Carbon Monoxide detector sounding off??

[Truro Ex Pat]

Hi Guys I have had an issue with the detector going off in the middle of the night?
Its located in the engine room with nothing on other than the AC and the water pump and it tends to sound the alarm between 2 and 4 am but not every night?
I have checked the batteries and they all seam ok as I did have an issue before with it going off due to faulty batteries.
Any ideas on what it could be and is this a boat engineer thing who would have equipment to identify it?

 

[luptonj]

Probably worth buying a cheapo one to put alongside and see if there is any carbon monoxide in there, you can get ones with an indicator of ppm. Could be coming from a neighboring boat etc.

 

[pmagowan]

Yes, I think the first thing would be to rule out actual CO. Then see if there is another gas such as hydrogen from battery charging that is bothering it. The sensors for CO normaly only last 7-10 years so it may need replaced. CO could come from your boat or from another boat.

 

[Assassin]

It could also come from things such as cabling heating up and the insulation producing some seepage, agree with going down the route of establishing CO presence first.

 

[Bouba]

I do remember that in our motorhome every night the dogs would fart on the gas alarm

 

[VicS]

Hi Guys I have had an issue with the detector going off in the middle of the night?
Its located in the engine room with nothing on other than the AC and the water pump and it tends to sound the alarm between 2 and 4 am but not every night?
I have checked the batteries and they all seam ok as I did have an issue before with it going off due to faulty batteries.
Any ideas on what it could be and is this a boat engineer thing who would have equipment to identify it?

Is it recommended to fit a CO alarm in an engine room? it seems an obvious place but perhaps not such a good idea if prone to false alarms due to cross-sensitivities.

Normally it is recommended that they are fitted in living spaces and near the bed-heads in separate sleeping quarters.

See https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/stay-safe/carbon-monoxide-(co)/placing-co-alarms/

Normal CO alarms are "programmed" , if thats the right word, to respond to CO in a way that mimics the effect on the human body.

Note that there is a different "standard" for CO alarms used in mobile locations such as boats and caravans. Not all domestic alarms comply with this. Does yours?

https://www.safelincs.co.uk/british-standards-for-co-alarms/