almost died

[briggie]

me and sheila are in norfolk winterising the caravan .. its quite cold down here so we have had the heating on all the time ( propane ) ... sheila felt ill last night and very sleepy ( not like her at all ) and complained of weakness and a massive headache ... i took her outside the caravan and she started to feel better ....i suspected the gas fire , i called the plumber this morning and he said it needed to be ventilated ..... obvously we had all the windows closed in the caravan to keep warm ...but the carbon monoxide detector didnt go off , i checked it on test and it worked ok......just a warning to all about the use of bottled gas in confined spaces ...... the plumber said propane gas is a asphyxiant and we had come very close to tragedy

i hope this helps some of you who use propane

[slimlfc68]

bloody hell mate thats scary shit your so lucky the two of ya.

[patbhoy]

Scary

One of the reasons i get a gas safety check done on our van every year

[11redrex]

Get your heaters checked out and serviced Briggie.
Are the heater flames blue ? They will be if the propane is burning properly.
Keep your windows open for proper ventilation, the propane will burn better with more air.

[R1cho]

Lucky escape, at least you had the mind to take her outside for fresh air

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

crikey,

so was it a leak or the burner(s) not set right?

[briggie]

gas engineer just been , he checked the fire and all appliances , and said the flue to the gas fire was blocked , its in a cupboard at the side of the fire , we had put some stuff in there and it seems accidently blocked the flue , we also have to have a gas safety check every season , it costs us £75 , the gas enginner said it would have passed anyway , its because we blocked the flue we had problems , he also reccomened we leave a window open when using any gas appliances

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

so in lay mans terms the flue bud, is that a hole in floor, meshed vent
essentially. shouldnt fire have its own flue thru the floor.

i sure our tin tent's gas fire breathes from outside under floor and has its
own little chimney / exhaust on roof. tbf this is first van weve had with a
roof exhaust, perhaps fire is bigger based on size of van.

is the flame hidden in your fire, so more of a convector type as ours is.
25 years ago our static had exposed flame/bricks that heated, could toast
against it.

interested in propane as we run it year round as have so much drain on it
from heater, water heater, fridge, hob and oven!

main thing is you are both ok now.

[rustic]

Originally Posted by briggie

gas engineer just been , he checked the fire and all appliances , and said the flue to the gas fire was blocked , its in a cupboard at the side of the fire , we had put some stuff in there and it seems accidently blocked the flue , we also have to have a gas safety check every season , it costs us £75 , the gas enginner said it would have passed anyway , its because we blocked the flue we had problems , he also reccomened we leave a window open when using any gas appliances

Wow you were both very lucky, Carbon Monoxide, the silent killer.

I have just changed over the boat from butane to propane for winter use.
Our heater is a propex, hot air and has a balanced flue, the fridge is also gas with a balanced flue.
Boat safety certificate is done every 4 years, so a lot can happen in that time.
The fixed ventilation is calculated on non balanced flue items, cooker/oven/grill, paloma water heater, the ventilators are checked and labels have to be fitted, " Ventilator, Do Not Block"

There is plenty of ventilation (drafts) in the boat.
We too have a carbon monoxide detector. The smoke alarm is so sensitive, it always knows when the toast is ready.

Thank goodness you recognised the symptoms.
Is there any way you can put a wire mesh cage around the flue to prevent this happening again?

I put a mesh cage around the exhaust flue of the propex heater and the fridge flue, I used the 6 x 6mm square galvanised mesh, like on bird feeders.

Easy to make 90 degree bends, folded over to prevent sharp edges and it becomes quite rigid.

[clivvy]

bloody hell Pete, thats a close call there mate. well done for taking her straight outside. How did the vent get blocked then? is it just a hole in the wall or a proper flue going up to the roof??

[briggie]

Originally Posted by clivvy

bloody hell Pete, thats a close call there mate. well done for taking her straight outside. How did the vent get blocked then? is it just a hole in the wall or a proper flue going up to the roof??

the flue is a hole in the floor with mesh over it , we had stacked stuff on top of it .... although once we looked carefully , there is a warning label stuck on the side , thanks everyone for your wishes , we are ok now , but it was a close call ..... all i ask is you check your flues etc i dont want anything like this to happen to you lot

[clivvy]

ill be sure to check my girlfriends flue...

[rustic]

Originally Posted by briggie

the flue is a hole in the floor with mesh over it , we had stacked stuff on top of it .... although once we looked carefully , there is a warning label stuck on the side , thanks everyone for your wishes , we are ok now , but it was a close call ..... all i ask is you check your flues etc i dont want anything like this to happen to you lot

Put a cage around it, there is no guarantee that something won't fall on it, or a friend may put something in there.

[11redrex]

Originally Posted by clivvy

ill be sure to check my girlfriends flue...

Originally Posted by rustic

Put a cage around it, there is no guarantee that something won't fall on it, or a friend may put something in there.

keep it clean lads

[MontysMaverick]

Pete, sorry to hear about your near miss, just goes to show its easy to be her one minute and gone the next, have been thinking tho, is the detector that you have close enough for it to pick up a problem if one occurs...
Just a thought eh

lyndon