Carbon monoxide alarm going off - why?

Janine

Janine

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Aug 22, 2007
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Location
A little bit left of Middle England
Funster No
142
MH
2006 A/S Nuevo
Exp
since 1988
Just went into the van and found the carbon monoxide alarm going off. It was showing a reading of 41.

Opened the doors and windows and it went down to zero within minutes so it's obviously working.

Gas is off and no electric hook-up. Solar panel is charging the leisure battery as it's a sunny day.

Any ideas where I should start looking for the cause?
 
If the gas is off and there is no Fossil fuel being burnt, and your charging your battery it may be that your detector is detecting Hydrogen. I would advise you to get your leisure battery checked
 
Batteries, if you have fried battery or solar regulator has died and is overcharging the batteries causing them to gas off.
 
Barbecues can give off lots of carbon monoxide, perhaps a bit early in the year for that to be the cause.
 
Pausim said:
Barbecues can give off lots of carbon monoxide, perhaps a bit early in the year for that to be the cause.
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It's a lovely day here but not that nice!

Besides which I don't own a bbq - never could understand the need to have food incinerated on the outside yet raw on the inside :)
 
Janine said:
It certainly shows how important a CO detector is in a van.

I could have woken up dead!
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I couldn't give it a like Janine, :eek: but it shows the need to have one. (y)
Before we went to bed last night Janie was chatting to friends that are house sitting here in Spain, the house is Off grid and the people have gone to Australia leaving our friends with very little wood and not a lot of gas for the fire that are known to be dangerous, and the husband is feeling unwell, it played on my mind all night about carbon monoxide poisoning. :eek:
She spoke this morning and think he has flu, hope she is right. :D Bob.
 
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The age of the detector?. I have had a "fire-angel" device fail, nothing at all wrong with the R-V or its systems. Returned it to the manufacturer, it was a defective sensor. New one FOC.

Like Smoke alarms they do have a "life".

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PeteH said:
The age of the detector?. I have had a "fire-angel" device fail, nothing at all wrong with the R-V or its systems. Returned it to the manufacturer, it was a defective sensor. New one FOC.

Like Smoke alarms they do have a "life".
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This is a FireAngel and it is almost exactly 7 years since I bought it. It is advertised as having a battery life of 7 years so time to get a new one.
 
Janine said:
This is a FireAngel and it is almost exactly 7 years since I bought it. It is advertised as having a battery life of 7 years so time to get a new one.
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Last case scenario, a NEW detector will eliminate any issue with the old one, and if the troubles continue you are no worse off.
 
We had one that would go off when the temperature inside the van reached 40 degrees C. It wasn't the type with a readout, so not able to tell if it was just the temperature or whether the high temperature was causing something in the van to emit fumes of some sort.

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Janine said:
I could have woken up dead!
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Well we're all glad that you didn't wake up dead.

We've just changed motorhomes & it has a carbon monoxide monitor, you've just reminded me to check its year & condition.

A word to the wise for anyone who suspects that they or someone else may have carbon monoxide poisoning, if you have flu (not a cold my pet hate is people saying that they have a touch of flu, there's no such thing) you usually appear pale & clammy, with carbon monoxide poisoning you appear to be a bright pink, even after death!
Its all to do with carbon monoxide binding to the iron in your blood instead of oxygen & a really blinding headache is usually present.

Robert.
 
i had the same problem alarm going off but no gas turned on, i eventually found solar regulator was faulty it absolutely stunk of rotten eggs
 
Glad you caught it, but also shows the benefit of a display, 41 will need to be present and you close to it for days to have any effect at all

But as you suspect at 7 years just buy another unit best £20 you could spend

We have 2 in ours partly beacause the Alde and fridge are a few feet apart but mainly as a double check
 
DavidG58 said:
Glad you caught it, but also shows the benefit of a display, 41 will need to be present and you close to it for days to have any effect at all

But as you suspect at 7 years just buy another unit best £20 you could spend

We have 2 in ours partly because the Alde and fridge are a few feet apart but mainly as a double check
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Yes, think I would always go for one with a display now -- gives you a bit more confidence about exactly what's going on.

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My CO2 alarm triggered as it had reached its end date , so it's possible that the problem may just be that the alarm needs replacing. Don't blame you for taking it to Dave's though- better safe than sorry.
 
catspyjamas said:
My CO2 alarm triggered as it had reached its end date , so it's possible that the problem may just be that the alarm needs replacing. Don't blame you for taking it to Dave's though- better safe than sorry.
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Much as it is frowned on to correct people I feel it is important in this case, it's CO not CO2. CO IS carbon monoxide which is poisonous and flammable, CO2 is carbon dioxide which is not poisonous and puts out fire.

D.
 
Our Fire angel also started to go off after 7 years , replaced it all fine now
 
Of course the real world answer is to take the battery out ;)

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Remove the alarm and test it in the house., if it still goes off then it's faulty, if not then you have something giving off CO in the van. Happened to us last year, leisure battery was the cause. Battery replaced and no more problems.
 
Ours kept going of and was giving me a head ache so we took it out
 
Im confused, I thought that the batteries had to be vented outside the vehicle so how would that show up inside the van.

My batteries specifically said to be vented outside so I've spent ages running tiny little breather pipes through the floor, please don't tell me there was no need.

Shawn
 
shawn&emma said:
Im confused, I thought that the batteries had to be vented outside the vehicle so how would that show up inside the van.

My batteries specifically said to be vented outside so I've spent ages running tiny little breather pipes through the floor, please don't tell me there was no need.

Shawn
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Yes it is important to vent flooded cells as they can give of small amounts of gas in normal use when charging although most are sealed nowdays and the vent is for emergencies when something goes wrong. However in the case when a charger fails and seriously over charges the battery the vent tube alone may not be enough, the plug at the opposite end of the battery can pop out with pressure build up and the plugs can leak.
 
Our hab check chap checked our CO detector by putting it in a plastic bag and putting some gas in with it, it worked perfectly and apparently is one of the best ones available (I put it in along with a separate fire detector). Just a suggestion on how others can test theirs.

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