carbon monoxide problem

[husky455rancher]

well today was interesting. i have 2 carbon minoxide detectors in my house. a plug in one upstairs and a battery powered one in the cellar.

ok ive been really sick since tuesday.i have been basicly spending all my days and nights in the living room so i dont keep the wife awake all night.
ive kinda been light headed most of the week aswell.

so outta the blue the wife goes check the carbon minoxide detector i feel all wacked out. so i got look at it and it seems fine. so i go get the battery powered one from the cellar just to be sure and i bring it upstairs and it starts howling. i couldnt believe it. so i tell her to take the kids to my mothers house while i try to see whats going on here.

so i open all the windows and doors for prolly a hour and a half or so. i emptied the insert of the burning wood and all the coals. let it cool a bit, ripped it out pulled down the flew pipe.

i was expecting to find a blockage but it was remarkably clean. i even checked the chimney cap for the hell of it. so i removed the secondary burn tubes so i could really clean the top plate of the insert. i actually flipped it on its back and cleaned EVERYTHING. then put it all back together did some gasket work on the door (was a bit loose) i put some fiberglass stove cement where the stove pipe and the ss pipe join together too for good measure.


Honestly i have no idea why this happened. i only hope the carbon minoxide was only an issue today as everyone is always exposed to it.


does anyone have any idea what could have happened? i didnt find it to be really dirty by anymeans.
ive had this insert for 3 winters now and this has never happened before. im tempted to fire it up again (once i get a new detector) and see if its ok. i see no reason why it shouldnt work perfectly. also the flex pipe is surrounded with fiberglass insullation up inside the chimney liner to keep and smoke or gasses from comming back down. it was before too but i made sure this time its 100% sealed off.


sorry this is so long i just wanted to get it all out there.

 

[yooper]

do you heat your hot water with wood, gas, or electricity? perhaps it is coming from a different source. and does your fernace ever run.

 

[Richard_]

can't you local Fire Dept. come over and do a carbon monoxide test for you ?

 

[husky455rancher]

good question, i heat water with electricity. i have no gas in the house either. the stoves are my only source of combustion. it was definatly comming from the insert. NO doubt about it.

 

[husky455rancher]

ill call them asn see what they say, but they have been zero help for me in the past. they dont wanna be bothered till my house is on fire it seems.

 

[JONSEREDFAN6069]

does your battery powered one have a test button on it? or are the batteries low? i have the battery powered ones and a plug in one by my stove and the battery powered one alway's goes off when the batteries get low.

 

[husky455rancher]

the battery one does and thats the one that is working perfectly. the plug in one is the one that crapped out. i dont even think its 2 years old :censored:

 

[Wishie22]

Go and get two new ones. Replace the old ones, once they are contaminated they are not as accurate. Replace ours every couple of years regardless. Recall reading something in the instructions regarding lifespan.

A nasty bug/virus is across ct. making its way through the house now (great gotta love kids and schools, daycare seem like a Pietra dish). One ended up with phenomena, when it dropped to the chest.

Hope U feel better.

 

[046]

first place to look is the damper... make sure it's completely opened up.
then look for any blockages in your chimney.

as everyone said.... get two new CO meters.

one right over the mantle, then a backup on in bedroom.

I've also got a Fluke CO meter for HVAC that reads in PPM. to check if updraft is working properly. after fire is going... I'll insert probe at top of door opening. there should be no CO coming out with door open.

my draft is set to slow down smoke to right above door opening.
probe if stuck 2 inches above door opening should read CO.

 

[flotek]

it has been said its very rare for a wood stove to cause this without noticable excessive smoke or noxious fumes from an obvious problem ,i doubt its yours stove,this is cold season ,thats doesnt mean i wouldnt get it checked out anyways though ,better safe than sorry

 

[mtfallsmikey]

I would recommend calling in someone with a combustion analyzer...oil burner service company is a good example...can pull samples out from the flue, check draft....get it fixed.....CO nothing to play around with!!
:jawdrop:

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Mine go off when there is a rapid tempreture change in the house. Last week I was bringing in a bunch of groceries and had the door proped open the house went from 70 to 50 real fast, the thing went off for an hour.

 

[husky455rancher]

thanks for the replies guys. i just tried it again and it started immiediatly howling. it still dosent make a sound when its near the stove in the cellar. i really dont know what could be the issue with the insert. im gonna call the manufacturer in a few minutes and see what they say.


if i cant get anywhere with them then im gonna abandon the insert until i get someone who can check it out.

 

[CentaurG2]

Carbon monoxide is VERY dangerous even in small amounts. From what I remember of basic biology, CO sticks to your red blood cells better than oxygen. This prevents the red blood cells from supplying oxygen to the rest of the cells in your body and you slowly suffocate, usually without even knowing it. Be careful! I would recommend trying another meter or finding someone with CO tester just to be sure.

 

[046]

also got a Bacharach combustible gases analyzer along with a Fluke CO meter. I use the Fluke more than the Bacharach for wood stoves.

don't count on smoke to tell presence for CO... you could easily have a partially clogged chimney preventing full draft. this forces gases that normally would vent to backup into room.

I would recommend calling in someone with a combustion analyzer...oil burner service company is a good example...can pull samples out from the flue, check draft....get it fixed.....CO nothing to play around with!!
:jawdrop:

 

[newb]

The question I have is when you aired out your house did you start to feel better?

 

[Mike PA]

This may be why you have been feeling bad all week? Especially the lightheaded part. You usually also get a bad headache, nauseated, and sleepy.

I don't know what is causing your problem. If everything is clean, then there is either another source, or possibly a leak in the exhaust system. Get it checked out. CO poisoning kills quietly, and most people never realize they are being poisoned. Thank your wife for being smart enough to figure that one out.

 

[mga]

The question I have is when you aired out your house did you start to feel better?

heh...my thoughts too.

he never said if he did or not. nor did he say if his wife was feeling ill either.

furthermore, once outside and active for several hours he should have felt better.

i'd question the detector.

as for me....i don't think i'd call the fire dept to come in the house. i don't want them snooping around and looking for violations of any sort.

any who.....good luck with that.

 

[flotek]

how bout your dryer ? i hear some of those testers are really finnicky and it wont take much to set them off ,changing mounting locations in the house wil l even make them trip off

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I have a question for anyone that knows, not trying to belittle the danger of carbon monoxide but it seems to me your house would be VERY VERY smoky before CO would be a problem from a wood fire?
Gas burns much cleaner so I can see where that would be much more dangerous.
Again not trying to give the impression that CO is not dangerous just trying to understand if a wood fire could fill your house with a dangerous amount of CO before your regular smoke detectors go off?