Smoke/carbon monoxide detectors

WesK said:

It doesn't. Two old people and a puppy on a trawler with an apparent target on the stern. Two boardings in two years with up to date inspection decals.


A reason for having a CO alarm on a diesel boat is possible CO from rafted or nearby gasoline powered boats or gasoline generators. If you are one of the folks who carries a portable gasoline generator on your boat and uses it, one or more CO detectors are a must even if the boat is diesel powered.


Regardless of any legal requirements, having smoke and CO detectors installed on your boat is a matter of your and your family's safety.

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No gas on the boat. My insurance company requires them. Go figure!

I don't fear too many things on a boat while I am awake...


sleeping is another story....


2 smoke and 2 CO detectors are worth the $100 so I can sleep better.

2 smoke/CO detectors for the sleeping compartments from HD or Lowes for less than $40. 10 min to install. Done. Next project.

I have home smoke and fire detectors aboard.
I'm on land at the moment so I guess it's appropriate.

Donna said:

No gas on the boat. My insurance company requires them. Go figure!

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I also got "nabbed" when my ins co required a no cost survey a couple of years ago.
I had to install a CO detector in the sleeping cabin and put a fire extinguisher on the flybridge.

psneeld said:

I don't fear too many things on a boat while I am awake...

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I fear running out of ice:lol:

jleonard said:

I fear running out of ice:lol:

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Thus my recent purchase of a table top IGLOO ice maker....

Has been running 16 hrs a day since May...never a shortage of cocktail ice...

Yes a greater fear than old hoses.

While aware that carbon monoxide is not likely to be a problem on a diesel boat, except perhaps from a propane stove, our insurance company insisted we fit both CO and smoke detectors. We fitted one of each at both interior levels on the boat. We did fit "marine" units at a significant premium to "domestic". My conclusion is you are better off buying "domestic". The marine CO units only lasted a year or so before beginning continuous chirping. I replaced batteries to no avail. Turned out the units had hit their 5-year expiration date and were no longer operative. My conclusion was that marine unit sales are low and old inventory may be the norm. Better to buy fresh at Home Depot. The inside of a dry trawler is not much different to the inside of a dry basement.

Many marine labeled products bear close watching.

Some are worth it, some are not.

In the case of detectors that have a huge track record ashore...I feel confident in my decision that home detectors are acceptable for the task...maybe even better.

psneeld said:

Many marine labeled products bear close watching.

Some are worth it, some are not.

In the case of detectors that have a huge track record ashore...I feel confident in my decision that home detectors are acceptable for the task...maybe even better.

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Chrisjs said:

The marine CO units only lasted a year or so before beginning continuous chirping. I replaced batteries to no avail. Turned out the units had hit their 5-year expiration date and were no longer operative. My conclusion was that marine unit sales are low and old inventory may be the norm.

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Yeah, but... FWIW, the ones we got are supposed to last 5 years from the first date electricity is applied to 'em... so shelf life isn't supposed to matter...

-Chris

You'll find out when they start chirping!!!

I just ran for an hour in my gasser express cruiser... with the gangway down to the cabin open and my brand new Kidde CO alarm went off in my cabin. I opened a deck hatch and it cleared.

I'd love to know the path that it took to make sure there is no infiltration by any other means than the gangway. Is there such a thing as a 'sniffer' that i can try to find it?

Other than that, i'm assuming it came down the gangway. Any thoughts? I'm glad that i had a monitor for sure! I'm also glad that i wasn't sitting down there in my new to me boat...

The home smoke/CO detectors (and, I suspect the marine versions) use photoelectric and electrochemical sensors. More so than temperature, it's humidity that kills these devices, through degradation of the sensor. The "5 year" home unit will probably have a foreshortened life on a boat vice a controlled residential environment.

My boat is only air conditioned when we're aboard and tied up. Most of the time the detectors are subjected to Gulf Coast humidity. I get about 2 years out of mine before they start spuriously alarming.

Not sure where your boats are docked but take this into consideration. I run a charter boat that has two gasoline engines. They are relatively new, run well and relatively clean. It is docked along side other boats. Very often when I start my boat the CO detectors will sound in the cabins of adjoining boats. So it's a good idea to have CO detectors if you are sleeping aboard and find yourself adjacent to other boats.

Gmarr said:

I just ran for an hour in my gasser express cruiser... with the gangway down to the cabin open and my brand new Kidde CO alarm went off in my cabin. I opened a deck hatch and it cleared.

I'd love to know the path that it took to make sure there is no infiltration by any other means than the gangway. Is there such a thing as a 'sniffer' that i can try to find it?

Other than that, i'm assuming it came down the gangway. Any thoughts? I'm glad that i had a monitor for sure! I'm also glad that i wasn't sitting down there in my new to me boat...

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I'm thinking you mean the companionway, and that is the most likely path.

Do you have a vinyl enclosure?

The CO probably came back in through your cockpit and up to the cabin. This is the "station wagon effect" where moving through the air creates a "vacuum" behind you into which your exhaust is sucked.

Think about this; that CO had to go past the bridge deck to get into the companionway. Always have something open forward to keep plenty of air flowing freely front to back, especially if you have the aft vinyl open, or don't have any enclosure aft.

CaptTom said:

I'm thinking you mean the companionway, and that is the most likely path.



Do you have a vinyl enclosure?



The CO probably came back in through your cockpit and up to the cabin. This is the "station wagon effect" where moving through the air creates a "vacuum" behind you into which your exhaust is sucked.



Think about this; that CO had to go past the bridge deck to get into the companionway. Always have something open forward to keep plenty of air flowing freely front to back, especially if you have the aft vinyl open, or don't have any enclosure aft.

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Many thanks and my eventual conclusion as well. I did open up the back of the "camper top" as it gets hotter than hell in there, left the companionway hatch open and no circulation from up front. Once I opened a hatch, it cleared and have to put it in my checklist (and to remember to close it as well, which is probably going to be the hard part to remember!!!!)

I put in TWO more CO detectors as well!

Re: Gmarr #43

Sensorcon and Pyle make portable CO meters that would do the job for the $150 price range. Not “professional grade,” but sufficient. A professional instrument with datalogging, etc., will put you back a boat buck and a half.

If I had your concern, I think I’d pull the installed smoke/CO unit off the wall and go exploring – you’re looking for a go/no go answer as to the infiltration route – the actual CO concentration isn’t going to be a lot of help.

CO monitors need to be high on your bulkheads incidentally.

P.S. Hello Donna.