Carbon Monoxide Detector question
My cat was sitting right next to it when it went off. Do you think that A) if she farted while sitting right next to it, it would make it go off or B) that maybe she pressed the 'test' button on it or C) that it was really detecting something but opening the windows let it all out. I don't know what to do...Suggestions? |
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| Either check the test button or vaccuum it. The 2 biggest problems with both smoke and CO detectors is that their batteries are low or they are dusty. If it just beeps at you once and stops, there probably isn't a problem, sometimes they just freak out and yelp.
If there are lights on the front that are supposed to be on but they aren't the other problem may be that your detector died. If it's hard wired, a power spike, or a lighting strike can make them prematurely die. If it is an older model, they have a higher failure rate and can just give that last death squeal and perish. So check to make sure that it's still operational and give it a little TLC and see if it does it again. Tell the cat to stay away!!!! |
I know it's not funny but I had to laugh at the though of the cat sitting next to the detecter farting to make it go off!! 
I bet the cat nearly fell over in shock! |
| Yeah, the cat didn't stick around too long after it went off.
It is a battery-powered one and about 3 years old at the most. It has 2 areas for lights on the front--a green one on the left that flashes every 30 seconds or so to show it's working...and a red one on the right that lights up when the batteries are getting low. We've let the batteries get low on it before and it lets out a loud BEEP every few minutes. But this was, at least according to the instructions on the back, what the real deal would sound like--4 quick BEEPS every 10 (or 30? Can't remember) seconds. I just put new batteries in, so I really don't think it'd be that, unless the batteries themselves were bad to start with. It's just weird that it's never done this before. The one downstairs never went off and after this short episode it stayed silent...hmmmm  |
cat fart????? I'll have to ask my resident fireman  |
Tasker's Mom wrote: cat fart????? I'll have to ask my resident fireman
Yeah...I didn't really think cats farted, but it's the first thing I thought of at 3am and the idea is stuck with me now! Barney on the other hand, would have blown that detector to bits!  |
barney1 wrote: Yeah...I didn't really think cats farted, but it's the first thing I thought of at 3am and the idea is stuck with me now!
Barney on the other hand, would have blown that detector to bits!
Maybe the cat rubbed against it and blocked the sensor.
Hayley has blocked the sensor on mine (plug in) and it will start beeping immediately. |
| A new pack of batteries doesn't necessarily mean they
were good, too. I just thought I'd point that out just in case. It's not likely they were bad, but it does happen. Also, to 'those in the know', don't those detectors have a short life? I think I read somewhere they should be replaced every 8- 10 years regardless. Is that just the smoke detectors or the carbon monoxide too? (I did see that yours isn't old barney1, just asking for my own curiosity.) Shellie |
| I don't think cat farts contain Carbon Monoxide (CO).
In my limited experience with them, CO detectors are very slow to react, it takes a bit of a concentration for them to arrive at alarm level and they take a while to "clear their sensors" even after they've been taken to fresh air. Does your detector have a level indicator? The nice ones have a digital readout of the CO level, which should be at 0 unless you're running a gas cooking stove in the house. I vote for the cat leaning against the test button somehow. However if it goes off again or if either of you gets a headache of any sort anywhere in your house, or any type of flu symptom, get out of the house immediately and call the fire department from your cell phone. That's my recommendation anyway. |
Ron wrote: However if it goes off again or if either of you gets a headache of any sort anywhere in your house, or any type of flu symptom, get out of the house immediately and call the fire department from your cell phone.
It's hard to distinguish those symptoms from morning sickness. Ugh. |
You can always call your local fire department to come in with their fancy equipment and check the co level  |
| Hmmm, we DO have a fire station about 3 blocks away. I haven't checked them out yet....
I went home at lunch and there weren't any alarms going off. I think my cat was just trying to get some attention  As soon as I was back in bed she curled up right beside me and was like, PET ME!! |
| Had to laugh, cat farts...... Now Sami farts..... cleans out a room real fast. |
| Oh wait -- I just reread your original post -- and you talked about opening all the windows.
For how long was it alarming? At first I thought it alarmed and reset itself right away. If that's not the case, you ought to have someone come in and check things out with a real meter. I would think that you don't wanna be breathing CO during pregnancy. |
| It had already shut off before I opened the windows. Since it woke me up, which doesn't make for the best memory, but I'm a light sleeper and I'm sure I heard it on the first beep, I think it beeped maybe 4 times and then was silent.
