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  #1  
Old 04-04-2011, 05:01 PM
RickWoodall's Avatar
RickWoodall RickWoodall is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 1,452
Default CO (carbon monoxide) detector

A question for the smart people.

I am close to flying and just thinking of little things that I wish to have in my plane. TCAS and carbon monoxide testing are two of those. There are several CO testing items at acs for sale. The cheapest are around $150. I went to Home Depot and bought a small, 3 duracell aa powered unit that actually samples and digitally shows the CO readings. Its small, light and cheap with a good audible alarm. What am I giving up here? Any downside to having this in my plane. $30 and can be tested easily.

Why spend at least 5-10 times this much? Anything I am missing?
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Rick Woodall C-GSTT "ghost"
9a -TMX io-320, catto three blade, dual dynon hdx with a/p. 900+ hrs in 8 yrs flying.

Flew to Osh 11,12,15,17,19. SNF 2013. West to Cali /Washington/Vancouver/crossed the Rockies north to Red Deer east to Moosonee and over to maritimes. South to Jekyll Isl, cedar key, and Key West etc. 6 trips and 17 islands of the Bahamas. Flown turtles and dogs for Pilots n Paws too. Love our Rv's

Last edited by RickWoodall : 04-04-2011 at 05:12 PM.
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  #2  
Old 04-04-2011, 06:39 PM
noelf noelf is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Cary, N.C.
Posts: 1,216
Default

I used the same item from Low"s Home center. Flew the first 5 hours with it positioned on the passenger seat of my -6A. No alarms in the aircraft, so I tested it with the auto exhaust from my M5. Works as expected...
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  #3  
Old 04-04-2011, 07:18 PM
RVnoob RVnoob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: London
Posts: 167
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by noelf View Post
I used the same item from Low"s Home center. Flew the first 5 hours with it positioned on the passenger seat of my -6A. No alarms in the aircraft, so I tested it with the auto exhaust from my M5. Works as expected...
did you use auto exhaust to test it at altitude?
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  #4  
Old 04-18-2011, 11:07 AM
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chuckwn chuckwn is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Petaluma, CA
Posts: 261
Default Why not a Cheap Detector?

There are several reasons not to use a keychain or household CO detector in an aircraft.

1) They are not altitude or temperature compensated. As altitude goes up, sensitivity goes down. As temperature goes down CO sensor sensitivity also goes down. This means that at low temperature and/or high altitudes dangerous levels of CO may not be detected.

2) They do not perform a periodic self test to confirm the sensor is within spec. CO sensors are life limited and must be replaced periodically (every 5 or so years).

3) The sensor is not replaceable. After 5 or so years the unit needs to be replaced.

The Flight Data Systems GD-40 is temperature and altitude compensated and performs a test of the sensor every hour to confirm the sensor is operating normally. The sensor can be replaced and the unit recalibrated once the life of the sensor is over ($70).

We are now shipping the GD-40 CO detector specifically designed for homebuilts.

http://www.fdatasystems.com/GD_40.htm
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  #5  
Old 04-18-2011, 11:11 AM
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Mike S Mike S is offline
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Location: Dayton Airpark, NV A34
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Default How long is the life of the sensor??

Quote:
Originally Posted by chuckwn View Post
The sensor can be replaced and the unit recalibrated once the life of the sensor is over ($70).


http://www.fdatasystems.com/GD_40.htm
Apx 5 years as the unit you mention in your post above???
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Flying as of 12/4/2010

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  #6  
Old 04-18-2011, 01:49 PM
Pilottonny Pilottonny is offline
 
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Location: Belgium
Posts: 645
Default 5 year limit is common

"CO-Guardian" needs to be serviced every 5 years also!

Regards, Tonny.
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Tonny Tromp
Lanaken, Belgium (EU)
RV9A, Registration: PH-VAN
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  #7  
Old 04-18-2011, 07:35 PM
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chuckwn chuckwn is offline
 
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Location: Petaluma, CA
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Default CO Detector Service Life

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike S View Post
Apx 5 years as the unit you mention in your post above???
Yes, expected service life of the GD-40 sensor is 5-7 years.

Thanks!
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Petaluma, CA
RV-8 N828RV
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  #8  
Old 04-18-2011, 07:52 PM
HT1 HT1 is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 45
Default

Chuck,
Can you provide a list of which EFIS systems your CO2 detector is compatible with?
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  #9  
Old 04-18-2011, 08:28 PM
roee roee is offline
 
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Location: San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Posts: 770
Question How significant is the uncompensated error?

Quote:
Originally Posted by chuckwn View Post
There are several reasons not to use a keychain or household CO detector in an aircraft.

1) They are not altitude or temperature compensated. As altitude goes up, sensitivity goes down. As temperature goes down CO sensor sensitivity also goes down. This means that at low temperature and/or high altitudes dangerous levels of CO may not be detected.

[snip]
Chuck, can you quantify that? What is the rate of uncompensated sensor gain error as a function of altitude (pressure) and temperature? You don't have to quote me exact numbers if you don't have them handy, just ballpark is fine. Which is sort of my point. I'm just wondering how significant the uncompensated error really is within our operating envelope (numerically and physiologically)?

Consider that for altitude, most RV flying occurs under 10,000 ft, where we still have approx 2/3 of sea level atmospheric pressure. And at the extreme end, say 18,000 ft, we have about half sea level pressure.

As for temp, we're talking about cabin temp, not outside temp, so again the range is not extremely wide. Let's say 0 to 40 deg C.

And ultimately the purpose of monitoring CO in the cockpit is to determine when physiologically significant levels are present. And those level thresholds themselves are just ballpark figures, determined statistically over large populations. So for the purpose of CO monitoring it would seem that we don't need an extremely accurate measurement. I would guess that even just a binary order of magnitude might adequately serve the purpose. If we have a detector that is accurate to within, say, plus/minus a factor of two, that might very well be good enough. No?
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  #10  
Old 04-18-2011, 09:15 PM
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Don Patrick Don Patrick is offline
 
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Location: GTA, Ontario
Posts: 826
Default CO detectors

Hey Rick,

I've flown quite a few different aircraft and use heaters quite often here when the temps drop. I've always had the ASA stick on CO detector on the panel that works great.

They expire after 90 days, are $4.00 each, and over the course of a year, it's $16. There's no alarm, but when it turns black, you can't miss it.

Cheap, and effective.

My 2 cents.

Cheers,

Don
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