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False CO alarm?

Posted: July 13th, 2019, 10:31 am
by wreckdiver
Boat is '89 3607. Woke up last night in the marina to all 3 co detectors going off displaying around 55 ppm. No engines were running on the boat or around me. Any ideas on what would cause it?

Re: False CO alarm?

Posted: July 13th, 2019, 10:45 am
by tomschauer
They will also alarm on low voltage?

Re: False CO alarm?

Posted: July 13th, 2019, 11:14 am
by bud37
How old are the detectors.....5 years is the life span max for CO sensors and much less if they have been subjected to very high levels of gas....say over 1000ppm.

As Tom said low voltage will alarm, also off gas from battery charging ( Hydrogen ), some cleaning supplies, but I am guessing here you were not up cleaning... :-D


Also could there have been a passing boat ?? Did the alarms stop after the boat was aired out ?

Good to always take the alarms for real as I am sure you did in this case.

Re: False CO alarm?

Posted: July 13th, 2019, 11:34 am
by wreckdiver
The detectors are brand new, recent date code, and new self contained batteries. They went off in the middle of the night while we were docked at the marina and boats either side of us were unoccupied. Windows were closed and air conditioning was running.

Re: False CO alarm?

Posted: July 13th, 2019, 11:36 am
by wreckdiver
They are displaying 0 ppm now but had a peak level history at 121 ppm.

Re: False CO alarm?

Posted: July 13th, 2019, 11:47 am
by bud37
The 121 peak is a bit telling......so are you sure another boat did not go past you ? Do you have any heavy industry near your dockage, say within a mile or so, and is there a car park near your boat......may seem silly but all relevant to consider in this case.

Battery charging is also relevant, considering all three went off....same numbers on them all ??

Re: False CO alarm?

Posted: July 15th, 2019, 9:16 am
by Craig_B
This might sound silly but I have seen them set off by perfumes and the direct opposit -- Farts :confused:

Re: False CO alarm?

Posted: July 15th, 2019, 11:38 am
by BenTen
Can I ask what brand/model you're using?