Carbon monoxide detectors

[srbaum]

Art,
I'm sure you saw my recent post in the thread about "what did you do with your C-Dory today". My CO / fire alarm went off when the Wallas unit was not firing properly (working but only warm air coming out). I had been underway for a bit with heater on (ambient was around 46 degrees) and I thought that I was smelling an odd odor, (sort of a faint smell of moth balls (para-dichlorobenzene)), and figured my shirt must have been giving off the odor (though we don't wash or store our clothing around moth balls... Next thing that happened is the CO detector sounded off. I opened everything up and checked the Wallas, which was just warm air vice hot air blowing out while on the highest setting. At this point I had a headache... I shut the Wallas down (through its normal shutdown process) and lit it off again. Visible smoke could be seen out the exhaust and obviously there was a problem with the unit, as there was a lot of the un-combusted gases were coming from the internal portion of the Wallas, directly into the cabin. In summery I shipped the Wallas back to the West coast on 1/11 and it has been repaired (required a major tune-up) and being shipped back to me today.
Bottom line...I'm very glad that I replaced my smoke and CO detector (Kidde KN-COSM-XTR-B) last spring and it works very well.

 

[mgarr682]

Art,
..I'm very glad that I replaced my smoke and CO detector (Kidde KN-COSM-XTR-B) last spring and it works very well.

Steve, I'm looking at the same detector. Where did you mount yours? There is only limited area in the Angler for mounting and none of those locations meet the mounting requirements listed in the install manual very well.

 

[srbaum]

Glenda Jean,
Though not the best location, I mounted my detector on the fiddly above the dash (the shelf where your VHF is currently mounted). I do (always) run a fan at low speed that is above my dash, anytime that I'm running the Wallas, as it improves distribution of heat. The desired mounting location would be about head level..

 

[Sunbeam]

I just ordered one of these today, from Amazon. Not that there will probably be a lot to report, but I'll try to remember to post back my general impression after I receive it.

Kidde KN-COPP-B-LP 900-0230 Nighthawk Carbon Monoxide Alarm, Battery Operated with Digital Display

 

[mgarr682]

Glenda Jean,
Though not the best location, I mounted my detector on the fiddly above the dash (the shelf where your VHF is currently mounted). I do (always) run a fan at low speed that is above my dash, anytime that I'm running the Wallas, as it improves distribution of heat. The desired mounting location would be about head level..

I've about come to the conclusion that the underside of that shelf is about the only realistic place for it. Since I've banged my head on that shelf a number of times while working on the boat the last few days it should be just about the right height.

 

[C-Nile]

Isn't everyone happy to have pilot house boats with a closable cabin door? It's not just at rest that we can get CO poisoning, but under way as well. My brother-in-law had a Grady White 23' Walkaround with a hardtop and twin 150 HP engines. If the wind blew stronger from the stern then the boat was moving, we would get really sick. The same thing would happen on our CD 16 Cruiser if we ran at slow speed with the canvasback open. I have yet to run into this condition with our new boat. Regarding the smoke detector, I have a 12 volt wired unit that I plug into the DC outlet when operating my Wallas, but it has never gone off. Regardless, Dr. Bob made a great point on detector longevity, and in another year, I'll replace my unit with a new 9 Volt battery unit.

Rich

 

[beermanPDX]

I just ordered one of these today, from Amazon....
...
Kidde KN-COPP-B-LP 900-0230 Nighthawk...

That's the one I purchased a few weeks ago (from Amazon as well). For $29 (~60% off so-called list), you can't go wrong.

My impression so far: it sits there just as good as the one it replaced. But with the digital readout, it gives me one more thing to monitor at the helm. For a gadget guy, that's important. :wink:

If I remember, I'll check the peak CO level that it registered and then I'll reset it. I'm in the process of building a platform for my generator. Once I get that completed, I'll be interested to see what impact running the generator in the cockpit while underway has on CO levels (house door shut).

 

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

Oly, thanks for sharing your technical expertise and attempting to educate us on this silent, invisible killer. The more we know about this enemy the less likely we are to become a statistic.

Good luck in your search for that "bigger than 16" boat.

Regards, Rob

 

[Chris Bulovsky]

Brent- I think two is over kill. I will echo what others have said about just spending 40 bucks for new one every couple of years. Just FYI the high dollar Fire Department kind are spendy and have just as many issues. calibration troubles , sensors going bad, expensive batteries going to hell ......so they are not worth it IMO. When I get a CO call at work I send staff out with two detectors and they rarely read the same CO ppm value. What we really want to know is it present? Then what’s producing the CO. Turn off the cause then all is well.....most of the time. I do wonder now how much if any CO is in my cabin when I troll for 4-5 hours. I personally have not been using a CO detector. No heater was my rational. This may change.

