Cabin Heat and C02

[n2582d]

I'll second that. Thanks for the pirep!

[gfeher]

No problem. I've gotten so much good info from this forum that I'm glad to contribute if I have some potentially useful info.

I'm curious to see how long/well my little CO detector holds up. I guess I shouldn't be critical of its size. A former colleague of mine had a client that made data loggers used for sharks. The things didn't look like much - about 1" X 1/2". But they were inserted inside sharks and recorded all kinds of biometric info on the shark and uploaded it to a satellite every time the shark surfaced. They worked like a charm and lasted for years despite the fact that the inside of a shark is considered a pretty harsh environment.

[bagarre]

I think the most important thing is to read out the PPM vs some green, yellow, red (black) indication.
And also know what the PPM levels are.
Having a really low PPM alert - I think mine first makes a noise at 15 or 20 is useful to me. it triggers each flight and lets me know it's still working.
The day I climb out and don't hear it chirping at me, I know it might not be reading right anymore.

These things have a life limit. The battery change happens each annual.

[gfeher]

Right. Also, it helps to know the baseline levels/quirks of your plane so you can tell when the levels are different indicating a leak. I think I'll move mine from the hand strap. It's not doing much when I have ventilator air blowing by it. Perhaps I'll put it on the panel with Velcro as Arash suggests.

[blueldr]

As a matter of curiousity, shouldn't we have been talking about "CO" rather than "CO2"

[170C]

Not exactly on subject, but sort of related---my heater muff/shroud doesn't have the lead like donuts/gaskets where the exhaust pipes go through the muff/shroud to the muffler. This leaves a bit of an opening, especially at the rear of the muff/shroud thus reducing the volume of heated air to the cabin. I was wondering if there would be any major problem with making a gasket/donut from aluminum to go around the rear pipe (closest to the heater control).. Would the aluminum hold up to the temps in that area?

[johneeb]

This is what I use, very sensitive!

CO detector 1.jpg

[rollcloud]

I had my heatexchangers and mufflers overhauled. There are thick aluminum spacers that go around the upper exhaust inlets to the muffler. They make up the space between the muffler and heat shroud. My mechanic left them off. CO skrocketed. I fabricated new ones, bent to fit radius of muffler, installed them, and fired the mechanic. No problems now. My stacks stick out less than 3" from the cowl.

[GAHorn]

The seals were made of soft aluminum.... not lead.
They can be fashioned from heavy-wall tubing by cutting with a hole saw (if you don't mind large amounts of waste).

A good substitute can be made of small firesleeving like what is made by Aeroquip, etc.

The primary purpose is to increase heater-muff efficiency, by reducing heated air losses to atmosphere.... not to seal exhaust gas leaks....which is why so many airplanes operate with missing seals quite satisfactorily for many years.

[GAHorn]

Without mentioning which exact model "FedEx uses" to detect CO2..... it's important to note that most CO2 detectors will not detect CO.

(Drager's model 5000 purports to detect both, however.)