Carbon Monoxide Monitor going off at night in the slip

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Frank H

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May 22, 2017
42
Catalina 310 Lake Carlyle
This may have been discussed long ago on a forum but I couldn't find it. I recently installed a CO monitor in my 31 ft. Catalina. I motored out for 30 minutes, sailed for 4 hours, and motored back to slip. No Alarm. At three in the morning with nothing on but the battery charger and AC unit, the CO alarm goes off. (The first mate went bananas). I then opened all windows and ports and turned off battery charger and took batteries out of CO alarm unit.
Later the next day I checked the liquid level in both battery banks and levels were low.
There has to be a chemist on the forum that could tell me what gases can come out of batteries, on low level charging, with batteries fairly low on water level that could trigger a CO monitor. I had no Sulfur Dioxide smell in battery compartment also. Batteries were working well and charging at about 13.65 Volts.
This happened to another boat in our marina and he replaced his old batteries and then no alarm.

What gases from charging battery banks can trigger a CO alarm unit? Can they kill? Any telltale smells?
Do all you sailors have CO alarms on your yachts? And of course fire alarms?

Thanks mates
Frank Hines
Catalina 310 No Tippy
Lake Carlyle, Ill.
 
Last edited:
rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,370
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
... and charging batteries produce hydrogen gas if they are being charged to hard.
 
rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,370
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Hello Below said:
Always assume and respond to the alarm as if it is functioning properly and has detected a high level of carbon monoxide. But yes there are many gases that will trigger a false positive CO detection, especially inexpensive residential units. Try these links as a start.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide False Positives - The Firehall.com Forum

www.firehall.com
Click to expand
:plus:

If you ignore it, you might as well not have it.... and it did tell you that you had a problem with your batteries. BTW, hydrogen gas is explosive when mixed with OXYGEN:yikes:....so you might want to think of your detector as a multimeter for bad gasses.
 
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F

Frank H

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May 22, 2017
42
Catalina 310 Lake Carlyle
Thanks everyone for your responses. Yes rgranger, I know now that the CO monitor is a multimeter of gases. All serious. Also a battery problem alarm. I contacted Kidde Technical support and they sent me the following:

7. Maintenance
Move the CO Alarm to a remote location, to prevent possible damage or contamination of the sensor, prior to performing any of the following:
• Staining or stripping floors or furniture, painting or wall-papering, • Using aerosols or adhesives
! WARNING: Reinstall the CO Alarm as soon as possible to assure continuous protection.
The following is a list of substances that at high levels can damage the sensor or cause temporary readings that are not CO readings:
  • Ethylene, ethanol, alcohol, iso-propanol, benzene, toluene, ethyl acetate, HYDROGEN, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide.
  • Also most aerosol sprays, alcohol based products, paint, thinner, solvent, adhesive, hair spray, after shave, perfume, auto exhaust (cold start) and some cleaning agents, and propane.

They emphasized that if alarm goes off, hunt for reason why.
Frank
 
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rgranger

rgranger

.
Jan 19, 2010
12,370
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Frank H said:
The following is a list of substances that at high levels can damage the sensor or cause temporary readings that are not CO readings:
  • Ethylene, ethanol, alcohol, iso-propanol, benzene, toluene, ethyl acetate, HYDROGEN, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide.
  • Also most aerosol sprays, alcohol based products, paint, thinner, solvent, adhesive, hair spray, after shave, perfume, auto exhaust (cold start) and some cleaning agents, and propane.

They emphasized that if alarm goes off, hunt for reason why.
Frank
Click to expand
Now we know.... what set it off..

1571169631367.png
 
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D

dlochner

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Jan 11, 2014
11,411
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Is it a marine CO detector or a household CO detector? Marine detectors have different profiles than domestic CO detectors because the conditions are different. See this article: Can I use any carbon monoxide detector?

Another possibility is transient CO from a source outside of your boat. Did the boat in the next slip just pull in? Are they running a generator?
 
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