Author Topic: CO alarm (Read 3281 times)

Nick1911 · « **on:** June 04, 2010, 12:25:52 AM »

Huh. My CO alarm is going bat *expletive deleted*it crazy right now. 138ppm in the basement, apparently.

I wonder if it's related to the torch work I was doing in the garage this evening?

Nick1911 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 04, 2010, 12:45:09 AM »

I moved the unit to the garage. Spiked up to 197ppm

Yup. I'm blaming the torch work. Apparently I didn't leave the door open long enough.

sanglant · « **Reply #2 on:** June 04, 2010, 12:52:42 AM »

sounds like it's time to go to a x+O₂ torch.

x being a flammable gas.

Nick1911 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 04, 2010, 12:55:18 AM »

I ventilated the garage out. Reading are dropping.

Just to check myself out... my spO2 readings are about 4% less then baseline, but I'm in fresh air now.

Nick1911 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 04, 2010, 12:57:37 AM »

Well, this was with an oxy-acetylene torch.

And, it was pretty neutral to oxy rich. So, I'm not sure. Just not enough ventilation, I suppose. Live and learn.

While it's recommended that you call the fire department if a CO alarm goes off, I don't see the need to in this case. It seems clear to me what the source of the CO is, and what needs to be done in the future to prevent this.

Boomhauer · « **Reply #5 on:** June 04, 2010, 01:00:51 AM »

Quote

While it's recommended that you call the fire department if a CO alarm goes off

That's meant for the majority of the population who barely know what CO is or it's sources...if you know what CO is, how to get away from it, what causes it, etc...then do you really need a bunch of guys standing around in bunker gear on your lawn, doing nothing?

Nick1911 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 04, 2010, 01:06:57 AM »

True enough. The only thing other then the torch that it could have been is my hot water heater. And, everything seemed to be in place there, with a nice draft on the chimney.

My bottle of compressed nitrogen makes me just as leery as CO. Say the valve on it was leaking for a weekend. Then, I go out into the workshop and start working on something - boom - you'd pass clean out and die of asphyxiation before you even knew there was a problem.

Nick1911 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 04, 2010, 01:09:39 AM »

Quote from: Nick1911 on June 04, 2010, 01:06:57 AM

My bottle of compressed nitrogen makes me just as leery as CO. Say the valve on it was leaking for a weekend. Then, I go out into the workshop and start working on something - boom - you'd pass clean out and die of asphyxiation before you even knew there was a problem.

Actually, that'd be a great way to assassinate someone.

Spare tire filed with 120psi pure N2 (or argon, or CO

), leaking schrader valve, pull the fuses for the power windows and the blower motor.

cassandra and sara's daddy · « **Reply #8 on:** June 04, 2010, 01:11:30 AM »

co2 will get you too anytime you displace the o2 we have a problem . i know a guy who got too excited putting out a puddle of burning acetone in a closed room he got the fire out then passed out. he can be forgiven for focusing on the burning puddle since he was standing in it while trying to put it out

sanglant · « **Reply #9 on:** June 04, 2010, 01:33:58 AM »

Quote from: Nick1911 on June 04, 2010, 01:09:39 AM

Actually, that'd be a great way to assassinate someone.

Spare tire filed with 120psi pure N2 (or argon, or CO ), leaking schrader valve, pull the fuses for the power windows and the blower motor.

some cars are shipping stock in that(well kind of) condition.

edit: and i would have thought having an O₂ supplying(i think that's how you say it) would have helped lesson the ~~buildup~~... never mind, i get it now. just as much CO and having more O₂ still in the air doesn't make it that much safer. man i can be dumb.

230RN · « **Reply #10 on:** June 04, 2010, 01:46:47 AM »

"co2 will get you too anytime you displace the o2 we have a problem"

I used to handle a lot of LN2 (Liquid Nitrogen) and one of the warnings was that you feel "out of breath" because of the CO2 building up in your lungs. So with a higher-than-normal CO2 concentration in your air intake, your lungs can't get rid of it and that's what gets you gasping for air.

But this does not happen with a high concentration of nitrogen in the air, since you can expire the CO2 while breathing pure nitrogen. So you don't get out of breath. You just quietly go to sleep forever.

That's the way the safety officer explained it to me.

Sometime later, someone told me that this was one of the more humane methods of animal euthanasia. There is no distress, I am told. They just drift off.

(All from memory, no references. My remarks here are subject to verification.)

Terry, 230RN

Nick1911 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 04, 2010, 02:05:11 AM »

Hmm... big bottle of nitrogen... live trap... think I finally figured out the best solution for my coon problem two years ago!

RocketMan · « **Reply #12 on:** June 04, 2010, 02:06:35 AM »

If you die, let us know so we can stop reading your posts.

Regolith · « **Reply #13 on:** June 04, 2010, 02:12:32 AM »

Quote from: Nick1911 on June 04, 2010, 01:09:39 AM

Actually, that'd be a great way to assassinate someone.

