Reports of CO poisoning

[diamondgas]

Hi peeps 🙂

Thought I'd share this with you as it happened to me yesterday! Maybe others can share their experience of attending reported CO poisoning.

Landlord rang me yesterday regarding an incident involving the fire-brigade. He said they've turned the gas off at a property I look after!! Sphincter starts putting!! However I recollect the property and knew that it has a combi and hob! Combi is negative pressure so not a likely suspect!

Transco had been and done there thing by the time I got there! So the tenants (asylum seekers) has experienced the fire-brigade with huge fans evacuating the premise and transco slapping a big notice saying DO NOT USE!!!

Soundness test - pass, Visual of the appliances, pass flue's a bit close to a window but the window isn't openable! FGA results of the boiler 115ppm/0.0010 on High 56ppm/0.0008 Low. Nothing outside the unit or the flue through the wall.

Now here's where my brain thinks "how you suppose to test a hob?" Anyways set all 4 away and visually okay so hovered the fga above the burners looking for dodgy amounts of CO. Got 5ppm max!

I then spent an age re-assuring the tenants that everything was okay. I then had to go through the same explanation with the landlord. He also insisted on something in writing !!! I haven't got a clue what caused the tenants 'headaches' but it certainly weren't fumes!!

My pondering is though, did i do enough? Could I have checked anything differently? It's not every day you attend reported CO poisoning involving the fire-brigade 🙂 Sheeeeeeeeeeesh!!!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

was there a alarm activation or a assumption it was co on the tenants part?

 

[diamondgas]

was there a alarm activation or a assumption it was co on the tenants part?

No alarm but the fire-brigade did leave them one afterwards! I've no idea how it came about and got no info regards what the fire-brigade found or how they ended up there in the first place? I don't even know if they have equipment for detecting CO!

My assumption is that it's a procedure they adopt if they suspect, or have been made aware off the potential off CO in a property?

 

[stani]

did anybody other than you take CO readings, Fire Brigade would just have gone belt and braces and ventilated the property with a positive pressure fan, but they would not neccessarily have the eqwuipment to test for CO. if you have tested to the best of your ability, the only other option is to advise the landlord to go "all" electric. by the sound of it you did everything right,

 

[gaspastemania]

How long did you have the hob on for??
ask because CO obviously levels build up over time which your prob aware of.
The joy of gas engineering huh

 

[dontknowitall]

Presumably CO and not Radon or something else?

Poor you - talking about heart in mouth ...

 

[diamondgas]

How long did you have the hob on for??
ask because CO obviously levels build up over time which your prob aware of.
The joy of gas engineering huh

I didn't run it for a long period at most 5mins to be honest. The kitchen was small but not tiny and there's a door into the livingroom also. It would have had to be on as a souce of heat to build up anything potentialy dangerous I'd have thought ...lol

 

[mikegas]

supposed to do an ambient air test following reports of co aren't you?

 

[diamondgas]

Presumably CO and not Radon or something else?

Poor you - talking about heart in mouth ...

Upstairs flat! 🙂 I was even sniffin around the pump and pcb to see if that had been letting off anything to contribute to the 'smell'! Oh! That's what he said, a funny smell from the boiler and i said "CO doesn't have a smell!"

 

[gaspastemania]

If in doubt just drill a four inch core through the wall lol

 

[diamondgas]

supposed to do an ambient air test following reports of co aren't you?

Ears are open mikegas .... If that means hovering my fga above the hob then I did 🙂 I ain't getting into technobabble though 🙂

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

did you say you carried out a co room safety? sadly you now need to go though that perlaver with both appliances,there is a BS on this or in one of corgis books they explain it more clearly if your stuck i could photocopy it and send it to you but you would get it quicker via a google search you also need to fill out a report of fumes report under GSIUR,if all this proves ok advise them to go to the docs,there could be other sources of co or a totally unrelated explanation

 

[CMairiD]

If you need the BS docs, diamond, PM me your email address. Additionally, if you smile sweetly at the grumpy gas lady, the grumpy gas lady will scan you copies of her CORGI report of fumes forms which is a handy 'follow-through' guide for on-site testing.

