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Fellow wrenches,<br>
<br>
Most CO sensors will be sensitive to both hydrogen sulfide and to
hydrogen. Here's a link to a <a
href="http://www.alphasense.com/pdf/COAX.pdf">typical sensor</a>.
While the unintended sensitivity to hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide
may cause false alarms to CO, does anyone know if these devices
alarm before there is an explosive concentration of hydrogen? Sounds
like recommending them for that purpose is risky.<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar, Inc.
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.bluemountainsolar.com">www.bluemountainsolar.com</a>
</pre>
<br>
On 2/3/2012 8:23 AM, john wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:8CEB0A74737D6ED-1E14-170C7@webmail-d158.sysops.aol.com"
type="cite"><font color="black" face="arial" size="2">
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FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
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<div>Rich,</div>
<div> I have found that having the CO detector anywhere
nearby seems to pick up the battery gasses. I had a
problem with one customer's battery box (built by their
carpenter) made of pine boards tightly fitted together.
It was leaking gasses thru the crack between the boards
on the top near the vent. I put electrical tape on the
crack and the problem was solved. The vent fan was
working fine but did not have enough volume to keep the
gasses from escaping upward and out of the crack. A good
reason to use plywood or something else other than
multiple boards. I would definitely agree with Bob that
the CO monitor does work to indicate a bad fan. I have
had them go off when the voltage set point on the dux
relay was set too high to catch the early stages of
gassing.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>John</div>
<div>CVSolar<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black;
FONT-SIZE: 10pt">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Rich Nicol <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:rich@solartechvt.com"><rich@solartechvt.com></a><br>
To: 'RE-wrenches'
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org"><re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org></a><br>
Sent: Thu, Feb 2, 2012 9:40 pm<br>
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Battery Off Gassing and CO
Detectors<br>
<br>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: ;
FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Wrenches</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: ;
FONT-SIZE: 11pt">I understand that battery
gassing of Hydrogen Sulfide can set off CO
detectors. A new customer who I am about to
replace a large battery bank for had his furnace
tech on site today to check for proper operation
of the furnace since his CO detector was going
off, the tech found the high levels of CO were
coming from the battery bank. I recognize its
not actually CO but rather it’s hydrogen sulfide
since his generator had recently been running to
charge the batteries and I assume that the
detector couldn’t differentiate the Hydrogen
Sulfide from the carbon monoxide. Does anyone
have any insight into the mechanism that CO
detectors use to detect the gas and secondly
could they be used reliably to detect battery
gassing that isn’t being evacuated from the
battery enclosure such as when a power vent
fails? Maybe a CO detector could be located near
enough to the vent hole in the Zephyr fan to
detect high levels of Hydrogen Sulfide that
aren’t being pushed out when the fan fails to
operate and open its damper? Power vent failure
is a fear that a number of customers have
expressed, maybe this could be a method of
alerting the homeowner that there is an issue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: ;
FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Thanks</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: ;
FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Rich</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: ;
FONT-SIZE: 11pt"> </span></div>
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<pre wrap=""><tt>_______________________________________________
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