Carbon Monoxide Detectors

[Seth]

I'm looking to add a Carbon Monoxide Detector.  I plan to use one that is not the "spot" type, as those work for a limited period of time, and I plan to invest for the long haul. 

The poll is kind of werid, but I figured it would help give us a sampling of what our fellow Mooney pilots use.

The AV Web article I read has some good information:

http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/186016-1.html

 

Also, I'm looking at these two products:

http://www.aeromedix.com/Carbon_Monoxide_Detectors

Does anyone have one?

PIREPS and thoughts would be appreicated.

Thanks, and happy flying,

-Seth

[jetdriven]

I have been meaning to buy one.  How about this?  http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-KN-COPP-B-LP-Nighthawk-Monoxide-Operated/dp/B001QOGMAG/ref=sr_1_11?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1328898691&sr=1-11

[MARZ]

Although my experience was pretty self evident - I can in fact confirm they work.

Shortly after takeoff my windshield started to fog inside - I pulled the heat and low and behold - exhaust fumes.  No second guessing that C0 and the smell of exhaust go hand in hand - heat went off, windows and door opened and landing arrangements made.   The Dot on the card just solidified what we knew was there - the one advantage I could see to an electronic version would be that it could confirm that your actions are alleviating the C0 problem whereas the Dot just stays black for a long period of time.

Both I and my pilot passenger were on high alert until on the ground.

[Cruiser]

I have a standard household type sensor in my carry on flight bag and just leave it there. I know the aviation specific units are much more sensitive but I look at it as a catastrophic alarm if somehow life threating amounts of CO are collecting in the cockpit I will know about it.

[aviatoreb]

I bought a miners hazmat type gas detector.  It is too sensitive.  It goes off in every situation -all my cars, my airplane - sometimes in my office.  I am trying to figure out how ot set the alarms at appropriate levels.  I am thinking of just getting the household type that was just suggested.  This does look good:

http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-KN-COPP-B-LP-Nighthawk-Monoxide-Operated/dp/B001QOGMAG/ref=sr_1_11?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1328898691&sr=1-11

Last week actually I made an emergency landing immediately after take off - first time ever right after take-off.  I just did the pattern and came right back in.  I thought there was smoke in the cockpit as it was wafting about, but it turned out to be mist - TKS mist.  Just a tiny bit of TKS had gotten from the prop slinger into the fresh air intake and with the cabin heat open it was letting in the mist that was caused by the engine heat vaporizing that little bit of TKS fluid in the fresh air port.  Also the windows fogged up due to the TKS mist which made landing into the sun not trivial - happily I had a real smooth touch down.  My AP was right there and we confirmed this is what had happened after thorough inspection under the cowl and calls to CAV aero.

There was no smoke smell and only a thin mist but unmistakable that the mist was there and in the heat of the moment while still in the runway environment I just turned right around and came right back home and I am quite happy with that call.  A CO detector would have been a nice data point, although I still would have come back in with visible mist in the cabin that appeared as smoke with or without a CO detector blaring.

[MARZ]

I'd make that call everyday and twice on Sunday - good job.

[jetdriven]

old data, but food for thought   http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/186016-1.html

[bnicolette]

Seth,

I have the pocket CO300 and have been extremely happy with it.  It fits very nicely right above my head (which I figure is a good sample area since it's close to my nose/mouth.  See picture.

[jetdriven]

That unit sounds interesting. What kind of battery does it use?

  do you think this matters?

Pressure effect:

Reading decreases with decreasing pressure, down to 70% at 10,000 ft.

[bnicolette]

Quote: jetdriven

That unit sounds interesting. What kind of battery does it use?

  do you think this matters?

Pressure effect:

Reading decreases with decreasing pressure, down to 70% at 10,000 ft.

[PTK]

Hi Brett. What kind sun visors ate those that you have? 

[bnicolette]

Dare I say this????...............They are "Brett's" sun visors.

A friend of mine sent me a tracing of his original sun visors.  I then ordered some smoked Lexan and cut them out with a bandsaw, rounded and smoothed the edges, then purchased some new hardware from Lowes.  I think I had somewhere around $30 in them, but can't remember for sure.  They work well and are functional.  However, I don't know the legality of them????   Owner produced part???  I would probably remove them before I were to sell the airplane or at least disclose what I did.

There is a better picture of them in my gallery.

[jetdriven]

Naah they looked factory to me!  Seriously, that could be called an owner-produced part. You duplicated the factory units so well they look the same.

 

BTW I have a set of factory M20K 231 visors for sale.  I bought them thinking they were darker tahn ours, turns out they are the same color.

[PTK]

Quote: Bnicolette

Dare I say this????...............They are "Brett's" sun visors.

A friend of mine sent me a tracing of his original sun visors.  I then ordered some smoked Lexan and cut them out with a bandsaw, rounded and smoothed the edges, then purchased some new hardware from Lowes.  I think I had somewhere around $30 in them, but can't remember for sure.  They work well and are functional.  However, I don't know the legality of them????   Owner produced part???  I would probably remove them before I were to sell the airplane or at least disclose what I did.

There is a better picture of them in my gallery.

[PTK]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hijack the CO monitor thread!

[Seth]

Thank you for all the suggestions and also for filling out the poll.  It looks like I am WAY in the minority with only 33% of those responded not having a device. 

Brett - Nice "Brettvisors!"  - All Smiles - No worries, the thread is back on track.

Whatever I decide on, it will have digital readout as opposed to just an alarm as I want to see the changes.  I do understand that preassure altitude most likley will cause some discrpancy in the readings (good input Byron), but the warning will still be there if the level gets dangerous.  The AVWEB article linked above was very informative and some sort of device should let you know if saturation is heading toward the "Danger Zone" (yeah, I said Danger Zone on a pilot's online forum!!) even if it's just a signle you're in trouble and get down quick alarm.  I would however like the digital readout device.

Brett I may order the same unit you have and mount it in the same location.  Frankly, it's nice that it is portable too if ever needed for other applications, or if you are flying in a different aircraft. 

Take care,

-Seth

 

[peter]

Quote: Bnicolette

Seth,

I have the pocket CO300 and have been extremely happy with it.  It fits very nicely right above my head (which I figure is a good sample area since it's close to my nose/mouth.  See picture.

[Seth]

Maybe I'll do both, or have a black dot just in case it's needed should the future CO300 not work right or accidently be left in another plane/vehicle.

-Seth

[chrisk]

Now that it is finally starting to cool off, I might be tempted to use the heater in my plane.   A CO detector seems like a good idea.  I just place an order for one of these.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JZ3VL6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Mooneymite]

I bought a Kidde CO detector for our house and took it along on a trip in my Mooney.  I was surprised to find the memory reading was above 50 ppm when I got back.  Definitely got my attention.  After looking over the exhaust system and around the engine compartment, I went flying again and watched the detector display.  Very quickly I discovered that the highest reading was during taxi-out with the door cracked open (poor man's AC).  When I closed the door, the readings dropped to zero and stayed there.  Apparently the exhaust gets sucked in while taxiiing.

 

I now carry that cheapee detector with me on most flights.  I just set it on the back seat where it is more, or less, in the flow of vent air.  I know it's not "aircraft quality", but it is sure better than what I had before.  It's comforting to see it read "0".

[Lood]

 

Brettvisors! It has a ring to it! Better than Rosen!

 

 

 

WOW!! I have to agree - especially on the $30 part. IIRC, the Rosen visors are ridiculously expensive!