Thread: CO Alarm Puzzle
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Old 05-25-2016, 06:44 PM   #17
AusCan
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Most household CO detectors don't differentiate between carbon monoxide and hydrogen. They will read high near you batteries, as several posters suggested. I'd say this is the cause of the alarms.

Even though hydrogen is not toxic, it is flammable, but ignition will not occur at levels less than 18% (180,000 ppm)

If the 400 ppm reading you got is hydrogen, this is not a problem, other than the confusion it creates with you CO alarm.

I wouldn't suggest to just assume this is the cause of the high readings. It may be worth venting your battery boxes externally, or maybe changing the batteries to AGM's next time they need replacing.
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