 

[Mike_J]

I picked up one of these from Home Depot and it looks like it should do the trick.

I just ordered one of these today, from Amazon. Not that there will probably be a lot to report, but I'll try to remember to post back my general impression after I receive it.

Kidde KN-COPP-B-LP 900-0230 Nighthawk Carbon Monoxide Alarm, Battery Operated with Digital Display

 

[canal charterguy]

I just wanted to share an incident in which my CO2 detector went off on this past Saturday. I have a basic hardware store First Alert model says BRK CO -400 that I probably spent less than $20 on a couple of years ago. It is mounted on the cabinet door under the helm seat. Saturday I changed the oil and plugs on my twin Hondas outside next to my shop as I have done many times before. I always run the engines on the hose for twenty minutes before I drain the oil. Usually one at a time. I decided to save time and ran both engines at the same time with an extra hose so we could get out on the water later in the day. I always keep the cabin door shut to not get steamy exhaust air inside waiting for the oil to warm up. I also stay outside the boat .After twenty minutes of running both on the hose I began the oil change and the CO2 detector started going off with the cabin door closed. Being outside the cabin obviously I was in no danger but it shows that CO2 can find its way in easily in the right conditions. Probably that extra exhaust from the other engine was just enough to cloud the air. I was glad to see that it worked.

 

[colobear]

And...we can get station-wagon effect CO in the cabin while underway with the cabin door open. My CO detector, mounted just by my feet has gone off a few times while underway. At first I thought the detector must be flawed but discovered that it was just doling it's job. A word to the wise. In Washington State a CO detector is required equipment.

 

[rogerbum]

And...we can get station-wagon effect CO in the cabin while underway with the cabin door open. My CO detector, mounted just by my feet has gone off a few times while underway. At first I thought the detector must be flawed but discovered that it was just doling it's job. A word to the wise. In Washington State a CO detector is required equipment.

I'm pretty sure a CO detector is not required by law. The carbon monoxide warning sticker is required by law but the detector is only recommended. See - http://www.boat-ed.com/wa/handbook/chcklst.htm

 

[colobear]

Roger you are absolutely right. My mistake.

 

[Grumpy]

Barry,

They are now required in houses in WA, maybe that's what led you astray. (Or are you living on your boat now :lol: )

On the topic of CO detectors on boats be aware they do not last forever!! Mine were time expired so I went to the "Toy Shop" to get new ones and found that the one (and only) on the shelf was even older than mine :roll:

Merv

 

[thataway]

As I noted in prior posts the C O detectors should be replaced at 5 years--7 years max. The sensor will fail with time. Also C O detectors are "dumbed down" because of false calls in houses and the standard was lowered a number of years ago.

I think that they are essential. Probably best to have about the level of your head. In the boat mine are on the console. The RV, under a cabinet in the bedroom at the same level as our heads--in the galley under one of the counters again about at head levels. Propane leak detectors if fitted, need to be at low places. Fire alarms or heat alarms in the ceilings.

 

[roydawn]

Two more things. You can get CO2 from a boat that's 2 boats away.1] Our Grand Banks was tied to a wall, had our windows open, nothing running on our boat, a boat further up the wall had their generator running & our detectors went off. Probably the venturi effect along the wall. 2] This one stumped the experts. our CO2 monitors would go off for no apparent reason, usually in the middle of the night. We replaced them & it still happened. One day when doing the maintenance on our 6- Golf Cart battery house bank I found a dead/dry cell. Interstate replaced the battery. We had a Xantrex smart charger/inverter system. The CO2 monitor never went off again. I put 2 + 2 together & assumed it was the bad cell giving off a "gas" that the CO2 monitor was picking up. Most experts said it couldn't happen, but one at Interstate said he thought it was possible. Roy

 

[thataway]

Yes, the gas from the battery can set off the alarm-depends on several factors.

Never, put your boat where there is an exhaust (yours or someone else's) next to a sea wall, or next to another boat.

Also Diesel engines do produce CO and in amounts to be lethal under the right circumstances.

 

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

Just a caution re. batteries - if you have a cell or battery that gasses excessively when charging(at normal amperage) it should be
checked/replaced immediately. Hydrogen gas in an enclosed space is VERY EXPLOSIVE!!

Regards, Rob