On "Burn Notice" that's one of the ways they try to take out the main character.

sanglant · « **Reply #14 on:** June 04, 2010, 03:18:30 AM »

Quote from: RocketMan on June 04, 2010, 02:06:35 AM

If you die, let us know so we can stop reading your posts.

somebody's been watching to much supernatural

Jim147 · « **Reply #15 on:** June 04, 2010, 09:43:42 AM »

Okay, I get this call that a customers gas range is putting out something like 1200ppm.

I get to the customers house and check the unit out from top to bottom three times not finding any problems.

The person that let me in was not the home owner. I finally get a hold of the home owner and get some info.

The customers CO meter was in a hall closet since it had never been installed. They didn't know it even had a battery in it. The gas range had not been turned on the whole day that the meter went off.

I asked if they thought their car gave off CO when it was turned off? I asked about the fire department coming over. They said they turned on the oven and stuck their meter in the burner.

I got several calls on things like this. The best was the electric built in oven with a gas leak.

If the fire department or the gas company come out they are going to red tag something and make someone else take the liability for giving the all clear. The thing is the customers never find it strange that the fire department never has to check if to see if they are dead at some of these reported super high levels.

jim

RocketMan · « **Reply #16 on:** June 04, 2010, 01:37:19 PM »

Quote from: sanglant on June 04, 2010, 03:18:30 AM

somebody's been watching to much supernatural

Nah, I don't watch anything on the CW network. I just figured if Nick succumbs to CO poisoning, there's not much point in reading any more of his posts. It would be just like an APSer to continue posting after they're dead. It's the curmudgeonly thing to do.

sanglant · « **Reply #17 on:** June 04, 2010, 02:10:44 PM »

you need to try at least one episode, they have some nice guns. and the actresses ain't bad either.

GigaBuist · « **Reply #18 on:** June 05, 2010, 12:00:09 AM »

Quote from: 230RN on June 04, 2010, 01:46:47 AM

"co2 will get you too anytime you displace the o2 we have a problem"

I used to handle a lot of LN2 (Liquid Nitrogen) and one of the warnings was that you feel "out of breath" because of the CO2 building up in your lungs. So with a higher-than-normal CO2 concentration in your air intake, your lungs can't get rid of it and that's what gets you gasping for air.

But this does not happen with a high concentration of nitrogen in the air, since you can expire the CO2 while breathing pure nitrogen. So you don't get out of breath. You just quietly go to sleep forever.

That's the way the safety officer explained it to me.

The safety officer was correct.

The human body has no mechanism to detect O2 levels in the blood. The only thing that triggers heavy breathing, or that feeling that you're out of breath, is our brains detecting high levels of carbonic acid (what CO2 turns to when it dissolves in blood) and it works pretty well under normal circumstances.

But, now that us humans are all advanced and we're burning stuff that gives of CO or putting Nitrogen gas into compressed tanks, or operating machines that let us fly around at 30k feet in the air we've got to rely on planning and scientific instruments to keep us safe.

Back when I was in my late teens I use to experiment with how long I could hold my breath which is why I looked into what triggers our breathing response. Once I knew it was a build-up of CO2 I'd breathe deep for a long period of time, relaxed, to let my blood saturate with O2 (to keep the brain working) and then work to get the CO2 out basically by hyperventilating for a minute or so. I got up to 4:39 doing it that way.

Nick1911 · « **Reply #19 on:** June 05, 2010, 12:03:26 AM »

Damn. I'm still getting variable readings. Seems to correlate suspiciously with the run times of my hot water heater.

I really don't want to put in a new hot water heater. Wonder if there's an elegant fix for this? And yes, the flue piping is in good order.

Jim147 · « **Reply #20 on:** June 05, 2010, 12:12:27 AM »

Dirty burner?

I don't have a real meter around here anymore or I'd let you barrow it. You might check with Arrow, but they used to be a bit pricey.

jim

Nick1911 · « **Reply #21 on:** June 05, 2010, 12:28:04 AM »

Quote from: Jim147 on June 05, 2010, 12:12:27 AM

Dirty burner?

I don't have a real meter around here anymore or I'd let you barrow it. You might check with Arrow, but they used to be a bit pricey.

jim

Probably, the flame has quite a bit of orange mixed into it...

Draft seems fine up the flue.

Well, crap.

Fly320s · « **Reply #22 on:** June 05, 2010, 08:23:58 AM »

Quote from: Nick1911 on June 05, 2010, 12:28:04 AM

Probably, the flame has quite a bit of orange mixed into it...

Draft seems fine up the flue.

Well, crap.

Fresh air intake clogged, if there is one?

sanglant · « **Reply #23 on:** June 05, 2010, 09:39:36 AM »

or something stuck, is it in a confined area? maybe adding a vent to outside? or vent clogged?

Jim147 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 05, 2010, 10:18:36 PM »

I have seen many a bird stuck in the flue. You might check the Y where the furnace and water heater meet.

jim

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Author Topic: CO alarm (Read 3281 times)