Carbon Monoxide Alarms WARNING (1 Viewer)

[wizzer59]

Not sure if this has been posted before but I get the Which magazine and it has an interesting and important article on CO alarms this month, seems that some of the cheaper alarms really are crap and could cost you your life
Obviously a good service regime of all gas appliances in your MH is a must but I think most of us have an alarm or should have
Not sure if I'm allowed to put pics of the results on here or not @Jim ???

 

[Jaws]

Hmmmm.. interesting that.. We have one as pictured .. Bought it after the Fire Brigade rep recommended it..
And I know it works as we have tested it ( every six months in fact )

 

[wizzer59]

Seem that the alarms also have a life of about 5 years

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[Gizmouk]

Seem that the alarms also have a life of about 5 years

Most of the sensors only have a life of 7 -10 years.

 

[Jaws]

Some years ago when I ran a burglar alarm installation company ( soon sold it on.. drove me nuts ! ) I tried to order 100 fire detectors.
The supplying company asked for the certificate of safe storage ( or words to that effect )
Turned out you should not have more than 10 of the things in close proximity to a person as they are ( were ? ) radio active !!
We were supposed to get a massive lead lined storage box to keep them in..
Never bothered in the end.. Limited our stock to just one per van and a couple in the stores !

 

[Gizmouk]

I know some makes of VESDA smoke heads were banned from data centres some years ago for the same reason. Someone heard the word "radioactive" and ran screaming into the maddening world. In reality, given that the source is very low, and the number of heads in a data hall the risk / impact is negligible.
Strangely, our contractors have just started fitting them again

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[Theonlysue]

I've always bought kidde, trust OK?

 

[wizzer59]

I've always bought kidde, trust OK?

Yep kidde are ok, I have one as well

 

[wizzer59]

Most of the sensors only have a life of 7 -10 years.

Which say 5 to 7 with some lasting 10, but I'm not sure how you can test to see if it's still working after those times so I would have thought it prudent to buy new after 5 years

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[Lot lover]

And I know it works as we have tested it ( every six months in fact )

good idea but pls advise where I can buy the CO needed to test the alarm.

 

[Jaws]

good idea but pls advise where I can buy the CO needed to test the alarm.

No idea.. I will ask the guy who pops round and does mine ... He is a long time friend who is always calling in for a cuppa..

 

[Jaws]

Andddd.. a 30 second fone call later

The kit he uses is called Pro-Lab..
He gets his from a trade counter but just had a quick look and it is available from loads of places

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[Lenny HB]

We are OK then, we have 2 of the Fire Angle C0 9D in the house and one in the van, Smoke alarm in the van is a Fire Angle Atom which is an optical one so not radio active I think.

 

[tonyidle]

Has anyone on the Forum had a CO alarm go off? I'm struggling to think of an appliance that could produce it unnoticed. It can only come from a naked flame in contact with the air you breath. That flame has to be burning yellow. So we have the cooker - and that's it. Sooty pans and oven, and the smell (not of CO itself) will alert you even if you fail to see the yellow flame. Before anyone suggests it the fridge has possibilities but the rear sealing has to be defective, the food inside won't be cold, and the size of flame can't emit enough to be dangerous. Or do we fit them in case brain-fade sees us with an indoor barbeque?

 

[andy63]

Main danger is most probably the gas fires fitted to many vans and the rear boiler arrangements with defective flues if they pass through the van...
Never had one go off in van but have in the house... quite disconcerting and prompted a quick vent of the room..
Still never really got to bottom of that as the fire appeared to be burning fine and the alarm tested OK later..
In the end paint stripper fume's killed the alarm and it had to be replaced..
Andy..

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[DBK]

Has anyone on the Forum had a CO alarm go off? I'm struggling to think of an appliance that could produce it unnoticed. It can only come from a naked flame in contact with the air you breath. That flame has to be burning yellow. So we have the cooker - and that's it. Sooty pans and oven, and the smell (not of CO itself) will alert you even if you fail to see the yellow flame. Before anyone suggests it the fridge has possibilities but the rear sealing has to be defective, the food inside won't be cold, and the size of flame can't emit enough to be dangerous. Or do we fit them in case brain-fade sees us with an indoor barbeque?

Gas or diesel heaters would be the main culprits as they are fitted out of sight. If all is well they will be safe but mechanical damage to the flue, it is underneath the vehicle in ours might cause fumes to come inside. An oven might also create CO if faulty and that might not be obvious.
Plenty of folk have thought they didn't need a detector, the lucky ones are still with us.

 

[thehutchies]

Has anyone on the Forum had a CO alarm go off? I'm struggling to think of an appliance that could produce it unnoticed. It can only come from a naked flame in contact with the air you breath. That flame has to be burning yellow. So we have the cooker - and that's it. Sooty pans and oven, and the smell (not of CO itself) will alert you even if you fail to see the yellow flame. Before anyone suggests it the fridge has possibilities but the rear sealing has to be defective, the food inside won't be cold, and the size of flame can't emit enough to be dangerous. Or do we fit them in case brain-fade sees us with an indoor barbeque?

Our CO detector went off when we were parked close to a wall, running the onboard generator.
And seals for the fridge, water heater and diesel/petrol space heaters could fail without it being obvious.

