CO Detection

Originally Posted By: rhinck
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I did a an inspection on a 1966 single level duplex on a crawlspace the day be fore yesterday. The furnaces are counterflow original with the building. I did my temp diff. evaluation on the A/C units first. Next, even though is was 90 degrees and 85% humidity here in central Illinois, I fired each furnace to check for proper operation. Knowing that they have not been on for a couple of months at least, I ran them for a good 15 minutes. I didn’t notice anything odd with the burner flame, but using a Tif 8800 I detected possible CO at each floor diffuser. I reported possible CO present and recommended further evaluation by a HVAC tech. The owner of the building is a builder and had his HVAC guy take a look, could not find any evidence of cracks plus used a different brand of detector and claimed nothing was detected. He calls me up telling me I was blowing his deal, FSBO of course, and was real pissed. I contacted my HVAC guy, I am and have been a home builder for 30 yrs, and he told me that counterflow units have a real tendency to cracking due to the blower does not come on as quickly as an upflow unit. This has turned into a pissing match about who’s detector is right. Any help?



Rick


Originally Posted By: anatol polillo
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Rick,


The TIF 8800 will detect carbon monoxide at 2000ppm. I doubt that the reading was that high. More than likely, it was reading a high moisture content. The 8800 is not recommended by the manufacturer for use in carbon monoxide detection.


My 2 cents…


Anatol


Originally Posted By: dbowers
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Rick -


TIFF Instruments got sued about 8-10 years ago for this sort of thing and wrote several articles telling EVERYONE in the HVAC, Plumbing, and in the Inspection Trades that the TIFF 8800 could only detect CO in VERY HIGH CONCENTRATIONS and it was not intended for CO testing.

I've even seen some naive or inexperienced Home Inspection Trainers trying to wrongly lead new inspectors to believe otherwise.

Don't get yourself in a pissing contest that you will lose if challenged by a knowledgeable technician or contractor.