Rudely awoken- Carbon monoxide alarm

[rusty69]

A 3 am wake up call from our forward mounted carbon monoxide alarm this morning. 

Caused by the burning embers of last nights firewood. 

Be careful out there people. Install alarms if you haven't already, and check those batteries for those that have. 

Here endeth the lesson

Time for bed. 

[mross]

Are you confident your stove has no leaks?  Most stoves don't emit any gases into the cabin.  I would cap the flue and put a smoke pellet in it to check.  I realise gas could exit through the air controls.

 

[rusty69]

39 minutes ago, mross said:

Are you confident your stove has no leaks?  Most stoves don't emit any gases into the cabin.  I would cap the flue and put a smoke pellet in it to check.  I realise gas could exit through the air controls.

 

First job of the day. 

[NB Lola]

Well said Rusty, lest we all forget.

[cuthound]

Yup, better to be rudely awakened, than to not wake up ever again.

[MtB]

I’d be wandering what was different about the stove yesterday. Why didnt it do it the night before, and the night before that etc etc. 

The answer could lie in the algorithm the monitor uses to decide to sound. Low levels for short periods present no risk (and commonplace near a cooker!) but for long periods the effect is cumulative. 

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I’d be wandering what was different about the stove yesterday. Why didnt it do it the night before, and the night before that etc etc. 

The answer could lie in the algorithm the monitor uses to decide to sound. Low levels for short periods present no risk (and commonplace near a cooker!) but for long periods the effect is cumulative. 

Maybe it needs recalibrating.

[NB Lola]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Maybe it needs recalibrating.

Or simpler still replacing, most are sealed units and for good reason.

[mross]

I was going to start a new topic, but here seems a good place for a reminder.  If you try testing a CO alarm with a joss stick, it may not go off due to the above mentioned time delay.  Most detectors will have a special test mode which either raises the sensitivity or reduces time delays.  Once activated a joss stick (incense stick) will set it off quickly.  If you've lost the instructions that came with your alarm you can find them on the internet.

Edited December 3, 2017 by mross

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, NB Lola said:

Or simpler still replacing, most are sealed units and for good reason.

 

Or even better, a second unit purchased and used along side. 

They have expiry dates marked on them these days. Check yours. 

[mross]

Some models, which have displays, show the peak reading which is normally a low number and can be reset to zero.  If this peak was slowly rising over a few days it might be a hint to check the stove before the alarm woke you in the night.  All mine have annoying, flashing lights to tell you they are working.  I normally dismantle them and cover the led with Blutack.  The flashes annoy my wife.

[Alan de Enfield]

14 minutes ago, NB Lola said:

Or simpler still replacing, most are sealed units and for good reason.

Are you aware of MtB and Rusty's ongoing discussions ?

MtB may just offer Rusty £10 for it , or Rusty may just buy 2nd one for comparison purposes.

[MtB]

Is it true that if you die of CO poisoning in your sleep, you won’t know anything about it until the morning? 

[alan_fincher]

8 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

They have expiry dates marked on them these days. Check yours. 

 

Actually, I think some (most??) actually count how long since they were first energised, then expire themselves after the declared period of use.

If so the relevant date is when you first powered it up, not a manufacture date or a bought date.  Ours have sticky labels where you are supposed to record when you first used them, (though I'm fairly certain on some that I have failed that test).

We have certainly had ones that get to 7 years (or whatever) then issue specific codes and/or sound sequences that mean they'll never work again, and you need a new one.

Not sure all are like that, but I don't think I have ever had one with an actual marked expiry date, (unless I wrote it on).  With the type I'm describing no action is required from you, other than to let it tell you when to replace it.
 

[mross]

If you 'wake up' and it's hotter than hell.................................

[cereal tiller]

14 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Or even better, a second unit purchased and used along side. 

They have expiry dates marked on them these days. Check yours. 

I purchased a new Fire Angel CO Alarm last week ,identical to on Purchased 5 years ago.the Older one kept Displaying a Reading of 11 PPM.The new one Displays Zero PPM when placed in the same Location. ?

