carbon monoxide alarm?

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wooddog
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carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by wooddog »

hi everyone I was distilling a ujssm spirit run last night it
was 20 litres at 50% abv didn't relies how long it would take
I collected in 1 litre jars I threw away the first 500ml
then collected 12 jars and a demijohn of low wines for my next one
all my jars are open plus I spilled one cleaned it up straight away I stopped the still about midnight last night
there were still a few litres in my boiler but I was tired at that point
I went into my living room to watch some TV i fell asleep on the sofa as you do
then I got woken at 2 am from my carbon monoxide alarm going crazy I freaked I turned my combi boiler off
and unpluged it checked all the gas all seemed fine I opened the up stairs windows even know it's winter but I wanted to be safe as I have a 18 month daughter sleeping
I put the batteries back in about 40mins after it happened and it was fine I went bed 20 mins later it went off again nothing was on should I be worried? ?
or is it the alcohol? ?
my alarm is just a cheap standard one 10 years warranty
less than a year old it just has two leds one for batteries and one for Co
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wooddog
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Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by wooddog »

Sorry I should of mentioned that it was the co led that was flashing
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fizzix
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Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by fizzix »

Found this among many articles confirming alcohol vapor/ CO alarm detection.
Possible solutions: Move your distilling or let the condenser keep operating a while after heating shut off to prevent stray vapor leakage.

The "cheap" detectors are not designed to discriminate heavy vapors very well and will "fail safe" into an alarm condition.

I'm sure you're a smart guy, but I will say it anyway: DO NOT disable your detector because of nuisance alarms.
(Worst case, replace it if it keeps nuisancing for no reason.)
wooddog
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Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by wooddog »

yep thanks just seen something on the net to confirm this as well not sure if I should trust that one now so I'm buying one more today to be safe
wooddog
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Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by wooddog »

Thanks for the link
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still_stirrin
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Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by still_stirrin »

Furnace? Water heater?

I had a natural gas water heater that birds had built a nest in the flue, when the water heater ran the birds loved it...nice and warm. But it kept the heater from properly venting and would periodically snuff the pilot light out. It would dump CO back into the house. It took me a while before I realized the flue was blocked. Cleaned the flue and installed a new cap. But that solved the problem.
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My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
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still_stirrin
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Location: where the buffalo roam, and the deer & antelope play

Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by still_stirrin »

Oooops. Sorry, double post.
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My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
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cede
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Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by cede »

I had the same problem with a cheap alarm.
Bought one that is plugged in the wall ( apparently heated sensor ) and that has a battery backup and voilà, no more trouble !
butterpants
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Re: carbon monoxide alarm?

Post by butterpants »

I've got one in the garage. Still has never set it off and I've gotten some decent puke vapor in the air..... but I started the car for like 2 minutes before I found the door remote and that popped it off.

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