CO from running Dart in garage with door open

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Kllrbee

Kllrbee

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Richmond IL
Hey guys,
I admit that Im one of those guys who never think about CO gases. I do have a detector in my house by the bedrooms, but other than that, never think about it.
I had a couple power outages this year and was considering getting my first portable generator. Mostly just for sump pump and fridge/freezer. Since I never had one, I was unaware of all the safety precautions that one must follow. Most importantly, not to use in the garage, but at least 15 feet from the house.
Got me thinking about when I start up the Dart and just let it run for 10-15 minutes until it reaches op temp in the garage with door open. The exhaust is pointed out, but Im sure alot of it blows into the garage. I assume many of us do this, especially in the midwest rust belt. Am I wrong? Am I putting myself at danger?
As of now, the car is up on stands as Im replacing all suspension and brakes so I cant even back out.
Am I oveethinking this cuz of my new found generator knowledge?
Thanks for any advice.
 
A couple of cardboard shipping tubes...
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Just tie a t-shirt around your face and you will be all good. :poke:
 
You can buy carbon monoxide plug in wall units from Home Depot for $15 a piece. Just plug them in at an outlet at the back of the garage. They will go off if levels are too high.
 
Thnx
All the coffee I drank while researching which generator to get got me overthinking **** ...LOL!:BangHead:
 
I think, with the door open, there is about a 0% chance you will get the CO up to anywhere near a dangerous level. EDIT: Well, maybe I'm wrong, based on what I'm reading below...
 
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I doubt "leaving the door open" is enough, unless the house is REALLY well sealed and most are not. IN FACT near the time I got out of HVAC in the mid 90's air-air ventilation heat exchangers were popular. These (in one form) are essentially forced air low pressure systems that bring in outdoor air, exhaust indoor air, for ventilation, while exchanging heat on the way in/ out. Now that intake MUST BE SOMWHERE, hopefully "not near" the garage!!!


ANOTHER ANNOYING STORY from the old days.

In my HVAC days we did lots of upgrades and conversions. Nice older guy, nice little simple house with a basement, old oil furnace, and we are putting in high efficiency nat. gas. I'm down there plumbing up the AC and controls, and here sits an old generator, with a FLEXIBLE EXHAUST PIPE (just like automotive "flex" only smaller). This was not connected, just sitting there. AND I WARNED HIM "there is no way" I'd use that down here in the basement.

About 1-2? years later I was back for routine maintenance of the system. He told me, "I did not listen to what you said, and installed that generator. (Showed me a plugged hole in the basement wall for exhaust) Said he WAS smart enough to get a CO detector and it "went nuts". Said it took him all day with fans running to get the basement cleared out!!!
 
I have two gas generators, but I would look at propane powered ones for my next generator.
No worry's about the crap gas gumming up the carbs.
 
LovetheA's said:
You can buy carbon monoxide plug in wall units from Home Depot for $15 a piece. Just plug them in at an outlet at the back of the garage. They will go off if levels are too high.
Click to expand...
Wife got me one for Christmas
 
what you got to keep in mind is that generators are intended to run for hours and hours on end
your car heating up for 15 minutes...thats different
 
67Dart273 said:
I doubt "leaving the door open" is enough, unless the house is REALLY well sealed and most are not. IN FACT near the time I got out of HVAC in the mid 90's air-air ventilation heat exchangers were popular. These (in one form) are essentially forced air low pressure systems that bring in outdoor air, exhaust indoor air, for ventilation, while exchanging heat on the way in/ out. Now that intake MUST BE SOMWHERE, hopefully "not near" the garage!!!


ANOTHER ANNOYING STORY from the old days.

In my HVAC days we did lots of upgrades and conversions. Nice older guy, nice little simple house with a basement, old oil furnace, and we are putting in high efficiency nat. gas. I'm down there plumbing up the AC and controls, and here sits an old generator, with a FLEXIBLE EXHAUST PIPE (just like automotive "flex" only smaller). This was not connected, just sitting there. AND I WARNED HIM "there is no way" I'd use that down here in the basement.

About 1-2? years later I was back for routine maintenance of the system. He told me, "I did not listen to what you said, and installed that generator. (Showed me a plugged hole in the basement wall for exhaust) Said he WAS smart enough to get a CO detector and it "went nuts". Said it took him all day with fans running to get the basement cleared out!!!
Click to expand...

You need to write a book before you knock off. "Annoying Stories From The Old Days". I'd buy it.
 
67Dart273 said:
I doubt "leaving the door open" is enough, unless the house is REALLY well sealed and most are not. IN FACT near the time I got out of HVAC in the mid 90's air-air ventilation heat exchangers were popular. These (in one form) are essentially forced air low pressure systems that bring in outdoor air, exhaust indoor air, for ventilation, while exchanging heat on the way in/ out. Now that intake MUST BE SOMWHERE, hopefully "not near" the garage!!!


ANOTHER ANNOYING STORY from the old days.

