CO monitors

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
I have used a CO Experts model 2004 for several years but they have designed a time bomb in it; it has a 5yr tbo. Not a terrible thing but a bit unfair to not advertise this when I bought it. Anyway the new ones are model 1070, for $160.

http://www.aeromedix.com/product-exec/product_id/1342/nm/CO_Experts_Model_1070

They used to offer a repair (sensor replacement) option but I don't see it now.

Anyone using another brand which they like?
Anyone find an option to repair them?
 
I have one of those pieces of cardboard with the dot that supposedly turns black if there is a CO threat. They cost around five or ten dollars, but only are good for 12 months.

I guess if you start feeling crappy and the dot is black, your supposed to open the vents and windows and land at the nearest airport.

John
 
John Baker said:
I have one of those pieces of cardboard with the dot that supposedly turns black if there is a CO threat. They cost around five or ten dollars, but only are good for 12 months.

I guess if you start feeling crappy and the dot is black, your supposed to open the vents and windows and land at the nearest airport.

John
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I haven't done the research myself but I've read that the "Dead Spot" visual CO detectors have a sufficiently high threshold that you can suffer serious problems (especially at altitude) without any indication on the indicator. Still might be better than nothing as it would probably alert you to a big leak in your heat muff.
 
John Baker said:
I have one of those pieces of cardboard with the dot that supposedly turns black if there is a CO threat.
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I have read that the chemical tablet detectors are pretty fragile chemically. They are impotent after 30-60 days and rendered inert by exposure to just about everything you put in, pour in, or spray around an airplane.

http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/186016-1.html
 
I use a $20 smoke/CO2 alarm (usually for install in your house) that I bought on eBay. It's very sensitive, it beeps VERY loudly if there's any CO2, and it's been very reliable....

-Felix
 
Hmm... is that "TBO" why mine woke me up last night beeping every 30 seconds, with "Err" on the screen?
 
I also have the cardboard CO thing mounted on the panel..Where in the plane did you put the home CO/smoke detector? I have a 172. Is the home detector okay to use in the plane? If it is affixed to the interior of the plane is that considered an installation requiring an approved monitor?
 
DutchessFlier said:
I also have the cardboard CO thing mounted on the panel.
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It may make you feel safe, but it doesn't do much to make you safe.
Where in the plane did you put the home CO/smoke detector?
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Where the people are -- pretty much anywhere in the cockpit, preferably in the forward portion, say, on the panel or sidewall.
Is the home detector okay to use in the plane?
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Sure.
If it is affixed to the interior of the plane is that considered an installation
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Affixed with velcro? No. Bolted to the panel? Yes.
requiring an approved monitor?
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Not to my knowledge.
 
dmccormack said:
I bought a battery CO detector at Home Depot for $16 last week and tossed it on the back shelf. Tested it near the exhaust - works fine.
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This is what I am wondering...if the hardware store variety lasts a year or two and does much the same, I might switch over from the CO Experts' more expensive variety. They make grandiose claims on their website about how theirs is better, will detect earlier - but if they both do what I want (save my life) I can't justify the additional $$.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
This is what I am wondering...if the hardware store variety lasts a year or two and does much the same, I might switch over from the CO Experts' more expensive variety. They make grandiose claims on their website about how theirs is better, will detect earlier - but if they both do what I want (save my life) I can't justify the additional $$.
Click to expand...

Exactly -- if you read the fine print you'll find the Home Depot types detect down to some ridiculous PPM. I'm all for supporting aviation, but some times the markup for "Aviation" gets outta hand.
 
Ron Levy said:
It may make you feel safe, but it doesn't do much to make you safe.
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In what way, Ron?

From personal experience, it was one of these that alerted us to a failed muffler; we made an emergency landing, as the thing went BLACK in a the first twenty minutes of a hard IFR flight. I felt fine, but my passenger was quite ill when we landed.

13074.jpg
 
dmccormack said:
I bought a battery CO detector at Home Depot for $16 last week and tossed it on the back shelf. Tested it near the exhaust - works fine.
Click to expand...

That's going to be VERY distracting if it goes off--you have a way to reach it and turn it off or silence it? Ours makes the most piercing noise imaginable. I wouldn't want to have to listen to it for the entire time it would take to get on the ground.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
That's going to be VERY distracting if it goes off--you have a way to reach it and turn it off or silence it? Ours makes the most piercing noise imaginable. I wouldn't want to have to listen to it for the entire time it would take to get on the ground.
Click to expand...

Yep.

