Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Notatestpilot

Notatestpilot

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Notatestpilot
How accurate are the little stick on ASA brand CO detectors?
I have a slight darkening around the edge of the detector circle and that's it.
I can't tell if that means there a leak into my cockpit.
Appreciate any good advice.
Thanks!
 
I don't know how accurate they are?
I would get another one before next flight and fly with it and see how it reacts.
How old is yours?
 
Notatestpilot said:
How accurate are the little stick on ASA brand CO detectors?
I have a slight darkening around the edge of the detector circle and that's it.
I can't tell if that means there a leak into my cockpit.
Appreciate any good advice.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
They are not, at all.

Get a digital readout showing PPM, they aren't even expensive. Can you tell if your muffler cracks? The answer is "no", unless you have a CO detector.
 
Look for "in the hangar" on youtube. A while back they did an interview of a mooney driver name of Dan Bass, about CO. Quite an interesting story...and they talked about meters/alarms
 
I just installed the detector about 2 weeks ago. Actually stuck on the side wall of the cockpit
I’ll visually inspect the exhaust this weekend though.
I just ordered a digital CO detector from Amazon.
 
Brad W said:
Look for "in the hangar" on youtube. A while back they did an interview of a mooney driver name of Dan Bass, about CO. Quite an interesting story...and they talked about meters/alarms
Click to expand...
Just watched the video...wow!
Good take aways.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Briefly, the color spot detectors are useless. I refused to use these in my research laboratory, and wouldn't use it in an airplane. Get an electrometric detector with a low trigger threshold and a short dwell time. They have a digital display so you can mo itor CO levels in real time.There are several brands (I use a Forensic Detectors model) that sell for about $100 or so. They will last about 5 years. Mine is velcro attached to the center console.

I've had mine go off in the propane heated maintenance hangar when CO went just above 9 ppm.
 
:yeahthat:
Sensorcon is another respectable brand.
 
One issue is folks TALK about buying better CO detectors but fail to do so.

I‘ve seen the dots darken with a quick flight around the patern.

Fora couple bucks at places like Wal - mart it is money well spent.

This can save your life better than the other type you didn’t buy yet.

Stick on you log or ?


There are failures and leaks you cannot see.

A good eval involves pressurizing the system

I use a Leaf Blower and do without removing.

There are also better ways; IF THEY GET DONE

Blower is simple and effective.
 
Dead stops have a fixed life, but do work. The Navion when standing still with the canopy open and the engine running in calm winds will turn it black.
 
Those pads also have an expiry date on them so I’m pretty sure most of them are expired. And do you have that as part of your regular scan? I assume that you only need to worry about CO if you have the heat on. I have no idea how accurate this is, but if I am running the heat, I also keep the fresh air vent open a little in hopes that fresh air would help ‘overcome’ if there was a CO problem. I also have a sentry adsb with CO detector, that I could use if I was worried, but it doesn’t play well with my Garmin stuff (actually Garmin is the one who doesn’t play well with others).
 
Passive spot detectors turn black at about 100 ppm CO and have a useful life of 12 months or less. Low dwell time CO detectors will alarm at 9 ppm for a minute or so, or 25 ppm over a period of seconds. Most will alert you when they reach the end of their useful life. Which one would you want in your plane? Get an electrometric detector with an active alarm. It might detect a problem before it gets critical.
 
Some folks like a belt and suspenders.

Why not both detectors?

Alarm in aircraft and dot on your log.
 
I have a Sensorcon unit — I recommend this equipment. It’s $140.00 well spent for piece of mind. I saw a presentation by Dan Bass about his co2 ordeal and Sensorcon is now in his plane.
 
Watched that video and immediately bought the Sensorcon. My numbers increase during climbs and then back down to low numbers when into cruise. It's good to have that information in realtime.
 
MichaelRuiz said:
Watched that video and immediately bought the Sensorcon. My numbers increase during climbs and then back down to low numbers when into cruise. It's good to have that information in realtime.
Click to expand...
I saw his video as well.
I've ordered a different one but will remove the tab detector from my cockpit.
 
Dan Bass was at the Mooney Summit the last couple of days.

He donated about 5 Sensorco CO alarms for the raffle.

CO exposure control is part of my profession. I bought a Sensorco alarm BEFORE I bought my plane. And bought one for our CAP 182.

The Dead Spot CO spots are properly named.
 
Dan Gordon said:
I have a Sensorcon unit — I recommend this equipment. It’s $140.00 well spent for piece of mind. I saw a presentation by Dan Bass about his co2 ordeal and Sensorcon is now in his plane.
Click to expand...
I have one as well. It recently failed for some inexplicable reason, so I sent it back to Sensorcon. They repaired and calibrated it for a very reasonable price, and the turn-around was quick.
 
Best small detector out there, $99 on Amazon. Long lasting batteries, great sensitivity, and TINY. This replaces a built-in detector in the dash of my DA40 that I didn't feel like paying $800 to refresh. After annual 2 years ago, it picked up a small amount of CO from cosmoline or similar material used to clean my powerflo exhaust. Fantastic device.

Car, Vehicle, Aircraft Carbon Monoxide CO Detector | Fast Low-Level 9ppm Alarm
 
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