I know how you feel tho'. The only one on a patch one day with a FGA and get roped into investigating a second CO alarm activation in less than a year on boiler in a child's bedroom. *gulp*

 

[diamondgas]

did you say you carried out a co room safety? sadly you now need to go though that perlaver with both appliances,there is a BS on this or in one of corgis books they explain it more clearly if your stuck i could photocopy it and send it to you but you would get it quicker via a google search you also need to fill out a report of fumes report under GSIUR,if all this proves ok advise them to go to the docs,there could be other sources of co or a totally unrelated explanation

Ever done one? reason i ask is coz I spent nearly a full day many moons ago at a CO poisoning when I worked for BG and it was apparent from the outset that the oven grill was spewing CO. Floppy yellow and off the scale!!!! We then spent ages 'proving' that after whatever time it was the level of CO was enough to cause cetain symptoms! Crazy really coz the blokes toast would have been a frizzle!!! lol

 

[mikegas]

Ears are open mikegas .... If that means hovering my fga above the hob then I did 🙂 I ain't getting into technobabble though 🙂

lol. Its bs7967 parts 1-3 mate ive not got access myself

 

[mikegas]

Carrying out a room test for carbon monoxide with a Combustion Analyser.

General
1. Position an open ended sampling probe approximately 2 m above floor level in the centre of the room and at least 1 m away from any suspect appliance installation.
2. Close all external doors, windows and customer adjustable ventilation.
3. Record the level of CO over a 15 min period. If the indoor level of CO starts to rise during this period, check for CO migration from other sources.
4. If there is no rise then proceed to test the appliance.
Room sealed and open flued appliances
Operate the appliance at full rate until the CO reading stabilizes or begins to fall, whichever occurs first.
Cookers
Ensure that all permanent ventilation to the space in which the appliance is situated is unobstructed.
Place a saucepan on each of the pan-supports above the two largest hotplate burners and put approximately a litre of water in each and cover with a lid. Use a saucepan with a flat base and a base diameter of between 160 mm and 220 mm.
Place the grill pan in its highest position under the grill.
Open/operate the customer adjustable ventilation in accordance with the cooker manufacturer’s instructions, e.g. window or extractor fan.
Light the grill, oven and the two hotplate burners at their maximum setting. Turn the oven down to gas mark 5 (or mid-range if not calibrated in gas mark numbers).
Record the CO levels at 1 min intervals.
Turn the hotplate burners down to simmer when the water boils. Turn the grill off after 30 min.
If during the test the CO reading:
begins to fall without exceeding 30 ppm, stop the test; the installation and cooker are satisfactory;
does not exceed 30 ppm for longer than 20 min and begins to fall and does not exceed 90 ppm at any time, stop the test; the installation and cooker are satisfactory;
Exceeds 90 ppm at any time, stop the test, ventilate the room, identify the cause, rectify and repeat the test.
Flueless water heaters
Ensure that all permanent ventilation to the space in which the appliance is situated is unobstructed.
Close all customer adjustable ventilation to the space in which the appliance is situated.
Light the appliance and operate it at maximum gas rate for 5 min recording the CO levels at 1 min intervals.
Flueless space heaters
Ensure that all permanent ventilation to the space in which the appliance is situated is unobstructed.
Close all customer adjustable ventilation to the space in which the appliance is situated.
Light the appliance and operate it at maximum gas rate for 30 min recording the CO levels at 1 min intervals.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Ever done one? reason i ask is coz I spent nearly a full day many moons ago at a CO poisoning when I worked for BG and it was apparent from the outset that the oven grill was spewing CO. Floppy yellow and off the scale!!!! We then spent ages 'proving' that after whatever time it was the level of CO was enough to cause cetain symptoms! Crazy really coz the blokes toast would have been a frizzle!!! lol

no,the last one i done was last year on a old O/F mexico done the usual spillibe,flueflow,pressures,fga,then a co room safety nothing after 30 minutes ,this was after a alarm activation,after all this custard informs me they removed the co alarm to decorate and dropped it,barstewerds

 

[mikegas]

^ from gb-gas

 

[tamz]

You would have thought someone would have suggested they get themselves to hospital or the docs to get co blood levels checked. Maybe they don't want to go there in case it is a one way trip to the boat back home :lol:

 

[diamondgas]

Okay so we've established that I didn't carry out the correct procedure and should have put some pans of water on and set the whole lot away for 1/2 an hour. I accept that 🙂 This is after carrying out the obligitory gas soundness test, boile flue analysis etc ..

Oh! by-the-way the kitchen with both appliances in it has an adjoining door to the living room that is perminantly open (real world) So what then? Also happens to be where they spend most of their time. Do I assume that the occupants were standing in the kitchen with the doors closed making their own entertainment watching the veg boil for 1/2hr?

Re-iterate - negative pressure combi, flue intact and a 4 burner hob visually ok and not one burner flaying in the wind 🙂