Just a reminder to make sure you use a carbon monoxide detector when sleeping in vehicle.
Heater likely led to man's death
Heater likely led to man's death
Man found dead in back of van
- Thread starter MSinger
- Start date
We live about 20 miles north of Louisville and this is all over the news. According to the TV news stories I have seen he was using the "Mr Buddy" style propane heater. As for the hotel here in town they say that CO was caused by faulty water heater venting. Just goes to show you never know what may happen. Get out there and get those detectors. Stay safe and as warm as safely possible all.
buckeyewildman
Seasoned Expediter
always better to safe then sorry so it just goes to show we need to winterize the inside of our vans as well as the engine so for all of you who are going to idle or run portable heater please invest in a c o alarm
Fr8 Shaker
Veteran Expediter
I was told that the propane heaters don't put out co2 but that they rob the air of oxygen.
this being the reason to have the window cracked to let in fresh air. If this is true then the reason your detector went off could have been from the fumes from the vechicles around you. I'm no expert on propane but maybe someone that is can tell us if this is true.
this being the reason to have the window cracked to let in fresh air. If this is true then the reason your detector went off could have been from the fumes from the vechicles around you. I'm no expert on propane but maybe someone that is can tell us if this is true.
Not true, on both counts. Sort of. They rob the air of oxygen, only insofar as any open burning flame consumes oxygen as part of the process, but the amount of oxygen consumed is proportional to the size of the flame. It would take a really big propane flame, burning for a long time, to rob the interior of a van of enough oxygen so as to make it difficult to breathe. Unless, of course, the van was sealed air-tight, which, of course, none of them are.
As for the co2, well, that's carbon dioxide, same stuff in carbonated soft drinks, so that much is correct, propane doesn't put out co2.
But, propane absolutely outputs carbon monoxide. Enough to kill you. Carbon monoxide results from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, such as wood, kerosene, gasoline, charcoal, propane, natural gas, and oil. Diesel engines also put out carbon monoxide, but the amount is so small as to be nearly insignificant. In fact, diesel engines put out far more oxygen in their emissions than carbon monoxide.
dhalltoyo
Veteran Expediter
Mr Buddy is not a catalytic burner system. It puts out a huge amount of CO (Carbon Monoxide).
Coleman heaters that are catalytic put out a minimal amount of CO.
The amount of CO release by a catalytic burner into the atmosphere inside a van would most likely be less than if you we parked between idling TT's in the big truck lot and had your windows down.
I have found myself surrounded by TT's in a Wally World lot during the summer. When the air was still and I had my windows down, I would wake up with a headache. I can only believe that is was from the CO.
Coleman heaters that are catalytic put out a minimal amount of CO.
The amount of CO release by a catalytic burner into the atmosphere inside a van would most likely be less than if you we parked between idling TT's in the big truck lot and had your windows down.
I have found myself surrounded by TT's in a Wally World lot during the summer. When the air was still and I had my windows down, I would wake up with a headache. I can only believe that is was from the CO.
Read this carefully.
Diesel engines produce virtually no carbon monoxide.
Then, maybe, read it again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Truth does not change because it is, or is not,
believed by a majority of the people. - Giordano Bruno
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carbon monoxide is produced as a result of incomplete fuel combustion. In diesel engines built prior to 1984 (because of the Clean Air Act of 1977), carbon monoxide emissions could be as high as from 1000-5000 ppm, which is still far less than what a gasoline engine with a catalytic converter outputs. With the advent of diesel injectors and other regulations, carbon monoxide emissions of diesel engines made since 1984 are in the 5-20 ppm range, because they burn the fuel in excess air, even at full load.
The carbon monoxide contained in the environmental air we breathe when in and around most large cities is vastly greater than the CO output of a diesel engine.
However, diesel engines can produce black soot (or more specifically, diesel particulate matter) from their exhaust, which consists of unburned carbon compounds (not to be confused with incomplete fuel combustion). This is often caused by worn injectors, which do not atomize the fuel sufficiently, or a faulty engine management system, allowing more fuel to be injected than can be burned completely in the available time.
Compared to gasoline engines, diesel engines output dramatically less carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon, but significantly more soot (mainly amorphous carbon powder) and aerosols (of chiefly ash particulates, metallic abrasion particles, sulfates, and silicates), and nitrogen oxides (which produce smog and acid rain).
Diesel-induced headaches are usually the result of inhaling the diesel particulate matter (soot). Larger particulate matter, greater than 2.5 micrometers, is generally handled by the lungs quite easily, as that's the same as dust and gets expelled with routine efforts. However, diesel particulate matter also contains Fine PM2.5, which is particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns, with the mass media being .05-1.0 microns, and is small enough to be deposited deep in the lungs (airways and alveoli).
Not only do these fine soot particles lodge themselves in the lungs and reduce the flow of oxygen into and out of the lungs, the particles consist of a carbonaceous core with a large surface area to which various hydrocarbons are absorbed, and are thus deposited into your lungs. The reactions can vary from headaches to whatever.
I once parked the Sprinter at a truck stop in such a manner that I unknowingly partially blocked the tail pipe opening. I was idling, and awoke a few hours later (3AM IIRC) to find the interior of the van so filled with diesel exhaust that I had to feel for the door latch to open the side sliding door. I could not see my hand in front of my face. My CO detector did not go off, by the way. If it had been a gas engine, the CO detector would have gone off, I'm sure, as it will go off when a gasser parks next to me on occasion. If the Sprinter had been a gasser and I didn't have a CO detector, it's obvious what the outcome would have been.
On a side note, ever since that incident, not regularly, but once in a while, diesel fumes will trigger asthma, something which I have never had in the past. Interesting.
Recent studies have proven that those who are regularly exposed to diesel fumes and exhaust, particularly the particulates, are at a dramatically increased risk of heart attack and clogging of the arteries. The small particles in the fumes interact with LDL (bad) Cholesterol, and can lead to inflammation of the blood vessels, which in turn could lead to blood vessel blockage.
Bad news for truckers, good news for the stent business.
Aww but he was just a "shell" of his former self!