Carbon monoxide

Yeah good idea. Caravans as well

I installed one of these last Saturday. I had read of accidents overseas on cruising yachts where there had been deaths from batteries gassing off. While not necessarily the same gas as carbon monoxide these alarms will detect a range of gasses. For $17 posted to the door it seems a no brainer. The difficult part is where to install them. They have to be 15 feet away from gas stoves and bulkhead mounted. Apparently if you have a large battery bank and solar and a liveaboard there are real dangers with the batteries gassing off.

Overcharging batteries can produce hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide H2S is explosive and poisonous but you'd probably notice it as it smells like rotten eggs, it's heavier than air.

Carbon monoxide is produced from burning fuels and is odourless. The young guy died from running the stove to warm the cabin with no ventilation. CO is only slightly lighter than air and would distribute throughout, but the risk here is CO produced from heating and thus first in warmer air rising, so detectors are better placed higher up.

Thanks all, good info. That multi gas detector looks handy Ramona. FYI I picked up one of these today from the local anaconda store for $40:

www.anacondastores.com/camping-hiking/health-safety/quell-pd04-carbon-monoxide-digital-display-alarm/BP90099947

Bunnings have similar ones with a long life battery but apparently they aren't suitable for boats and caravans. The manufacturer says the PD04 model above is tested to higher specifications in terms of temperature range and vibration resistance for boats and caravans, and the others will likely give you a bunch of false alarms. There are a few 'marine' ones around but as usual adding that word puts the cost up by a factor of 5 or so.

Some I've read about suggest mounting at eye level, ie. in the breathing zone. Others say higher up. I guess in a boat where you are sitting a lot more, then a bit lower could be better. It probably doesn't matter all that much in a small boat cabin.

www.caravanindustrynews.com.au/product-news/quell-carbon-monoxide-poisoning/

An item here on cross sensitivity to battery charging

www.experimental-engineering.co.uk/carbon-monoxide-alarm-cross-sensitivity-hydrogen/

The more important thing is ensuring adequate ventilation at all times. I just read diesel CO poisoning has caused deaths to Truckers running engines to keep warm in cold weather whilst sleeping in their cabins. Makes you think about people sleeping in quater berth cabins with the donk running whilst on a passage if there is no good ventilation.

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Futurecruiser said..
Thanks all, good info. That multi gas detector looks handy Ramona. FYI I picked up one of these today from the local anaconda store for $40:

www.anacondastores.com/camping-hiking/health-safety/quell-pd04-carbon-monoxide-digital-display-alarm/BP90099947

Bunnings have similar ones with a long life battery but apparently they aren't suitable for boats and caravans. The manufacturer says the PD04 model above is tested to higher specifications in terms of temperature range and vibration resistance for boats and caravans, and the others will likely give you a bunch of false alarms. There are a few 'marine' ones around but as usual adding that word puts the cost up by a factor of 5 or so.

Thanks for the tip, I picked up a Quell from Anaconda and will install in the boat soon.