www.iFourWinns.com

Guys ( and Gals, if there are any on here)

A few weeks ago a mother and daughter died on a lake in the UK due to CO poisoning; the father survived.

The Marine Accident Investigation Board ( MAIB) report concluded they had an external generator running with an improvised exhaust, which fell off. The standard fir CO alarm on the boat was not connected anymore .

Now, a few years ago I disconnected the CO alarm on mine as it was giving false alarms ( they are sensitive to voltage). I did fit a battery powered one in it's place.

They are so cheap, it's not worth mucking about with the OEM 12V ones. The latest ones have sensors lasting 7 years. Cheap insurance for you and your loved ones lives.

It's a shame to hear of this kind of thing, again. Too often someone half-asses something with a generator and ends up dead for the 'bargain' they got instead of a legit setup.

I agree regarding the built-in ones being sensitive to voltage. But this just means you need to add more house battery capacity. I discovered the low voltage alarm at 3am one night while out on the hook (after a fine dinner and many margaritas). Try reading the tiny print on the instruction pamphlet when half-in-the-bag. Then try unplugging the bastards without ruining them.

I also now have a battery powered CO alarm onboard. It's the kind with a numerical read-out showing the CO PPM. Very helpful to know if it's just something trivial or a serious issue. I do, however, still have the built-in ones installed and operating.

Bearing in mind, of course, that CO exposure is cumulative. Low levels over time as just as bad as higher levels for a shorter time. And you really do need to offset your exposure for a fair bit of time away from it before you're truly safe again.

Anyway, this always reminds me of the despair.com poster:

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Unfortunately, it's not always as simple as that. the 12V ones seem to super sensitive to voltage, any volt drop from the batteries to their supply seems enough to set them off; I've even had the one on my boat going off with both fully charged 120 AH batteries connected, nothing else drawing current.
Maybe they use the same electronics that used to set off smoke alarms if the batteries were getting low.

The reputable cheap battery powered one has a nice big, legible display and even displays the maximum level recorded; thankfully in our case that being "0" !