 

[tofo]

Has anyone on the Forum had a CO alarm go off? I'm struggling to think of an appliance that could produce it unnoticed. It can only come from a naked flame in contact with the air you breath. That flame has to be burning yellow. So we have the cooker - and that's it. Sooty pans and oven, and the smell (not of CO itself) will alert you even if you fail to see the yellow flame. Before anyone suggests it the fridge has possibilities but the rear sealing has to be defective, the food inside won't be cold, and the size of flame can't emit enough to be dangerous. Or do we fit them in case brain-fade sees us with an indoor barbeque?

in my opinion worst suspect would be the gas fridge.
wind blowing into the vents forc ing co back into the van

small amounts of co build up in your bloodstream
as co is an an accumaltive poison and takes a long while to clear from the bloodstream

link to symptoms
Broken Link Removed

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[OldAgeTravellers]

We have a 12 volt unit which gives a continuous read out. Just cooking breakfast on the hob which is burning correctly increases the CO dramatically, not to dangerous levels but it is easy to see how quickly a badly adjusted source would increase the levels. This unit also reacts to narcotic gas (we won't go down that route) and LPG although the positioning requirements are different for LPG. But I have tested each and the unit is incredibly sensitive.
Steve

 

[wizzer59]

Hmmmm.. interesting that.. We have one as pictured .. Bought it after the Fire Brigade rep recommended it..
And I know it works as we have tested it ( every six months in fact )

Ive no doubt yours is fine, the Chinese have to copy a good one so they can sell the crap

 

[Jaws]

Ive no doubt yours is fine, the Chinese have to copy a good one so they can sell the crap

Or I might just have been lucky and got the one good one out of hundreds ...

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[Manxcat]

Maybe I am naive , but when we did chemistry at school we were told that co1 (carbon monoxide ) was highly unstable and would bind to oxygen to become co2 (carbon dioxide ) at the drop of a hat.

In other words don't worry , keep a window open.

 

[wizzer59]

Or I might just have been lucky and got the one good one out of hundreds ...

Thought you said fire bloke had given it to you but just reread your post
Is yours one of the named ones?

 

[Margaritaman]

A friend's CO Detector went off several times at Lincoln show one year. His sliding door on his pvc was open. Turned out his fridge was faulty!

Detectors have a test button. The day the clocks change is suggested as a memorable date to test smoke and CO alarms and replace their batteries.

Fire Angel CO alarms have a sniff/sampling mode to allow a practical test to be performed as below. Expect this method would work on other makes of CO detectors too.

....
FireAngel CO detectors can be entered into a "sensor test mode" whereby the sampling rate of the detector is increased and the unit can be tested using a known source of CO.

FireAngel recommend testing the sensor using an incense stick or cigarette. The way in which these products burn produces a readable localised amount of carbon monoxide.
. ........

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[chrisgreen]

no way of testing mine,its a once use then has to be replaced.

 

[tonyidle]

Gas or diesel heaters would be the main culprits as they are fitted out of sight. If all is well they will be safe but mechanical damage to the flue, it is underneath the vehicle in ours might cause fumes to come inside. An oven might also create CO if faulty and that might not be obvious.
Plenty of folk have thought they didn't need a detector, the lucky ones are still with us.

All true - and my question was genuine. We are all (rightly) afraid of potential problems when sleeping in a box with gas appliances. Every case I've read of though has been the result of (to my mind anyway) utter idiocy. The examples that spring to mind are bringing a barbecue into a tent, operating a generator below decks on a boat, using an unflued heater in a caravan, etc.

 

[tofo]

Just a memory from my working days
And it still worries me
When carbon monoxide is spoken lightly of

I was called to a property by the police
( Via British gas transco emergency system
Now known as gas emergency service )

Any way I was met at the property
And instructed to enter the property
For the purpose of making the gas supply SAFE
A discussion ensued between me and the officer
As to how I should make safe
He wanted me just to turn off the boiler
I insisted the gas supply will be disconnected
At the meter control valve( main cock to you )
He also wanted me to remove the boiler from the wall
Which I refused to do
He started to huff and puff I then told him the gas act rules
And HSE (health and safety )
would arrive and do a full investigation
And no controls will be altered so they could
Turn boiler on as it was previously working

Upshot was I was then apologised to and allowed to do as I had to
He then told me what would be seen by me on entry to the premis

As I entered the sitting room through the lounge door
There was a settee with a lady sat upon it
With her Alsatian type dog laying next to her
And her hand was on his head as if being stroked
Pausing for a moment at the settee with a start
I then had to turn sharp left fall to knees and crawl
Into a small cupboard about 2'6" tall
I then disconnected the gas supply
As per regulations .

I then came back out stood up and looked at the wall
Opposite me the lady and her dog .

Upon which was a gas boiler old style
With an open flue ( chimney type flue going
Through the flat roof )
The white painted wall was black with soot
Beside the boiler for about two feet from
The middle and above

The lady and her dog were sat as if watching
The telly such a peaceful moment in an upsetting time

The reason I found out for such times
The husband had called an engineer to check the boiler
He visited on the Friday and arranged
to service the boiler on the Monday

As I came out of the property my boss had arrived
as we walked back to my van tools in hand
the husband was returning to the property
Towards us in a drunken state
( I believe he was at the pub when son arrived home)
Anyway he asked who we were
When we said gas engineer he took a poorly aimed swing at me
Lucky enough son grabbed him and told not to be daft

Upshot was gas engineer was eventually prosecuted
Not sure of the punishment but he was found guilty

Sorry for the long story but I'd never seen a dead person before

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