Carbon Monoxide Detector SAFETY WARNING

Post by **Richard S.** » Sun. Oct. 25, 2009 2:12 pm

CO has nearly the same specific gravity as "air". You can expect it to be anywhere it could travel from the source along natural air currents in you house.

samler17 · Post by **samler17** » Sat. Dec. 05, 2009 5:16 am

Had CO in the house today after burning for almost 7 days. I immediately shut the stove down and opened the windows and let the house air out. I don't have a manmometer to check the draft. Does anyone know who I can call to get this checked? Does a chimney sweep do this?

rockwood · Post by **rockwood** » Sat. Dec. 05, 2009 11:52 am

Here is the link for the manometer loaner program.
Manometer Loaner Program
Do you have a detector that registers a level/peak level or did the alarm sound? If it has a display showing a number, have you been checking it daily or did you just notice it today? Just wondering if there has been CO in your home other than just today.
If you give us some details of your set-up (chimney, stove setup details, etc) maybe we can figure something out. This is a new installation right?

samler17 · Post by **samler17** » Sat. Dec. 05, 2009 2:33 pm

rockwood wrote:Here is the link for the manometer loaner program.
Manometer Loaner Program
Do you have a detector that registers a level/peak level or did the alarm sound? If it has a display showing a number, have you been checking it daily or did you just notice it today? Just wondering if there has been CO in your home other than just today.
If you give us some details of your set-up (chimney, stove setup details, etc) maybe we can figure something out. This is a new installation right?

It's peak level was 141 ppm. It has been reading 0 up until this morning. The detector is about 4ft from the stove and I also have another one upstairs outside the bedrooms which was only reading 30 ppm The stove sits eight in front of the chimney they have a Tee with the barro in it with about two feet of pipe and a 90 right into the chimney. I have a chimney company coming this afternoon to check it out.

samler17 · Post by **samler17** » Sat. Dec. 05, 2009 5:38 pm

The chimney guy recommended that I upgrade to stove pipe to 22 guage and move the barometric damper to 18" above the stove. But it's up and running again in under 10hrs from shut down. Feels good to get some real heat in here.

Here are some of pictures of the stove:

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rockwood · Post by **rockwood** » Sat. Dec. 05, 2009 5:55 pm

I agree that the baro damper should be 18" up but I don't think you need to change the pipe IMO.
What type of chimney are you using and does it go up the exterior of the house?
Sometimes chimneys going up the outside of the house where they are exposed to the cold can have draft issues especially during extended burn periods.

samler17 · Post by **samler17** » Sat. Dec. 05, 2009 10:40 pm

It starts out ing the garage and then runs up the outside of the house. I would guess 10 to 15 ft is outside? It's all masonry with a clay liner.

samler17 · Post by **samler17** » Sat. Dec. 05, 2009 10:45 pm

This is a new installation right?[/quote] No, as far as I know the stove is at least 15yrs old. I'm the third owner of the house.

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 5:49 pm

Sunday when I lit the hand fed for the first time this year it took a while for the cold cold chimney to warm up and start drafting well. As a result I set off the CO detector. I guess that was too much for it, I couldn't get it to stop, then it went into beep every 30 seconds and "Err" on the display. Read the instructions and realized it was toast. Happens to be 5 1/2 years old.

I really didn't want to be without a functioning detector, so out I went for a new one.

For $45 I could get the same plug in unit with a battery back up, a 5 year warranty and a 7 year lifespan. For $5 more I bought the sealed battery unit with a 10 year warranty and a 10 year lifespan.

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lowfog01 · Post by **lowfog01** » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 6:47 pm

Wood'nCoal wrote:Sunday when I lit the hand fed for the first time this year it took a while for the cold cold chimney to warm up and start drafting well. As a result I set off the CO detector. I guess that was too much for it, I couldn't get it to stop, then it went into beep every 30 seconds and "Err" on the display. Read the instructions and realized it was toast. Happens to be 5 1/2 years old.

I really didn't want to be without a functioning detector, so out I went for a new one.

For $45 I could get the same plug in unit with a battery back up, a 5 year warranty and a 7 year lifespan. For $5 more I bought the sealed battery unit with a 10 year warranty and a 10 year lifespan.
IMG_4343.JPG
IMG_4337.jpg

Don't forget to write the purchase date on the new unit in Sharper marker. That's a date you are sure to forget but need to keep track of. Lisa

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 7:12 pm

samler17 wrote:The chimney guy recommended that I upgrade to stove pipe to 22 guage and move the barometric damper to 18" above the stove. But it's up and running again in under 10hrs from shut down. Feels good to get some real heat in here. Here are some of pictures of the stove:

IMG_0769.JPG

IMG_0770.JPG

Glad to here your system is safe again. And also glad to see you have a fire extinguisher handy.

May I offer some advice ? Do you have a place to move the extinguisher to where the stove is not between you and the extinguisher ?

Paul

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Wed. Dec. 11, 2013 10:04 pm

lowfog01 wrote:
Don't forget to write the purchase date on the new unit in Sharper marker. That's a date you are sure to forget but need to keep track of. Lisa

Already done Lisa! Great minds think alike!