co detector help

i woke up this morning to the co detector going of ,dont know why , the fire in the basket was almost out just a couple coals in there ,because i turned it down to setting 1, and i guess being it was so warm out , the stack temp droped , and maybe because the stack was not hot , it had a slight down draft , ive always run mine on setting 5 and know problems , any ideas you could help me with ? brand new stainless chimney abd franco belge stove in good condition .

I'd say you have it nailed ... enough fire to create CO, but not enough to maintain the draft you need to get rid of it.

The explanation by Dallas seems to be on point. TRy not to run the stove at such a low setting during this mild weather.Run it at 3 or 4. better for it to burn out a little sooner but burn out completely. When the real cold weather hits and you have a consistently good draft, this problem should not arise again, even at the lower setting. Thank goodness for the CO detectors. Buy a few more!
JOhn C.

good things to have , atleast a couple of them. i have a DV and tried to get more heat from the flue pipe going outside. i closed the damper all the way , then broght it out some. well not enough. the one on the wall buy the stove with just sound went off first at 4:00 in the morning. then the didgital read 17 and it was going off. well i couldn't lay in bed and wait till morning lol. so i get my butt up , no easy task , open some windows. got the allen set and opened the damper up some more. quess i better get me a manometer installed ASAP.

WOW....here's some info...ALWAYS be safe when it comes to venting yours stoves...

At what level does carbon monoxide become toxic?

For healthy adults, CO becomes toxic when it reaches a level higher than 50 ppm (parts per million) with continuous exposure over an eight hour period.. When the level of CO becomes higher than that, a person will suffer from symptoms of exposure. Mild exposure over a few hours (a CO level between 70 ppm and 100 ppm) include flu-like symptoms such as headaches, sore eyes and a runny nose. Medium exposure (a CO level between 150 ppm to 300 ppm) will produce dizziness, drowsiness and vomiting. Extreme exposure (a CO level of 400 ppm and higher) will result in unconsciousness, brain damage and death.

WNY wrote:WOW....here's some info...ALWAYS be safe when it comes to venting yours stoves...

At what level does carbon monoxide become toxic?

For healthy adults, CO becomes toxic when it reaches a level higher than 50 ppm (parts per million) with continuous exposure over an eight hour period.. When the level of CO becomes higher than that, a person will suffer from symptoms of exposure. Mild exposure over a few hours (a CO level between 70 ppm and 100 ppm) include flu-like symptoms such as headaches, sore eyes and a runny nose. Medium exposure (a CO level between 150 ppm to 300 ppm) will produce dizziness, drowsiness and vomiting. Extreme exposure (a CO level of 400 ppm and higher) will result in unconsciousness, brain damage and death.

I don't know where you got your ppm levels but they are too high based on the latest medical data. There is evidence that different government agencies have different standard for what is a danger level of CO. Look at my post http://69.73.136.20/temp/post12856.html#p12856 for the details. Also look at my post http://69.73.136.20/temp/post14106.html ... ion#p14106 which discusses the where and why of CO detector placement

They could be I just had found them on a CO Dectector site, sorry didn't see yours....
I guess we can say ANY amount can be dangerous...depending on the exposure. Rather be safe than sorry. !!

Hi everyone,

I fired up my magnum last week and it was running at about 200, theat was stove temp with a nice blue flame on the pot. I woke up the next morning with a very pecuilar headache and light headedness. I have 2 battery operated carbon monoxide detectors close by the stove and they were not beeping but I am not convinved yet that there wasnt some gas tha was seeping in. Any ideas for good and accurate detector to buy? Maybe te ones I have a (kiddie round w\3AA battery) and a first alert plug in with a backup 9v are what I currently have but they do not have a digital display or anything fancy.

Throw the Kidde in the trash and buy a "Nighthawk" brand, it has a digital read out. Should be about $40.00 at Home Depot or Lowes.

Being in the fire service for 18+ years I get to deal with a lot of these things.

BK

jimbo970 wrote:Hi everyone,

I fired up my magnum last week and it was running at about 200, theat was stove temp with a nice blue flame on the pot. I woke up the next morning with a very pecuilar headache and light headedness. I have 2 battery operated carbon monoxide detectors close by the stove and they were not beeping but I am not convinved yet that there wasnt some gas tha was seeping in. Any ideas for good and accurate detector to buy? Maybe te ones I have a (kiddie round w\3AA battery) and a first alert plug in with a backup 9v are what I currently have but they do not have a digital display or anything fancy.

Hi jimbo970 I had the samething two weeks ago I had two of them going of and one not doing anything so I checked the dates the one was over 5 years so I went to wal-mart and bought 3 new ones so now I have 5 in the house I bought The kidde Model KN-copp-3 Digital AC Plug in with 9 V back up Rated 4 out of 4 Stars the next one is Kidde Model KN-COPP-B Digital Battery 3 out of 4 stars Rating 5 years warranty 34.95 And the first one was 44.95 The last one is Kidde model KN-COSM-B smoke & co2 Talking Alarm 3 out of 4 stars 5 year warranty Battery 39.95 All 3 Are NIGHTHAWK TECHNOLOGY Supposedly The most Accurate in co2 Alarms The one that did not go off was a first alert but it was more then 5 years old you should replaced them after 5 years Hope this helps

bksaun wrote:Throw the Kidde in the trash and buy a "Nighthawk" brand, it has a digital read out. Should be about $40.00 at Home Depot or Lowes.

Being in the fire service for 18+ years I get to deal with a lot of these things.

BK

Hay BK The Kidde uses NIGHTHAWK TECHNOLOGY That Is On The Packaging

FYI, the Kidde company makes the Nighthawk. There was a problem with some of them about 2 years ago. They would kill the battery in about 5-6 weeks and then they would chirp, usually about 3:30 in the morning. The digital display would show "Lb" which stood for low battery. I replaced batteries about 3 times and the same thing happened. I called kidde, they asked for the serial numbers of the units (I had 3) and they sent me 3 new units for free.

the question is how close to the coal stove do you put the detector? the one i have digital kind says no closer than 20 ft? whats the true answer i have mine at about 8 foot away at eye level , what are some of the readings you guys get or do you guys get any readings besides 0?

Hi first timer I have two with in 20ft Plus two smoke detectors I have 0 all the time if it is not 0 then its picking up CO2 somwhere I have three more upstairs to along with two more smoke dectors you can never be to safe

I will go shopping for new ones tomorrow - I have 3 in the area 2 are older