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, cereal tiller said:

I purchased a new Fire Angel CO Alarm last week ,identical to on Purchased 5 years ago.the Older one kept Displaying a Reading of 11 PPM.The new one Displays Zero PPM when placed in the same Location. ?

Earwig Ho !!!

[mrsmelly]

Ok call me anal if you like but I buy a new one each year and replace one then next year replace the other one. Even well known makes such as my two Honeywell xc70 types are peanuts to buy, less than twenty sovs delvered. They have now I think a seven year life it used to be five? I arnt going to google to check but I am the same with lifejackets I buy new every 4 or 5 years even when still in the packing. Thing is we are dead for a very long time so safety stuff is worth spending money on. The reason I know we are dead for a very long time is that Charles the first was beheaded in 1649 and no one has seen him since and with all the money he had he would have popped up again by now if there was a way to do it.

[NB Lola]

32 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Or even better, a second unit purchased and used along side. 

They have expiry dates marked on them these days. Check yours. 

Exactly what I have

[mrsmelly]

4 minutes ago, NB Lola said:

Exactly what I have

I did that for a while but the ones I first had had bright flashing lights that were annoying so I binned em.

[rusty69]

Update.

Well, it looks like the fault lies with me. A smoke test revealed a slight leak at the door glass joint.

When fitted a few months back, I removed the screws holding the door glass to apply some grease for future maintenance purposes. I clearly didn't do them up tight enough, although a smoke test at the time didn't reveal a problem.

The alarm was showing 63 ppm,and the duplicate model bought at the same time used at the other end of the boat was showing the same. The instruction manual advises they are good for 7 years before replacement is required, and these were installed 2 years ago.

Must now add regular smoke tests to my checklist.

Lucky for idiots like me that co alarms exist.

 

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Update.

Well, it looks like the fault lies with me. A smoke test revealed a slight leak at the door glass joint.

When fitted a few months back, I removed the screws holding the door glass to apply some grease for future maintenance purposes. I clearly didn't do them up tight enough, although a smoke test at the time didn't reveal a problem.

The alarm was showing 63 ppm,and the duplicate model bought at the same time used at the other end of the boat was showing the same. The instruction manual advises they are good for 7 years before replacement is required, and these were installed 2 years ago.

Must now add regular smoke tests to my checklist.

Lucky for idiots like me that co alarms exist.

 

Those levels would have done you no harm I suppose lets hope the cabin ventilation kept the numbers low. Good to know the alarms do their job. I will now be doing a smoke test. where do I get a smoke test thingy to burn?

[rusty69]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

Those levels would have done you no harm I suppose lets hope the cabin ventilation kept the numbers low. Good to know the alarms do their job. I will now be doing a smoke test. where do I get a smoke test thingy to burn?

Screwfix.

 

Or if your stove is already on, bung some newspaper on. 

[mrsmelly]

4 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Screwfix.

 

Or if your stove is already on, bung some newspaper on. 

Thanks. Its on but when I let it out for a sweep I will get smoke jobbie from screwfix

[cereal tiller]

7 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Update.

Well, it looks like the fault lies with me. A smoke test revealed a slight leak at the door glass joint.

When fitted a few months back, I removed the screws holding the door glass to apply some grease for future maintenance purposes. I clearly didn't do them up tight enough, although a smoke test at the time didn't reveal a problem.

The alarm was showing 63 ppm,and the duplicate model bought at the same time used at the other end of the boat was showing the same. The instruction manual advises they are good for 7 years before replacement is required, and these were installed 2 years ago.

Must now add regular smoke tests to my checklist.

Lucky for idiots like me that co alarms exist.

 

Fitted a New Stove Door Glass recently A Bright light test Revealed a tiny gap on the top edge where Glass meets Rope Seal ,a 2 Thou' Feeler Gauge would slip through the Gap ,took the Seal out and reseated it and it is now Air Tight.