Carbon Monoxide Detector going off

[Gimme Time]

We put a portable Carbon Monoxide detector on board as an additional safety device even though the boat had two in the cabins that seems to work (Lights anyway). The portable one has been sitting on a ledge in the salon area and has gone off on 2 different weekend occasions. In each case the boat had not been under engines or generator power for the weekend as we were connected to shore power.

Someone said that it is possible that the battery charging process could be setting the alarm off as in both cases the alarm went off during the night when nothing was running other than lights & ac on shore power. No other boat in the area had been on or were on as we were all connected to shore power. Anyone out they know for sure if the battery charger could be causing this? :huh:

I was on another large boat several slips away one night under the same conditions when his Carbon Monoxide detector went off as well. After the second time his went off that night he took the batteries out for the night.

 

[K-9]

:huh:what was the alarm caused by? were the batt, bad?

 

[K-9]

blowers should clear the air first lowest point in boat is the first place to give fresh air,anyone have a co detector in the eg room? that turns on the blower??

 

[Gimme Time]

:huh:what was the alarm caused by? were the batt, bad?

Batteries are not bad and the main question was can the automatic charging system cause the alarm to go off?

 

[K-9]

detector in eng.rm. should go off first(charging batt,on shore power run blowers)yes gas.run blowers run batt acid eats everything

 

[330DA]

Let's look at this simply. Battery acid is H2SO4. Your carbon monoxide (CO)detector should not alarm. It may be a false positive, so I won't rule out anything out. Sorry. How old is the unit? The sensors can go bad and give a false positive also.

 

[Gimme Time]

Unit was new this spring and sounds like you know the answer to what I was looking for and that was could the charging system becasueing the detector to go off or not. If you're correct which it seems like you are then it must be something else casuing this. Just to provide a little more info on the problem, it's not like it goes off all the time as it went off Fridiy evening around 10:30 and was providing a reading of about 288.

Sounds like I need to look at both the detection device as well as other potential casues. The two units in the berthing areas are not going off at all which could be even a greater problem if I trully am getting a high reading. Any suggestion as to where I can buy a spray can of what ever I need to test the units?

 

[capz]

Humidity can set CO alarms off. It usually says in the instructions to place it 20ft away from sources of humidity, like showers. I never got around to testing that theory. Maybe a pot of boiling water underneath? Was the A/C on when it went off?

 

[Gimme Time]

AC has been running since Mid May and the detector goes off very seldom and is in the salon area. Neither built in sensors which are in the berth areas within 10 feet of the showers have ever gone off so I do not believe humidity will set them off. Seing how many boats with AC off climb in humidity levels very fast when not being conditioned I doubth that humidity would set them off during normal conditions.

 

[1stSeaRay]

The information that came with my back-up CO detector says gases from charging batteries (as well as other fumes) can cause it to alarm.

 

[330DA]

One would be dead at 288 ppm. 50 ppm over an 8-hour time period for workers exposed to CO at work is the OSHA permissable exposure limit. At first look, the reading of 288 is indicative of a bad sensor, but you have to rule out everything else. These units may have sat around awhile before you bought it. There should be an expiration date on the sensor.

From the OSHA website:

Carbon monoxide is harmful when breathed
because it displaces oxygen in the blood and
deprives the heart, brain, and other vital organs
of oxygen. Large amounts of CO can overcome
you in minutes without warning—causing you to
lose consciousness and suffocate.
Besides tightness across the chest, initial
symptoms of CO poisoning may include
headache, fatigue, dizziness, drowsiness, or
nausea. Sudden chest pain may occur in people
with angina. During prolonged or high exposures,
symptoms may worsen and include vomiting,
confusion, and collapse in addition to loss of
consciousness and muscle weakness.

 

[Hampton]

Humidity can set CO alarms off. It usually says in the instructions to place it 20ft away from sources of humidity, like showers. I never got around to testing that theory. Maybe a pot of boiling water underneath? Was the A/C on when it went off?

I learned that washing a mountain bike in the shower of a Q room produces enough humidity to make yourself and 100 of your closest friends stand in an icy parking lot in Alaska in March for an hour or two. Remember: Deny, deny, deny.

 

[K-9]

My dog mastiff farted near one and set it off

 

[K-9]

Resulting in death