Carbon Monoxide detector going off

[in-Transit]

As stated wife and I are zooming along on I94 and all at once the alarm starts singing! Just a basic model with no display ... Our Sprinter has no known exhaust problems but as soon as I opened a window within a few moments it turned off ! Any ideas ?


Sent from my flying circus

 

[Turtle]

Since a diesel engine outputs virtually no carbon monoxide, it was either CO from a car in front of you (or close and upwind of you).

 

[in-Transit]

Since a diesel engine outputs virtually no carbon monoxide, it was either CO from a car in front of you (or close and upwind of you).

So I read!


Sent from my flying circus

 

[ntimevan]

As stated wife and I are zooming along on I94 and all at once the alarm starts singing! Just a basic model with no display ... Our Sprinter has no known exhaust problems but as soon as I opened a window within a few moments it turned off ! Any ideas ?


Sent from my flying circus

Did you Eat refried Beans at Noon..... Lol

 

[Slo-Ride]

Our Sprinter has no known exhaust problems but as soon as I opened a window within a few moments it turned off ! Any ideas ?
Sent from my flying circus

Have the truck checked untill ya know for sure. trust your alarm Diesel fumes do kill: a case of fatal carbon ... [J Forensic Sci. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI





While it is known that diesel fuel combustion engines produce much lower concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) than gasoline engines, these emissions could certainly generate lethal ambient concentrations given a sufficient amount of time in an enclosed space and under suitable environmental conditions. The authors report a case of CO poisoning which was initially referred for autopsy as a presumed natural death of a truck driver found in the secure cab of a running diesel tractor trailer truck. Completion of the preliminary investigation ascribed death to complications of ischemic heart disease (IHD), pending toxicological analysis that included quantification of CO. When the toxicology results showed lethal blood COHbg, the cause of death was re-certified as CO intoxication secondary to inhalation of (diesel) vehicular exhaust fumes. Because of the unique source of fatal CO intoxication in this case, the contributory IHD and the possible contaminants in the putrefied blood, a 10-year retrospective review was conducted on all nonfire related CO deaths autopsied (n = 94) at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Louisville, KY from 1994 to 2003. For validation of the COHbg detection method used by the Kentucky Office of Forensic Toxicology (KYOFT), blood samples from these cases along with controls were submitted to three laboratories using various analytical methods yielding no statistically significant differences. Lastly, an extensive literature review produced no scientifically reported cases of fatal CO poisoning attributed to diesel fuel exhaust.

PMID:18643868[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

[Turtle]

I really don't think a Sprinter driving down the road fits the same conditions as in that report

 

[mjmsprt40]

It's still worth checking. Death by CO poisoning is preventable, and getting the van's exhaust checked is worth it. Check any other possible sources too-- you had the CO detector for a reason, did you possibly forget to turn off an auxiliary heater before you started driving? Get that heater checked in any case, it's worth it.

 

[Slo-Ride]

I agree with you Turtle but the possibility is still there. Maybe a bad rear door seal?? Hole in floor board?? Until he/she can verify a false reading on the alarm it should not be ignored.

 

[Turtle]

No, it absolutely shouldn't be ignored. Everyone out here regardless of vehicle type should have a carbon monoxide detector on board. But it shouldn't be freaked out over, either, especially in a Sprinter, especially in one that's moving. Mercedes is all about airflow. Bad read door seal, hole in the floor board, doesn't matter in a Sprinter. Even if you block off the vents the air in a moving Sprinter will still turn over 2-7 times an hour (depending on speed). That's also why CO from the outside can get in so easily. I've had mine go off in the parking lot of a chicken processing plant (those employees really should say something to management about that one, because the levels were very, very high), and have had it go off a few times when someone in a car was parked and idling next to me. Since a diesel engine outputs a minuscule amount of CO, the chances of enough of that CO accumulating to be a problem in a moving Sprinter is somewhere south of zero.

Here's an informative and fascinating article, written by a brilliant author, that touches on this very subject. Expedite Now Trucking Magazine - Carbon Monoxide Can Kill You