Carbon monoxide alarm

[blackrose]

One of mine went off last night at about 3.30am and another was reading 35ppm but didn't go off. I'll have to read the instructions for that one as I thought they were supposed to go off at 30ppm? This morning it's back down to 0ppm without me resetting it so that must have been a real time value rather than a peak level. 

 

Anyway, there are no fuel burning appliances on so I don't know where the CO could be coming from? It was my first night on the slipway at Blackthorne. Could it be solvents coming up from the ground from all the boats that are blasted and painted here? 

Edited July 30, 2022 by blackrose

[rusty69]

I think our alarms don't sound until 50PPM. We have also been on the slipway at blackthorn a number of times without the alarms sounding, but I didn't look at them at the time to view the reading.

Edited July 30, 2022 by rusty69

[Tracy D'arth]

Its the blacking falling off your boat in sheets!  😜

 

CO and CO2  and H2S will set of CO alarms, check your batteries.  There is a thought that methane and hair spray propellant will also set them off, what have you been doing?

[blackrose]

27 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I think our alarms don't sound until 50PPM. 

 

Yes you're right it's not 30pp. Mine actually say they start to sound at 60ppm - 100ppm

[blackrose]

19 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Its the blacking falling off your boat in sheets!  😜

 

CO and CO2  and H2S will set of CO alarms, check your batteries.  There is a thought that methane and hair spray propellant will also set them off, what have you been doing?

 

I'd charged my batteries from about 73% back to 100% using the yards shore power, and the charger went back into float mode at about 9pm yesterday evening, but I don't know how any hydrogen gas could have got into the cabin from the engine space? Perhaps it came out of the engine room vents and got blown in through the door vents? Seems unlikely but anything is possible I suppose.

[Tracy D'arth]

Its not hydrogen to worry about but hydrogen sulphide, accumulative poison gas from an over heating battery. After being exposed for a while you cannot smell the bad eggs odour, that's when it starts to kill you.

Hydrogen is from a gassing battery on charge, normal, but it means you are overcharging and losing water.

[rusty69]

Wasn't there a thread about this not long ago. I think it was being suggested that may be a battery problem too, though not proven.

 

I wonder if the level in the battery has changed whilst you are on the slip causing problems. Seems unlikely I suppose. The only other thing I recall  is that they use a petrol driven pressure washer there, though probably not at 3.30 am.

 

I did notice the other day in the hot weather that our digital thermometers were acting up in the heat. I wonder if CO alarms suffer the same problem.

[blackrose]

Thanks. I'll switch the charger off and check the batteries today. 

Edited July 30, 2022 by blackrose

[nicknorman]

Most CO alarms don’t have a fixed ppm at which they activate. Generally you need a high reading for a short time, or a lower reading for a long time, to activate them.

[MtB]

7 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Most CO alarms don’t have a fixed ppm at which they activate. Generally you need a high reading for a short time, or a lower reading for a long time, to activate them.

 

I'd say this is true of all Kite-marked CO alarms.

 

The danger they are monitoring for and guarding against is CO level x time.

[Mad Harold]

Could it be excessive flatulence?

[blackrose]

Just checked the batteries. They look fine. The start battery had a tiny bit of fluid overflowing.

 

I guess it must have been the battery charging that set off the CO alarm. Can't think of anything else. 

[nicknorman]

2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Just checked the batteries. They look fine. The start battery had a tiny bit of fluid overflowing.

 

I guess it must have been the battery charging that set off the CO alarm. Can't think of anything else. 

When the batteries are back on charge again, after a while check for warmth or audible bubbling more than normal. One should be able to leave batteries on float charge without any issues, so if they have been making excessive gas then something isn't right, either with a battery or with the charger.

[Tracy D'arth]

No battery should be leaking "fluid"  i.e. acid, ever. Something is wrong.

[Onewheeler]

4 hours ago, rusty69 said:

I did notice the other day in the hot weather that our digital thermometers were acting up in the heat. I wonder if CO alarms suffer the same problem.

Dunno about the heat but ours definitely don't like the cold and go into alarm at near-freezing.

[AndrewIC]

11 hours ago, MtB said:

 

I'd say this is true of all Kite-marked CO alarms.

 

The danger they are monitoring for and guarding against is CO level x time.

Kidde, for example say this:

 

‘An alarm’s response time will vary depending on the level of carbon monoxide in the air. For example, an alarm will sound after three and a half hours of continuous exposure at a level of 50 PPM, but after only eight minutes of continuous exposure at a level of 400 PPM.”

“Carbon Monoxide Levels That Will Set Off Your Alarm”

Carbon Monoxide Level	Alarm Response Time
40 PPM	10 hours
50 PPM	8 hours
70 PPM	1 to 4 hours
150 PPM	10 to 50 minutes
400 PPM	4 to 15 minutes

 

More detail here: https://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us/support/help-center/browse-articles/articles/what_are_the_carbon_monoxide_levels_that_will_sound_the_alarm_.html

[Alan de Enfield]

The effects of various levels of CO poisoning :