So I think that by the time I was up and out of bed and had located the thing, it had actually stopped sounding. Or just about, maybe one or two more beeps. So it wasn't a long, continous alarm session. I think the back of the alarm said it would sound for 4 minutes, and I'm 99% sure it didn't. So I opened the windows before getting back in bed, after the alarm had been off and I reset it. But you're right, being pregnant and around carbon monoxide can't be that great... |
| In Anchorage you are told to call the gas company even if does not go off again. You could have a problem that does not normally float by your alarm. Have someone check you house out. |
| I've declared the problem all my cat's fault. I went home and I pressed the test button, which beeps once and then beeps 2 or 3 times as it would in a real emergency. I'm 99.9% sure that's what happened the other day. |
I'll bet it scared that cat! 
Reminds me of a riddle... Q: What is the definition of an alarm clock? A: A device designed to scare the daylights into you. Yay cat! |
Here's the culprit. As you can see from the picture, she is very technologically advanced and can operate electronics, so I think she set off the alarm on purpose because she felt lonely
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barney1 wrote: Here's the culprit. As you can see from the picture, she is very technologically advanced and can operate electronics, so I think she set off the alarm on purpose because she felt lonely
What a lovely Kitty!  So, does she channel flip too? |
| *sigh*
Yes, she channel flips. I also had to get a new alarm clock because EVERY night she's go and turn on the radio at like 2 in the morning. For attention. We call her DJ Kirby Kirb. And now, even with my new alarm, which you need thumbs to operate, I can still hear her at night trying to flip the switch |
Our carbon alarm went off at 4 am not like a testing beep would sound. Just as it sounds as the real deals happening. But then as soon as we got up to check it turned itself off. There not that old but I guess it's possible it needed new batteries? Wouldn't it just beep like a fire alarm would though? Ugh this is stressing me  |
| I would have that checked out. In the meantime, be on the lookout for any flu-like symptoms, headache or dizziness or confusion in any family member. If the detector is OK, jist remember that carbon monoxide is the result of burning fuels, so a car in an attached garage, gas water heater, central heat, gas laundry dryer, grill, fireplace or gas oven or cooktop could be a source. Good luck--let us know! |
| I would think low battery, dust or .......ghost? I remember it happening to me, yeah, they are loud. For us it was our winds (duh) blew out the pilot lights, all five!, on the stove.....yes, the window was open just enough. Recently humorus event with CO2 alarm, friend fast asleep, wakened by husband, "I think you should get up and dressed." "Why?" "I called 911." "WHAT, are you having a heart attack????" "No, I thought it was the smoke alarm going off, but it is the CO2 meter." "I don't hear anything." "Well, no I unplugged it." "You went down the hall where there might have been CO2 to unplug the meter?" "Yeah, it woke me up and I wanted to go back to sleep." "So why did you call 911?" "Well, maybe we DO have a problem." About this time the sirens are heard. Wife, not dressed, goes to door and as she opened it the fireman pulls her out, "Get outside where it is safe." With that she immediately remembers her husband and her english bulldog. "WAIT Plato and Zeus are still inside." She rushes back in and grabs the bulldog just before it becomes a leg ornament on a fireman. Husband comes down the hall and hands the detector to the fireman and says, "It's not making noise now." Fireman reframes from saying what he is thinking--DUH, you unplugged it. Fireman takes detector outside and returns with the industrial size CO2 detector measuring all parts of the house. Nothing found. Dog never stops barking. As fireman leaves he turns and asks, "I gotta know who is Zeus and who is Plato?" Dog = Zeus. |
| Maybe I am not the person to answer this since we just had a housemfire two weeks ago! But....I would have the fire department come and check your CO levels throughout the house. It shouldn't cost you anything for them to do. Sometimes, the levels are low in your immediate living area but by your burner, there could be a slight leak. Have it checked. Inmy area the fire department are volunteer and doesn't cost for them to come if you say your Carbon Mo alarm went off. They will check free of charge... And if its from your cat farting, I'm wondering...What will happen in my house when my husband lets out air??????? |
Ashley wrote: And if its from your cat farting, I'm wondering...What will happen in my house when my husband lets out air??????? |
| I just read the questions about cat gas possibly setting off a CO/Smoke detector. (today is July 22, 2013) Reason is that today my cat freaked out when a detector started its low battery alert beeping. Yes, flatulence (at least, human) can set off an alarm. Many years ago when I was teaching electronics and the topic was smoke and gas detection circuitry, one of my more curious and adventureous students brought in a smoke/gas detector and asked if it would be set-off by human gas. I said that it probably would, and continued my lesson. All of a sudden, a few minutes later, a shrill alarm was sounded and the students around the one who brought in the alarm rapidly evacuated the area. Granted, he was sitting on the detector ... Proof is in the pudding as they say ... |
Guest wrote: Granted, he was sitting on the detector ... Proof is in the pudding as they say ... LOL |
| Maybe you had a visit from an Alien - had any periods of missing time lately |
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