for boats' when Pt 2 means it is 'suitable for recreational vehicles eg caravans & boats'

 

Part 2 - Recreational

This part defines additional testing required for carbon monoxide detectors, which are likely to be subject to movement or vibration during their lifespan. Therefore alarms conforming to this standard tend to be more robust than alarms simply carrying the part one f the British standard BS EN 50291.

With high publicity around carbon monoxide caused deaths in recreational settings (camping, caravanning, boating etc.) this standard is becoming more sought and common place. And now leisure users have a way of understanding quickly which carbon monoxide detectors will be suitable and keep them protected. You should always ensure that any carbon monoxide detectors for use outside of a standard domestic setting conform to part two of BS EN 50291.

 

List of Co alarms approved for boats :

 

https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/294453/bss-co-alarm-guide-2019-comp.pdf

You are telling me it’s confusing! 

I got it from Screwfix..all the info said pt2 compliant as did the box. When you opened it there was a big cross through the boat symbol...after emailing the manufacturer they said it hadn’t been tested for marine use. 
 

I did contact the BSS office but had a bit of fudged reply that said it wasn’t on the list. It was a fire angel one with a display as I recall. The almost identical one without a display was fine and is on the list.  I’m not sure if I’ve still got the info. I’ll have a look. 

 

I’m sure it was probably that it hadn’t been tested but given the information from the manufacturer I just returned it....didn’t fancy any wiggle room if something had failed etc. 

 

Edited to add the email I had back from Fire Angel

 

"

Thank you for the email below in relation to you new CO-9D alarm, unfortunately the CO-9D is the only one of Carbon Monoxide units that hasn’t been passed for use on boats.  You can use it , as its better than no protection ( however it just has passed the relevant standard)  - If you haven’t yet opened the alarm ( even if you have you can still exchange if you have the receipt) - you can return to the retailer and exchange for any of the units below. ( this all passed in May 2015 - they may still have the No Boat symbol - but no changes have been made to the alarm since testing was done , the new packaging is being fed through to retailers slowly.

 

Sorry for the inconvenience this has caused… "

 

And this was from the BSS office

"

It is a little confusing in the response from the makers as it is not clear which standard the CO-9D model has recently passed.

However with the specific advice from Becci and in view of the fact that our BSS list (agreed with the makers) does not include the model CO-9D, it is probably best to exchange it.

We were aware that even some older versions of the listed models have packaging with the boat crossed through, and this is we understand was linked to the test house not initially being able to offer testing to the boat element of the 50291-2 manufacturing standard. The test house can now offer this testing and most models have been re-submitted for testing and it is clear that the listed alarm units have not had to be changed in any way to pass these tests. It follows that these models can be considered ‘fit for purpose’ on boats, notwithstanding the possibility of finding a boat image crossed through on the packaging. At the time, Sprue were compelled to mark the packaging in this way to identify what tests had been done/passed.

Thanks for the information provided."

 

This was back in 2016 so hopefully all the stock is now sorted and labelled correctly 

Edited December 25, 2019 by frangar
To add bits

[sirweste]

On 24/12/2019 at 10:54, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Could it be that your stove is actually producing / leaking Co ?

 

It could be but it's highly unlikely, given that the only time the alarm goes off is once every 2 (ish) weeks when I do the washing. 

The alarm doesn't go off with nearly dry / dry clothes around it. It's only when wet clothes are around it.

 

I've employed the remove batteries approach with a sign on the washing horse.