Have I seriously poisoned myself?

[TheBiscuits]

4 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

Thank God for CO alarms!

 

I thank FireAngel for mine ...

[ditchcrawler]

This is the third case like this I have read about this winter

[PD1964]

21 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

This is the third case like this I have read about this winter

Had they all just bought their boats?

[ditchcrawler]

15 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

Had they all just bought their boats?

That I couldn't say, but it was news to them and some others following the postings

[Drayke]

You need one of these https://www.onbuy.com/gb/valiant-fireside-tidy-ash-transporter-black-gloss-steel-storage-box-fir240~c13671~p7482999/?exta=gshp&stat=eyJpcCI6IjI5Ljk5MDAiLCJkcCI6bnVsbCwibGlkIjo3NjA3ODY1MiwicyI6bnVsbCwidCI6MTYzODc0NzYzMSwiYm1jIjoiMTAuMCJ9&lid=76078652&gclid=CjwKCAiAhreNBhAYEiwAFGGKPHvVfXCb9vQ6jdIu3DObVNqbZ-yIXeoBXxoOI-zpxj1Agmlr9UByYRoCulMQAvD_BwE to put your ash in.

[Ianws]

25 minutes ago, F DRAYKE said:

You need one of these https://www.onbuy.com/gb/valiant-fireside-tidy-ash-transporter-black-gloss-steel-storage-box-fir240~c13671~p7482999/?exta=gshp&stat=eyJpcCI6IjI5Ljk5MDAiLCJkcCI6bnVsbCwibGlkIjo3NjA3ODY1MiwicyI6bnVsbCwidCI6MTYzODc0NzYzMSwiYm1jIjoiMTAuMCJ9&lid=76078652&gclid=CjwKCAiAhreNBhAYEiwAFGGKPHvVfXCb9vQ6jdIu3DObVNqbZ-yIXeoBXxoOI-zpxj1Agmlr9UByYRoCulMQAvD_BwE to put your ash in.

And keep it outside. 

[ditchcrawler]

1 minute ago, Ianws said:

And keep it outside. 

No under the cratch cover so it can creep in through the air vents

[Slow and Steady]

You've had two pages of advice so I'll just say well done for asking for advice and for surviving.

We once sat inside a van awning with a hot BBQ without realising the danger - lucky it was so draughty - I did put it outside before going to bed but that was prompted by possible fire risk. If you don't know something you don't know - no shame in that.

[RickS]

14 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Are you running the fire with the door open?

 

No, not normally. I occasionally open the door to watch the flames, but only for a few minutes at a time. should I not be opening the door at all - apart from adding fuel?

[RickS]

14 hours ago, PD1964 said:

I see from your previous posts you were going to fit a new fire as your Morso had a cracked top.

  Did you install your fire or are you still using the Squirrel with the cracked top?

I installed (or had installed) a new one but only lit it on a regular basis a couple of weeks ago. When the old squirrel stove came out it had a bit more than a cracked lid, there was a bloody great hole in the back which was difficult to see until the stove was out of position. Glad I didn't just stick some cement in the crack (which I was advised to (not on this forum) and carry on

[RickS]

13 hours ago, Beo said:

@RickS Although you might be feeling like a bit of an idiot, it may just be that someone searching on the forum for ‘CO alarm’ will find your post and consequently take action that could save their life. It may even be, that as I type, other boaters are scurrying outside with their ash buckets!

Without wanting to sound too dramatic, I honestly think that being advised to take the ash bucket outside could well have saved mine. It was far hotter than it had been, with cold ash presumably re-igniting (not sure that's the right term as there was no flame) and pumping out fumes. Also the bottom of the metal bucket was very hot and left inside overnight may even have started a fire. I hope someone does read this and thinks to check theirs if they didn't realise  the potential risk, as I didn't.

[BEngo]

16 hours ago, RickS said:

Thanks BEngo. M14 studding? what is that then? I know M14 is the size but not sure what you mean by studding

 Studding, aka allthread,  is a rod with a continuous thread all the way down the outside. Like a very long version of a bolt  with the head sawn off.   You should be able to buy it at a fastener stockists, or an engineers merchant. It is not expensive. I thought it easier to suggest that than to suggest you put an M14 thread on the end of a bit of rod.

[RickS]

3 minutes ago, BEngo said:

 Studding, aka allthread,  is a rod with a continuous thread all the way down the outside. Like a very long version of a bolt  with the head sawn off.   You should be able to buy it at a fastener stockists, or an engineers merchant. It is not expensive. I thought it easier to suggest that than to suggest you put an M14 thread on the end of a bit of rod.

