Alert from Carbon Monoxide Alarm

techno79

About 2 years ago, I bought a digital carbon monoxide alarm (EiElectronics Ei206D). About 6 months ago, I got a warning chirp to say that the CO levels were about 50ppm. The manual says 35ppm is "the maximum allowable concentration for a continuous exposure in any 8 hour period according to OSHA". As it was such a low level, I opened the windows to air out the house, reset the alarm and didn't get a warning again until now.

The alarm is now indicating a level of 35ppm and is giving the same warning chirps. I've opened the windows to air out the house but I'm not sure what to do about the problem? Even though it has only given the lowest level warning alert twice in 6 months, I am keen not to ignore the problem (especially if it is likely to get worse).

Can anyone suggest who or what I should do? Is there anything I can do myself to investigate further? Is there someone I can call to investigate further and if so who would this be? Can I call someone from my energy supplier?

My other half is expecting in a matter of weeks so as you can understand, I want to make sure everything is all ok as soon as possible.

TIA

ormus

try changing the batteries. see what happens.
then try swapping it with another one, to test. ie a relative friend or a neighbour.
if its still positive then call out the gas engineers.

Oldsoak

Get a gas safe registered engineer to come and check your boiler and flue. CO levels can be harmful or lethal if high enough. I don't want to scare you but this must not be ignored any you must take action quickly!!
Find a qualified engineeer in the local paper or yellow pages as soon as you can, is my advice.

Good luck with your problem and impending fatherhood.

techno79

Nevermind, I found some info in the manual. It's a low battery warning (although it's quite an obscure indicator so without the info it appears like a CO level alert).

ormus

confucious say,
if in doubt, read the manual.

Canucklehead

techno79 wrote: »

About 2 years ago, I bought a digital carbon monoxide alarm (EiElectronics Ei206D). About 6 months ago, I got a warning chirp to say that the CO levels were about 50ppm. The manual says 35ppm is "the maximum allowable concentration for a continuous exposure in any 8 hour period according to OSHA". As it was such a low level, I opened the windows to air out the house, reset the alarm and didn't get a warning again until now.

The alarm is now indicating a level of 35ppm and is giving the same warning chirps. I've opened the windows to air out the house but I'm not sure what to do about the problem? Even though it has only given the lowest level warning alert twice in 6 months, I am keen not to ignore the problem (especially if it is likely to get worse).

Can anyone suggest who or what I should do? Is there anything I can do myself to investigate further? Is there someone I can call to investigate further and if so who would this be? Can I call someone from my energy supplier?

My other half is expecting in a matter of weeks so as you can understand, I want to make sure everything is all ok as soon as possible.

TIA

See here.

HTH

Canucklehead

Avoriaz

ormus wrote: »

try changing the batteries. see what happens....

I find removing the battery completely stops all those annoying bleeps.


:whistle:

ladylouise62

It's best to change alarm batteries every year to ensure that they work properly, and to prevent worries like this

societys_child

Worth noting:

CO alarms are not "fit & forget". They have a limited life.

http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/learning/carbon-monoxide-alarms-faqs.aspx

2) How long does a Carbon Monoxide Alarm last?
First Alert alarms are warranted for 5 years, then it should be replaced with a new CO Alarm. SensorPack Modules and batteries should be replaced as needed for those alarms requiring them.

nickj_2

i had an alarm that went wrong , it went from reading zero to 200 in a couple of seconds - i switched boiler off and opened all the windows and reset the alarm , it returned to zero , so i switched boiler on for 10 minutes and got no alarm, it did this a couple of times even when the boiler wasn't running , so i contacted maufacturer who sent me a new one that is mains powered , it didn't/ hasn't beeped since apart from when mrs j had a few candles on the go which was quite surprising

techno79

societys_child wrote: »

Worth noting:

CO alarms are not "fit & forget". They have a limited life.

http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/learning/carbon-monoxide-alarms-faqs.aspx

2) How long does a Carbon Monoxide Alarm last?
First Alert alarms are warranted for 5 years, then it should be replaced with a new CO Alarm. SensorPack Modules and batteries should be replaced as needed for those alarms requiring them.

Definitely agree. Same is true for smoke alarms, they also have a limited shelf life. My CO alarm and all my smoke alarms have a printed label which says when to replace the whole unit. I think they all indicate a date about 10 years away so you do get fair use out of them.