Carbon Monoxide Monitor

[pufferfish]

Does anyone know if there are any reliable CO tank monitors out there? A few years back there was one by Seaways engineering but they seem to have gone by the wayside.
I'd prefer a quantitative over qualitative measurement device.

Thanks

 

[pufferfish]

Ok I will have to answer my own post and thank another SB member for pointing me toward this detector. It appears most of the scuba dedicated products have gone out of business like the AirGuard product that one put on the inflator hose.

This product is used in the oil and gas industry and is a rock solid design, easy to use, and has a range from 0 to 999 ppm CO. I spoke with one of the company reps today in Calgary and asked him about my desire to check scuba fill quality in the field. He said no problem just put the sensor in a bag with the regulator and flush the bag with air from the tank. Just don't blast the sensor with full purge pressure.

Cost is $375 US and calibration is about $20 a year. Batteries last three years.

CO detector

 

[pufferfish]

This is one the pilots are using in their cockpits. Very sensitive in the 0 to 70 ppm range and battery powered. Calibrate once a year for $30 if needed. Great device for diving off the beaten track where portable compressors are used. Cost $99 US.
Just put it in a bag with the reg and purge gently purge some air into the bag.
CO Monitor

 

[rmediver2002]

Anyone using a portable (fuel) compressor system may be interested in this item http://www.lawrence-factor.com/cocop.htm

The inflator style unit is 49.95, the yoke style is 79.95, and replacement capsules are 5.95...

Would be good for operations were you are repeatedly filling cylinders on site...

With changing wind conditions, vehicles moving around an area, operator error, canister failure, compressor block cooling insufficient (exceeding duty cycle of compressor), incorrect compressor oil, still air, vibration and wear on intake hose, inadequate bleed off of moisture build up...

All these factors come into play during field filling operations, and have the potential to introduce CO into the divers breathing media. Depending on the style of filtration being used (catalyst can convert CO into CO2) low levels of CO contamination can be dealt with but the amounts in engine exhaust can over power the ability of the catalyst to keep up with the CO introduction. (Most types of catalyst can reliably convert up to 300 parts per million if conditions are ideal, the air needs to be very dry for the products to be effective)

Concentrations as low as .002 ATA can be fatal...

Jeff Lane

 

[pufferfish]

Thanks Jeff. I had seen the CO-Cop before but felt that there must a better route to go than colometric qualitative testing in the 21st century. I think there is just a color change at 10 ppm so one does not know if the CO concentration is 10 or a 100 ppm. The CO Experts device above will give you a 'hard' number from 0 to 70 ppm. Its sample rate is every six seconds so you can check a tank in half a minute. Also the CO-Cop requires the purchase of the replacement elements which might be hard to get in Latin America or the like. Batteries are all that is required for the above device. Anyhow I just ordered one today so will try it in the field for a few months and then comment on what I think.

 

[Genesis]

are basically colormetric devices in a tube.

They work for extreme situations, but whether they will warn you of low-level problems is in serious doubt, and like all other things at pressure, its the partial pressure that's the problem.

So if you have 50ppm of CO in the gas, that's bad. But at 4ATM its like 200 ppm, which is going to produce severe impairment and over enough time could even be fatal.

Grade E air permits 10 ppm of CO. But again, at 4 ATM that's 40 ppm, and that's above the limit where firefighters (35 ppm) will don their SCBA gear!

Will you have notable symptoms at 40ppm of PCO? I don't know. There are many who say "no", and that the lower limit is 100 ppm. Frankly, I don't know if I buy that or not.

I have one of the "ultra-sensitive" style units on my boat; while I have diesel engines and a diesel genset, and neither are commonly implicated in CO poisoning, we often anchor out and its the OTHER GUY next to us with a gas genset running that scares me - you could be sleeping when he pulls up and drops the hook and he could easily poison you without warning.

I also have one of the more "usual" units (less sensitive) in each cabin to detect immediately hazardous conditions.

 

[pufferfish]

Check out this site and Penny's book for anything you want to know.
www.coheadquarters.com