In my HVAC days we did lots of upgrades and conversions. Nice older guy, nice little simple house with a basement, old oil furnace, and we are putting in high efficiency nat. gas. I'm down there plumbing up the AC and controls, and here sits an old generator, with a FLEXIBLE EXHAUST PIPE (just like automotive "flex" only smaller). This was not connected, just sitting there. AND I WARNED HIM "there is no way" I'd use that down here in the basement.

About 1-2? years later I was back for routine maintenance of the system. He told me, "I did not listen to what you said, and installed that generator. (Showed me a plugged hole in the basement wall for exhaust) Said he WAS smart enough to get a CO detector and it "went nuts". Said it took him all day with fans running to get the basement cleared out!!!
Click to expand...
When I got the Scamp fired up for the first time my wife came running out into the garage with her cell phone all excited and took a video of the great moment. Well in all the excitement the door from the garage to the house was left open for about two minutes. When we went inside the CO2 detector was going off. We opened the doors and windows to clear the air. As soon as we got that one to stop we realized that the one in the basement was making noise too. Apparently because our furnace was running it circulated fumes to that part of the house also! Ever since that episode we've been really careful with CO2 fumes.
Steve
 
I had a car running in the garage for about 10 minutes adjusting the carb, thing was running rich. Wife called and I closed the garage door and we went out for dinner. Came home and CO2 monitors were going off, so we called 911. They said go outside and leave the doors closed and we will be right over. They checked the basement around the furnace and water heater and came up with nothing. As they went through the basement when they got near where the garage is the meter went off. He asked if I had a car running in the garage earlier. Sure enough it was the car running 10 minutes in the garage that set this whole episode off. We have alarms on every floor now.
 
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RustyRatRod said:
You need to write a book before you knock off. "Annoying Stories From The Old Days". I'd buy it.
Click to expand...

OldManMopar is the guy who needs to write a book. I've tried to convince him to do so Well there are others as well!!
 
I've seen/ been around/ fixed a number of TOO DAMN NEAR close calls in my HVAC days

One, we get a "no heat" call from one of the boss's friends. They had bought a big 'ol house downtown, likely made in the '20s or maybe earlier. It had an "after the fact" dug basement which was concrete, and a HUGE attic. This means the chimney was effectively 3-4 stories tall. No heat, and they had bought and were remodeling the house. Had an older furnace perhaps 20=30 years old. Did not take me long to figure the reason for the stoppage was the neutral wire nut in the switchbox was loose and broke the connection. As they were in the midst of a "live in while remodeling" they wanted to replace the furnace after most the "dirty" work was done. I fired it up and IT WOULD NOT VENT. Finally pulled the connector pipe off and here's what I SEE. SOOT FROM YEARS OF wood/ oil/ coal had fallen off the sides of the chimney, and filled it CLEAR ABOVE THE VENT CONNECTOR FITTING.

The punchline? The new owners HAD ROUGHED IN ROOMS in the basement and were planning to MOVE THE CHILDREN IN THAT WEEKEND

Since they wanted to run it if possible, I added a (thermostatic) "vent spill switch" as well as a CO alarm which killed the furnace when activated. I still think about this sometimes, and how close it was.

=====================================================================

Some other folks in town own a glass shop. Nice people. They had a big "rancher" with a partial basement, a "1/2 level" living room and "split level" upper romper room. The big room had two fireplaces which they HAD NEVER USED. The chimneys had always been blocked. They had hired "someone else" to install two of these decorative "gas log" units. The outfit had (properly and required) partially blocked the dampers open to insure draft for the gas units. WHAT THIS NOW CAUSED is a major change in the household. Because the basement had no door, nor any other major level, ALL the house is one big space. This change now caused a 24 hr a day DRAFT through the house because of the now open dampers.

What happened, is, there were two older conventional gas furnaces downstairs. At bedtime with the stats down, the house all closed, and the family inactive, this draft would eventually cause at least one vent on the furnaces TO BECOME AN INTAKE FOR cold winter air. When one or both the furnaces fired, the thing could NOT ESTABLISH A DRAFT. This cause the vent products of the furnace to simply dump into the basement, which diminished oxygen in the air for combustion, AND CAUSE FORMATION OF CO

Monday morn. I come in and here is this call. Turns out the family had had the fire dept over, had stayed the weekend in a hotel, two family members were ill, and they all had headaces.

THIS **** IS A KILLER GUYS
 
Being a mechanic, I discovered, years ago, that my ears were an early warning system for CO. They get hot and red very early; long before the headache starts. I learned to pay attention to it.
 
Im glad so many of you chimed in. So at least I know my concern isnt just "internet horror stories".

I never planned on using the generator in the garage so theres no problem there. I already have a little area about 20ft from the house thats the perfect distance to reach the fridge and the sump with 2 50ft cords. Ill build a little makeshift lean to if I need to leave it in the elements for any length of time.

As for running the Dart with the door open, Ill go get a plug in CO detector as mentioned. But it will also give me incentive to get out there and finish up the suspension so I can back it out and just run it outside.

Thanks for all the input guys. You might have just saved my life...:thumbsup:
 
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