Replace Your Old CO Detector!!

Make sure you replace your old CO detector. I let it go to long, I replaced two 7 year old detectors yesterday. After i installed the new ones i took the old ones out to my pickup and held them in front of the exhaust pipe for a few minutes and they did NOT work!

I'd be curious to know if the new detector would alarm if held near the exhaust of a truck. I've heard some newer automobiles don't put out a lot of CO.

ouch!

Sorry

Yes it did go off.. Just tryed it, held it there for less then a minute and it started beeping.

Razz.....good to know...I'll try my two older units...and the new one.
Thanks for the heads-up.

Razzler wrote:Yes it did go off.. Just tryed it, held it there for less then a minute and it started beeping.

Thanks for trying that!

I just purchased a Kiddie CO detector and while I was reading the "destructions", I noticed they seven year life of them, what a disposal society we live in.

Dan

It needs to be replaced every 5-7 years because the CO sensor element degrades with time and can no longer convert CO gas molecules to electrons. It's electrons the the rest of the circuitry responds too. The CO sensor is a chemical cell. It's electrolyte evaporates. The better, an hence more expensive detector instruments, measure this change and compensate for it. The professional fire department detectors have replaceable sensors and a calibration program to make sure it's working correctly.

If you have a CO detector older than 6-7 years throw it away, it's useless. Mark a purchase date on your detector and a junk date too. I'd suggest 5 years. Gives you a little margin and get off your butt to buy a new one.

Where is the best location to mount a CO detector, the one supplied with my stove plugs into the wall so it is about 20 inces from the floor, the second one I bought will be installed on my upper level, but the instructions do not give a specific location i.e height on the wall, so my question is where does CO go, up, down, middle???

CO readily mixes with the air so it won't matter what position on the wall you mount it.

I have looking for references to my earlier comment where I mentioned that some newer automobiles do not emit much carbon monoxide. I found it in the instructions for my Nighthawk CO detector on page 6-1.

http://www.kidde.com/utcfs/ws-384/Assets/900-0076.pdf

Q. I tried to test the alarm (see below) and it still reads “0.”
Why?
– by running the car in the garage
– by holding it to the tailpipe of the car
– by putting it next to the furnace vent
A. DO NOT try to test your alarm by doing any of the above!
Testing the alarm using any of the methods listed above usually
does not yield satisfactory results and could in fact be dangerous.
To accurately test the alarm, please follow the guidelines given
on page 1-5,6.
Never operate a vehicle in a closed garage, as high levels of CO
can be built up in a short time. With an attached garage, dangerous
CO levels develop inside the home as well as within the
garage.
Attempting to test the sensor function by holding the alarm next
to a tailpipe or furnace vent may not cause a reading on the display
because today’s vehicles emit very little CO once the engine
reaches operating temperature. Likewise, many of today’s high
efficiency furnaces emit very low levels of CO.

Machinist wrote:Never operate a vehicle in a closed garage, as high levels of CO
can be built up in a short time. With an attached garage, dangerous
CO levels develop inside the home as well as within the
garage.
Attempting to test the sensor function by holding the alarm next
to a tailpipe or furnace vent may not cause a reading on the display
because today’s vehicles emit very little CO once the engine
reaches operating temperature.

contradicting statment? I tested it on my 02 chevy pickup and the resalts are posted above. It's just my .02 cents...

Try testing the unit as indicated in the referenced manual page 1-6, "Testing the Sensor Response", with a cigarette or incense stick. If you still get no reading, the CO detector is not working and it needs to be replaced.

dtzackus wrote:I just purchased a Kiddie CO detector and while I was reading the "destructions", I noticed they seven year life of them, what a disposal society we live in.

Dan

My understanding is that the sensor works by absorbing CO from the air. It sounds the alarm when the rate of absorption gets over a certain limit. But over it's life, it will still absorb minuscule amounts from the air and eventually, it will reach the maximum amount it can absorb. That's when it needs to be replaced.