Prespray setting off Carbon Monoxide detectors

[KevinD]

Anyone else having trouble with detectors going off?
With our new laws requiring every dwelling to have them it has become a common problem.
I know it is not TM gasses because I have set off many while spraying before the truck is even fired up.
Once they go off even with a reset they keep going off again and again and occasionally run into houses with them hardwired with their security system with no way to override them.
Are there certain chemicals that set off co2 detectors?

 

[Scott Rogers]

i have a couple houses I clean that consistently do the this. But the vast majority dont.

 

[carpetcleaner]

It has happened 1 time for me, but every time I clean that house it sets the alarm off.

 

[Larry Cobb]

Kevin;

Inexpensive CO detectors without the proper charcoal filter will trigger on many gases:

One common characteristic of these sensors,
despite what is often claimed or implied, is that they
are not specialized to detect any one specific gas.

Each sensor is sensitive to a group or a family of
gases. In other words, the sensor is non-specific and
is subject to interference by other gases much like
a smoke detector in a house cannot distinguish be-
tween the smoke caused by a furniture fire and the
smoke caused by food burning in the stove or oven.

In limited cases, a chemical filter can be installed
to filter out interference chemicals while permitting
the target gas to pass through to the sensor.

Reminds me of the time my wife set off the smoke alarm with hair curlers,

in a hi-rise in Reno, Nevada.

Firemen in full gear, rushing to the room.

Larry

 

[J Scott W]

It would be helpful to be sure you are not aerosolizing your prespray. LArger droplets fall tot he carpet where you want them instead of drifting around in the air and setting off the CO2 detector.

Change spray tips when needed (usually about every 6 months), use a larger size tip, use less pressure (35 to 55 PSI for hand pump sprayers); keep the end of the spray wand 12" to 18" from the floor. To close to the carpet and the spray bounces back into the air, too far from the carpet and the particles are more likely to be in air currents and floating around.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Instructions for CO detectors usually indicate that false alarms can be the result of poor placement. That installers should take care to avoid areas where certain organic vapors may accumulate Examples are given to avoid such areas as in a bathroom, where deodorants and hairsprays may cause alarms, or in garages if spray paints and solvents are used.

It stands to reason that a volatilized prespray that contains a significant amount of VOC's, like Glycol Ethers, would also "trip" an alarm if levels accumulate above a threshold near a detector. Like Scott suggests, you want to minimize airborne contamination. Heating the prespray, in addition to aerosolizing, may also trip a detector as you put more VOC's in the air.

You may want to try a low-VOC prespray when using in the vicinity of a CO detector that shows a proclivity for false alarms of this type.

 

[Buck1955]

Take a plastic grocery sack in with you and cover it till your done. I used to have a problem with smoke detectors near HVAC returns close by, it went off with a little dust.

 

[juniorc82]

ok here is a dumb question , can a sprinkler be set off from excessive water vapor like a cc'ing tool that is kicking steam off into the room. We do a couple senior communities and I always get a little anxious when I see the help running the wand and the occasional poof of steam rise into the detector. Only reason I ask is because I set mine off at home boiling noodles when I took the lid off.