My side windows slide open (which is how they are most times).

:D
 
TangoWhiskey said:
In what way, Ron?

From personal experience, it was one of these that alerted us to a failed muffler; we made an emergency landing, as the thing went BLACK in a the first twenty minutes of a hard IFR flight. I felt fine, but my passenger was quite ill when we landed.
Click to expand...

Here is a good article on the CO detectors. They site that the chemical tablet types can detect high levels of carbon monoxide as advertised.

http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix_articles/aviationconsumer_nov2005.pdf

The issue with the dead-stop is their short half life and the exposed surface of the detector chemical. If you wipe across it with your finger you risk rendering it inert depending on your last encounter with fuel, ammonia or perfume. The unit you used has a longer lifespan and encapsulates the sensor in a clear plastic shield. However, it is still vulnerable to the fact that it affords no indication when it is no longer useful. There is no color change for dud.

I totally understand why you are loyal to it and frankly I am going to buy one now as I have neither an electronic sensor nor a fresh chemical one.
 
The Kidde household detector
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Kidde-Carbo...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5927b02e

-7yr tbo
-will alarm after 60mins of >70ppm
-battery operated
-not huge but not tiny either
-does have temp limits of 40-100F, that could be a problem

http://www.kiddeus.com/utcfs/ws-384/Assets/KN-COB-B(9CO5)en.pdf



This Honeywell has the exact same specs except 5 yrs vs 7:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HONEYWELL-CARBO...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item518e22db1e
http://www.campusalarms.com/SF350RVUL.pdf
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
The Kidde household detector
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Kidde-Carbo...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5927b02e

-7yr tbo
-will alarm after 60mins of >70ppm
-battery operated
-not huge but not tiny either
-does have temp limits of 40-100F, that could be a problem

http://www.kiddeus.com/utcfs/ws-384/Assets/KN-COB-B(9CO5)en.pdf



This Honeywell has the exact same specs except 5 yrs vs 7:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HONEYWELL-CARBO...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item518e22db1e
http://www.campusalarms.com/SF350RVUL.pdf
Click to expand...
I would think that detection limits of 70 ppm for longer than 60 minutes is too high a level for use in aircraft. Perhaps in the home as well.

I've had CO-Experts for the last 5 years and the cell just went bad. I'll be getting another one. For the reliability and price I think it is hard to beat.

BTW, the cells do not last forever on any CO detector. It is just the nature of the beast.
 
Thats the question, do we buy into what CO Experts is selling, that the UL standards are too lax? They go into it, in detail on their website.
Would the UL really allow an unsafe standard with these unit?
Are there injuries and deaths happening in homes because of insensitive home monitors?
Are most CO leaks on light aircraft going to be readily detected by the typical home detector?
 
Is the CO exposure in an airplane riskier because you are mildly hypoxic as it is for some portion of the flight? It may be why the tolerances are tighter. Still it looks tempting to stuff one of those home units in my headset bag somehow.

Question: would the finger oxymeters detect this as dropping saturation. Note I do not *think* they would because the CO binds to the hemoglobin and the blood remains "red" So I think the LED on a fingertip would not detect CO poisoning.
 
nuh-uh
Conclusions: Presently available pulse oximeters overestimate arterial oxygenation in patients
with severe CO poisoning. An elevated COHb level falsely elevates the Sao2 measurements from
pulse oximetry, usually by an amount less than the COHb level, confirming a prior observation in
an animal model. Accurate assessment of arterial oxygen content in patients with CO poisoning
can currently be performed only by analysis of arterial blood with a laboratory CO-oximetry.
(CHEST 1998; 114:1036-1041)
http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/114/4/1036.full.pdf
 
twdeckard said:
Here is a good article on the CO detectors. They site that the chemical tablet types can detect high levels of carbon monoxide as advertised.

http://www.aeromedix.com/aeromedix_articles/aviationconsumer_nov2005.pdf

The issue with the dead-stop is their short half life and the exposed surface of the detector chemical. If you wipe across it with your finger you risk rendering it inert depending on your last encounter with fuel, ammonia or perfume. The unit you used has a longer lifespan and encapsulates the sensor in a clear plastic shield. However, it is still vulnerable to the fact that it affords no indication when it is no longer useful. There is no color change for dud.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that review. Very interesting. ya know what else was interesting was the difference in prices between Sportys and Aircraft spruce for the cardboard dots.:eek:
I totally understand why you are loyal to it and frankly I am going to buy one now as I have neither an electronic sensor nor a fresh chemical one.
 
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