Thanks BEngo. So it's effectively an industrial strength sweep's brush. Sounds just the job.

[LadyG]

Whew glad OP got back to us, I was getting a bit worried 🎉

[RickS]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Whew glad OP got back to us, I was getting a bit worried 🎉

Thanks for your concern LadyG. All good.

[BEngo]

6 hours ago, RickS said:

Thanks BEngo. So it's effectively an industrial strength sweep's brush. Sounds just the job.

I have a good friend who has made a similar device with a female thread at the brushless end , to which he attaches his angle grinder.  It seems to work OK  but he is a braver man than me.

 

Other things I have seen used include a large hawthorn branch and a clamshell type  manual post hole digger.

N

Edited January 8, 2022 by BEngo

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

11 minutes ago, BEngo said:

I have a good friend who has made a similar device with a female thread at the brushless end , to which he attaches his angle grinder.  It seems to work OK  but he is a braver man than me.

 

Other things I have seen used include a large hawthorn branch and a clamshell type  manual post hole digger.

N

I must be lucky not having to go to such extremes. 
Either a brush from a dust pan Gaffa taped to a pole or one of them bristle sweeps on wire has been sufficient (so far).

 

[dmr]

59 minutes ago, Goliath said:

I must be lucky not having to go to such extremes. 
Either a brush from a dust pan Gaffa taped to a pole or one of them bristle sweeps on wire has been sufficient (so far).

 

 

I reckon a metal hook on the end of a wooden pole could be used to get most of the hard stuff off........... and i've just found the very thing on the roof of my boat 😀

 

The angle grinder wire brush also sounds good, I might investigate that.

[PD1964]

50 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

I reckon a metal hook on the end of a wooden pole could be used to get most of the hard stuff off........... and i've just found the very thing on the roof of my boat 😀

 

The angle grinder wire brush also sounds good, I might investigate that.

  Considering the OP has only has the fire fitted a couple of weeks and has only been using it a week, the flue shouldn’t really be blocked and a normal brush and rod should suffice. If it is so blocked at this early stage there is something wrong with the fire/flue arrangement and fitting or what is being burnt.

Edited January 8, 2022 by PD1964

[magnetman]

A bloke on my countryside mooring had a major problem with carbon monoxide recently. He is new to the whole thing. I went on his boat and having inspected the fire noticed that the (moveable) baffle plate had moved (!) Forwards and completely blocked the flue. 

 

I can't remember the make of fire (arada?) but it is a small modern one. The baffle plate can move forwards and backwards and I reckon with engine running and boat being used it can easily end up in the wrong place due to vibration.  

 

So I pushed it back against the fire bricks and there is for now no problem. 

 

I did also suggest the fireangel CO monitor with the digital readout. Handy kit that is. 

 

And be extra careful when burning wood on t'fire. 

 

CO is bad news. Damhikt but I had overexposure years ago and it is beginning to show up as a health problem. You need to avoid this. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by magnetman
Edit to remove racist sex references

[ditchcrawler]

On 07/01/2022 at 22:29, Slow and Steady said:

You've had two pages of advice so I'll just say well done for asking for advice and for surviving.

We once sat inside a van awning with a hot BBQ without realising the danger - lucky it was so draughty - I did put it outside before going to bed but that was prompted by possible fire risk. If you don't know something you don't know - no shame in that.

People have died in tents like that

[Ianws]

I think that was already mentioned earlier in the thread but worth mentioning again and again. It's not something campers or boaters would think of if they weren't aware of the dangers. Even people at home with a bucket for ashes beside the stove while they sit there oblivious of the danger. 

[ditchcrawler]

Also a danger in cars etc Twenty-two people DIE as epic snow storm leaves 125,0000 cars stranded in Pakistan | Daily Mail Online

[Ianws]

Very sad. It doesn't say in the article but is this due to blocked or partially blocked exhausts?

[blackrose]

Apart from the risk of CO poisoning, when I hear about people on this forum with buckets of ash inside their boats I can't help wondering about the mess they must make.

 

There's no way that I'd empty a pan of ash (hot or cold) from my stove into a bucket inside the boat. Don't you get a big cloud of fine ash which settles over everything? I can't understand why anyone would do that?

 

Or is it that you empty the ash pan into the bucket outside and then bring the bucket back in? Which is just as weird! Why would anyone want to keep a bucket of ash inside the boat?

 

It's a bit like those people who take a banana completely out of it's skin and then hold the peeled fruit in their hand while they eat it. Weird behaviour.