www.iFourWinns.com

One advantage of a cruiser is that one should be able to use it year round – depending on your climate. But where I’m at we often boat on those nice warm weekends. For example last weekend it was in the 60’s and a nice cruise or cocktail cruise is nice. This is my first year with my Vista 338. I love the total canvas as it’s mostly clear. But, when I even try to cocktail cruise I set off every CO monitor on the boat . . . scared me so I headed back. On my Sea Ray as long as I kept all of the canvas up it was not a problem, on this boat it seems to really have the station wagon effect very bad. With all of the plastic up I’m not even sure how the CO is getting back into the boat – any ideas?

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2010 Vista 338 Volvo Penta
2005 Yamaha Wave Runner FX HO

2005 SeaRay 280 SunDancer
2001 SeaRay 245 Weekender

Not sure how the CO gets in but I never drive with the canvas fully closed for this reason. I at lease keep a small window open in the front and almost always leave the door open a little in the back so the wind passes through.
Which CO detector is going off? Do you have one in the cockpit or is it one in the cabin? If it is in the cabin it could be for another reason and having the canvas up just keep the air trapped.

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--2002 3880 Regal Flybridge | Twin Merc 8.1HO **Seven**
--2003 AB 13 VST Console Inflatable | Tohatsu 40hp TLDI **Phish'n ski**
--310 Mercury Inflatable | 1982 9.9 Johnson

You could also take a passive CO detector card for only $10-$15 to help make a decision about how serious the CO level is. Obviously, your electronic detector is superior as it can alert you or wake up sleeping occupants, but these cards could help determine if the electronic detector is overly sensitive.

http://www.pilotmall.com/product/Quantum-Eye-CO-Detector/co-detectors?r=googlefeed&gclid=CPuA0PCqgMMCFRBo7Aod5BkAuQ
or
http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Eye-Carbon-Monoxide-Detector/dp/B003VSAETK/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1420580093&sr=1-1

For anyone interested, here is a really good aviation article about the medical factors of CO exposure and recovery time, as well as CO Detectors. Has a lot of information about false alarm issues, and critiques of various CO sensors. Very thorough:
http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/186016-1.html?redirected=1

Ray

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

The 12V CO monitors fitted to FW boats are incredibly sensitive to voltage drop; I threw mine away and fitted reputable stand alone ones instead ( with a 5 year battery life). With something that vitally important, you have to be able to trust them.

CO monitors are notoriously finicky when it comes to dust. They usually last about 5 years at best in a house before they go off randomly. In a boat? 3 years is pushing it. A home one can be bought for <$10 now, put it right next to the old one. If both sound, there's a problem. If the old one goes off, and the new one does not - then it's past it's lifespan. you can also blow it out with a can of compressed air and see if that brings it back to life... but chances are it's a goner.

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2008 Four Winns h180 Bowrider
3.0 Volvo Penta

2013 Dodge Durango HEMI

Had this happen to me this past summer. Scared the crap out of me because we were quite a few miles out into Lake Michigan when it happened and at first I thought it was an engine alarm. It was only the aft cabin sensor that alarmed. If I crack the side windows in the camper top a little it doesn't happen.
I also had one go off in the middle of the night because of a low battery. Not fun at all.
I picked up a digital detector from HD that I keep on the boat now so I can be sure when they go off if it is a false alarm or not.

I'm hoping it is warmer next summer so I don't have to cruise the all the canvas up!.

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2004 248 Vista "Amante"
MC 5.0MPI/B3

Ray that was VERY interesting, I had read about this a bit in the old days (mid 70s) because I had air cooled VWs back then. I had to replace the heater box (similar to aircraft, forced hot air heating as part of the exhaust system) because it had rotted a bit and to leave it as it was was dangerous. I recall reading that the similar Corvair had similar problems, leaks in the exhaust manifolds could result in CO in the passenger compartment.

Back when we had Sandy, I had a portable gen set running under my back porch for about 2 weeks. The only way I could be comfortable with this was to get it as far away from the doors and windows of the basement and I hooked up a CO detector and put it right by the basement door to be on the safe side. No alarms, but you can't be too careful.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I've installed a battery operated CO detector directly under my steering wheel - it has a digital readout (from Home Depot). It's great because you can watch the CO levels go up, and then open windows and watch it start to decrease. Gave us great peace of mind when we spent hours basically at idle in the Trent this past summer. It's amazing how depending on the the wind, even opening the front vent and back window isn't enough to drop levels - often we had to crack open the front side windows a touch as well.

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1969 Chris Craft Commander 47
1999 Four Winns 328 Vista - SOLD