CO2 detectors the "Good The Bad and The Ugly

[MikeOH]

1 minute ago, Jackk said:

It’s not zero, with a real instrument I promise you it ain’t zero

BS.  Your 'logic' is a worthless as your 'promise'.

If my sensor reads zero with the engine OFF, and I have seen as low as 5 ppm reading with the engine RUNNING, that PROVES your statement FALSE.

[Jackk]

24 minutes ago, MikeOH said:

BS.  Your 'logic' is a worthless as your 'promise'.

If my sensor reads zero with the engine OFF, and I have seen as low as 5 ppm reading with the engine RUNNING, that PROVES your statement FALSE.

 Tell me more of your “sensor”

 

frankly the cheap chinese sensor in most of these hundred to 4 figure boxes don’t have the resolution to see amounts that small, so they just say 0 to make you feel good

 

 even outside of the plane you ain’t at 0PPM

 

Edited Thursday at 02:03 AM by Jackk

[Hank]

27 minutes ago, Jackk said:

 It’s not zero, with a real instrument I promise you it ain’t zero

 

 it’s like new car gauges, they default to less info to not scare Susie 

This was mine in cruise this afternoon at 6500 msl, making ~147 KTAS, 22"/2400, ROP.

OAT was in the low 50s, so only had partial cabin heat and partial fresh air, both < 50% as in the second picture. 

For sensor information, as shown it's a Sensorcon Inspector; Google it, go to their website and you'll learn everything about it that i can't remember.

And as you can see, it reads "0', mounted beside the fresh air louver below the throttle quadrant with 2" velcro. Oh, the louver is partially visible in the first photo, top left of the Sensorcon.

[Justin Schmidt]

59 minutes ago, Jackk said:

 Tell me more of your “sensor”

 

frankly the cheap chinese sensor in most of these hundred to 4 figure boxes don’t have the resolution to see amounts that small, so they just say 0 to make you feel good

 

 even outside of the plane you ain’t at 0PPM

 

Are you confusing carbon dioxide. 

A Dräger pac 6500 says 0. Even cheaper co detectors are accurate. There isn't much complexity with them. When gasses or anything is diluted or so small as to not be detected it is effectively 0, read up on chemistry.

Begs the question why are you dying on this hill, hell of a thing to argue it. Are you trying to cope that something might be wrong with your plane. If so CO isn't the thing to fuck with just ask dan bass

[MikeOH]

1 hour ago, Jackk said:

frankly the cheap chinese sensor in most of these hundred to 4 figure boxes don’t have the resolution to see amounts that small, so they just say 0 to make you feel good

 

 even outside of the plane you ain’t at 0PPM

Sounds like you are changing the goal posts here!  Your original position was that you aren't concerned with your, IIRC, 20 ppm level in YOUR plane because the rest of us aren't really at zero anyway.

Now, you appear to be saying that a single digit display, which is typical for these CO detectors/sensors, means we could have some level between 0 and 1.  If agreeing with that makes you 'win the internet'...well, congratulations, "you win"

THAT is not how this debate started.

My CO detector WILL show 5 ppm and, therefore, I'm comfortable that when it reads zero that I'm not in any danger.  I would NOT feel the same way if it read 20 ppm!

 

[Jackk]

So flying behind a giant  inefficient piston engine you have less PPM than walking down a sidewalk?

[Justin Schmidt]

1 minute ago, Jackk said:

So flying behind a giant  inefficient piston engine you have less PPM than walking down a sidewalk?

You laying down in the middle of the road in nyc.

In my area (cincinnati) CO is below detectable amounts <1ppm. I'm sure a very expensive large lab equipment that uses NDIR or Laser you can detect some. 

Can i ask, does this CO of yours have a can or bottle shape, 

[MikeOH]

24 minutes ago, Jackk said:

So flying behind a giant  inefficient piston engine you have less PPM than walking down a sidewalk?

Not much difference when in a PROPERLY functioning cabin behind said inefficient piston engine.  No where am I arguing that the ENGINE doesn't emit CO.  No clue why you would think that??

[Pinecone]

There is a point that in most cases the meter 0 is set to ambient air.  And ambient air could have up to 1 PPM CO.  So your 0 reading on your meter is not really ZERO CO.

When I did this for a living, we used two tanks of gases to CAL and SPAN our meters.  One was REALLY 0 PPM CO, and the other was some level depending on the range you were expecting.  In that case, 0 is really ZERO.  

But for all practical purposes, 0 on your portable meter is at or below the ambient air.  SO unless you turn it one in a location with high CO levels, the number is close enough to 0 to be treated as 0.

[Justin Schmidt]

1 hour ago, Pinecone said:

There is a point that in most cases the meter 0 is set to ambient air.  And ambient air could have up to 1 PPM CO.  So your 0 reading on your meter is not really ZERO CO.

When I did this for a living, we used two tanks of gases to CAL and SPAN our meters.  One was REALLY 0 PPM CO, and the other was some level depending on the range you were expecting.  In that case, 0 is really ZERO.  

But for all practical purposes, 0 on your portable meter is at or below the ambient air.  SO unless you turn it one in a location with high CO levels, the number is close enough to 0 to be treated as 0.

True for many consumer models, with the exception,  they will either fail start or alarm if the calibrated is high.

I, however,  and looks like hank had a zero with a professional model. I had borrowed one from local fire department and the reading is absolute. Calibrated in a lab. Most of those are 1ppm min. Like i said to get lower than 1ppm you need large expensive lab equipment. Let's not give faa any ideas. Tso panel mount is going to be required soon, and those are not as good as a portable 

[Ragsf15e]

For me, absolute zero or “zero above ambient air” means the same. The engine CO isn’t getting into the cockpit.  That’s good enough for me.  The other day while taxiing, sensorcon pro read 5.  0 in flight.  Both seem reasonable.

[EricJ]

Many of us use the Sensorcon CO detectors after Dan Bass's accident and subsequent promotions.  They are reliable and used for industrial environments.  That's what @Hank showed in his photo.  It's not a typical "consumer" detector, it's an industrial instrument.

Mine says 0 ppm in cruise, usually low single digits in climbout and sometimes in descent.   It has alarmed several times on the ground when the breeze is just right.

https://www.inspectortools.com/shop-by-manuf/sensorcon-gas-detectors/inspector-series/

Enough people started buying them for airplanes that Sensorcon makes one specifically for aviation now:

https://www.inspectortools.com/sensorcon-av8-inspector-pro-carbon-monoxide-monitor-for-aviation-av8-co-03

 

[Hank]

2 hours ago, EricJ said:

Many of us use the Sensorcon CO detectors after Dan Bass's accident and subsequent promotions.  They are reliable and used for industrial environments. . . .

Enough people started buying them for airplanes that Sensorcon makes one specifically for aviation now.

Dan should get a commission from them! He not only pushed CO detectors at Mooney Summits, airshows, Mooneyspace and get togethers, he arranged and distributed aviator discounts and even plugged Sensorcon in the AOPA Safety Foundation video about his accident. Personally,  I think Dan is a great guy, and probably The Luckiest Man Alive!!

[Justin Schmidt]

53 minutes ago, Hank said:

Dan should get a commission from them! He not only pushed CO detectors at Mooney Summits, airshows, Mooneyspace and get togethers, he arranged and distributed aviator discounts and even plugged Sensorcon in the AOPA Safety Foundation video about his accident. Personally,  I think Dan is a great guy, and probably The Luckiest Man Alive!!

I would say he is...i believe the only one that lived through an actual unconscious accident.  I would even say one of the extreme few to live through unconsciousness of all CO poisoning including home