Do I need to vent?

[ninja.turtle007]

Hi

Do I need to have the roof vent open when connected to electric hook up and the leisure battery is charging as it is flooded cell type? I ask this because after a couple of hours of being hooked up the carbon monoxide alarm goes off. Although the gas bottle isn't connected.

Thanks

Tom

[CovKid]

The alarm has answered this for you

[hobopatch]

Hi as covkid said YES Asp. also look to see that you have a vent UNDER your gas bottle in case it leaks as gas sinks down. Hobopatch.

[T-3PO]

Sorry, and I'm not being pedantic, but why would a battery charging set off a carbon monoxide alarm? Could it be implied then that a CO alarm can detect the gas, hydrogen I think, produced by a charging battery? Makes me think that if the battery is releasing that much gas to set off an alarm is the battery faulty or leeking gas somehow?

Please, someone put me straight here as I'm a tad concerned, I often sleep in the van with the leccy hooked-up and the battery(s) on charge and never given it much thought ... oh, and no CO alarm either but I have got two bloody great big vents on the side and an external gas box for what its worth!

[ninja.turtle007]

My battery has a spigot on the side so I'm going to push on a peice of pipe and vent it through the small hole in the floor and see if that makes a difference.

[T-3PO]

ha-ha ... sod's law, over in the camping forum https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=58106" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AngeloEvs]

There have been reported instances where battery charging has triggered CO alarms but this is not due to CO emission from the battery but interference with the CO sensor. Leisure Battery should be charged at 13.4V max to prevent gassing hence the fittment of leisure chargers such as the ZIG series which charge below the threshold that gassing occurs and why they never fully chatge the battery. Ventilation always a good idea in a small camper anyway but upgrade to a digital display CO alarm and that way you can see exactly what the CO level is.

[CovKid]

But wouldn't recommend sniffing round the battery

[Mr Bean]

Our Co2 alarm goes off if we park anywhere those lorries with the fridges running every now and again. In our CF the smoke alarm had to be disarmed as it would go off on the motorway. I guess if it (the Co2 monitor) is connected permanently to the 12V system it could be triggered by the more sophisticated battery chargers we find ourselves using these days. My bugger interferes with thew radio.
Bit like an oil pressure guage which put the willies up you every time you drop back onto tickover!
Cheers
Wolfie