Carbonmonoxide checkers

[Trojan]

After the thread on running the generator 24-7 I have decided I need to get a carbonmonoxide checker. Apon checking I am told that the home verson will not preform corectly on a boat. This info was abtained from a fireman boater. He said that the home unit does not average the testing and will be going off all the time. The marine unit because of the many different fluides on the boat is made to sample and average the test and prevent false reading. It is also only good for 32 months because of a buildup on the sensor. Anyone have any input on this? Truth or fiction? Marine units cost quite a bit more than the home version. I just thought it was because it was labeled marine.


BILL

 

[Mike36c]

I installed a battery powered home CO detector from Walmart, it has yet to go off peroid (no false alarms) but I'm diesel powered with tight exhaust. I'll hold it up to my truck's exhaust when I get home to see if it works

 

[Genesis]

If you want the BEST detector around buy the Aeromedix one. It will go off with VERY low levels - if there's CO in there, it'll alarm.

I have one on Gigabite and it has NEVER falsed. Never.

But if you have an exhaust leak, expect noise.

That's the idea......

 

[Trojan]

Who selles the Aeromedix? Is it a marine unit.
Where my Son-in-law boats in Florida. 40+ boats were rafted off togeather. Side to side, sterm to sterm. Most boats were running gas generators. By morning 4 people were dead on 2 different boats and they did not have generators. The fumes entered their boat from someone elses generator in the group. Mind you these were only 20 to 32ft. boats low to the water. Anyone with a low profile boat that rafts off could easly be subject to this. Unless I had a exhaust leak. It would be hard for fumes to enter my boat because I'm so high off the water. But still, I think I would feel better when any of the engines are running.

BILL

 

[MikeP]

To further expand on Genesis' point - a couple of years ago there was an article in the paper here - a homeowner had a CO detector that often alarmed. After the fact, it turned out that the homeowner, after all the "nuisance" alarms, disconnected the unit because, as a neighbor related, the homeowner never smelled anything when it alarmed so he decided the alarm was faulty. He and his family died of co poisoning

It might have been useful for the homeowner to realize the CO is, in itself, a colorless, ODORLESS gas...

So definitely get a CO detector. I personally prefer the marine ones because you can usually wire them into the boat's DC electrical system. I'm not sure they actually detect any better but the marketers claim they do (so they cost 2 or 3X as much).

 

[67hat34c]

get one with ppm display that way you can see the level. I got a battery powered one from home dept with this function. we also have another one that is hard wired.


rafting with generators running is very dangerous. I only raft up with someone who's gen exhaust is on the opposite side. gas must be able to escape.

 

[Genesis]

The Aeromedix unit is not a marine unit - but it is the only one that I've seen that is worth a damn if you want an alarm before you have a critical - or even fatal - situation on your hands.

The "UL" ones won't go off until 400ppm is reached short-term, and 50+ppm long-term. That's way too high. The Aeromedix unit is one that many pilots carry, because it will alert at 10ppm and display (with a button press) down to ONE ppm.

Realize that once you're impaired your judgement goes out the window. This is not a good strategy for a boat. You can stumble out of your house - on a boat that doesn't work, just as it doesn't work on a plane.

Run whatever you're comfortable with on this - after all its your butt - but the only one I trust is the Aeromedix. Its in the Salon where it is first exposed to fumes - I have a marine hardwired unit in my sleeping quarters (master SR) and a Kidde battery operated one in the forward SR.

We spend the night with some frequency either on the hook or drifting out in the canyon fishing for swords. While there is always someone on watch when we're in the canyon, we take turns getting some "Z"s and there's no way I want to have that be a much longer than scheduled sleep....

IMHO there is no such thing as a "nuisance" CO alarm; if it goes off I am going to find the source or get myself and the vessel away from it if it is not on board our boat.

The Aeromedix can be bought here: http://www.aeromedix.com/?_siteid=a...d021b094f75ea8d7802c8175a&action=sku&sku=coex

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Scary CO story:

We bought our 53 in Detroit. Then on the first trip to get it to Lake Michigan, I took my dad and another good friend. Well, my dad stayed below in the morning for a bit and then came up to the helm, but said that he felt sick. We thought that it was strange, since there were only about 3 footers on Lake Huron and the stabilizers made them almost undetectable. So, my dad went back down to the mid stateroom to rest and never came back up until sundown when we docked. He still felt ill and we were kind of making fun of him. Little did we know that we had exhaust leaks in both exhausts at the joint to the first fiberglass tube. These leaks were in the mid stateroom closet and under the mid head sink. The boat had been surveyed, but no one caught the problem (muscrat in the exhaust at some point caused melting of the fiberglass tubes). I didn't actually find it and fix it for another 6 months.

So, now we know that the CO is probably what caused the sick feeling that my dad was experiencing and we were lucky that nothing worse happened. As you might guess, I always keep at least one CO detector on the boat now and I will never go out without one again.

 

[Trojan]

Looks like a good unit Genesis. I will order one. It also states that it is for marine use. Thanks.


BILL

 

[jim rosenthal]

There is an article in this month's Powerboat Reports that looks at CO detectors and tests them and makes recommendations. I have found PBR evaluations to be quite good although not infallible. I will probably get a CO detector for my boat this spring based on their recs, but I will look at Karl's recommendation as well.

 

[Mike36c]

FYI I went down to the boat this afternoon, pulled the Walmart Kidde home CO detector and held it directly to the exhaust of my running truck. After about 60 seconds it finally went off, just a few intermittent beebs. Time for a new CO detector........

 

[Genesis]

You do that with the Aeromedix it doesn't take long. In fact I can take that one in the car and it will alarm at a STOPLIGHT in heavy traffic!

 

[Pascal]

my 53 didn't have any when i bouht it... now it has a 12v unit in the galley (above the genset and just forward of the ERs) and marine battery powered units in the master and VIP.

raft ups can be very dangerous, especially in light breezes or with stern anchor.

one thing i dont get though, it that if you have an exhaust leak and CO leaks out, what about normal exhaust fumes/smell? shouldn't that leak out too ?

 

[Trojan]

What do you mean normal exhaust fumes/smell. Shouldn't that leak out too?

BILL

 

[Nonchalant1]

He means that if there's an exhaust leak that it won't be just odorless CO, that it'll also include diesel exhaust, which defifitely smells.

 

[Trojan]

You can't have one without the other. But how do you know if it's an inside leak or if it's comming from outside the boat in? As soon as you open a hatch you compromise the situation.


Bill

 

[Genesis]

For diesel boats the stink usually gives it away.

Not so if there's a gas boat in your raft-up though, and you might not be woken up by either if you're asleep.....

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I couldn't smell my exhaust leaks, but I sure could see the water bubbling out of the top of the tubes.