Carbon monoxide poisioning....don't make my mistake.

Get yourself a co2 detector
Sent from my RM-845_nam_vzw_100 using Board Express

 

Thankfully you're ok and can tell this story. Good thing to let others knowt

 

Thankfully you're ok and can tell this story. Good thing to let others know to check.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carbon-Monoxide-Awareness-in-18-Wheelers/489754341082268

Here is a facebook website started by a lady whose husband died in a truck in Carlin, NV about a year ago, she thinks it could have been carbon monoxide poisoning.

Help spread the word because it is a serious problem and can be detected by using monitors.

 

Actually, you want a CO (carbon monoxide) detector, not a CO2 (carbon dioxide) detector. Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. all have them. Since carbon monoxide is diffused relatively evenly through the air surrounding the source you can basically put it anywhere in the sleeper area out of the way and it will work fine (just don't cover it up with something). I have mine mounted below the bunk on a bulkhead where CO would most likely enter the cab.

 

It wouldn't be a bad idea to have both a CO and a CO2 detector, if you are in a truck with a trainer that insists on keeping the air on high with recirculation and all the windows and vents closed. I had to sneak in a few fresh air moments to keep from getting CO2 symptoms when I was training.

Don't keep air on recirculation. Fresh air means more oxygen content and reduced CO2 content (remember the movie Apollo 13?). If you've kept all the vents closed and recirculation on, get out of the truck, then get back in after a short time, you will definitely notice the funk in the air from all the CO2 combined with exhaled air. Your sleep will be much worse breathing air like that, which is a prime reason why I never idle and always open vents and windows as necessary to keep fresh air in the cab while I sleep.

I had a friend that almost succumbed to CO2 when backpacking in the winter. Snow covered the tent and he and his buddy almost didn't wake up. He described how hard it was to motivate himself to move, open the tent zipper and start tunneling through the snow. Once he broke through it was like a blast of caffeine, turned on the lights.

If you are driving and feel a swoon or dizziness, check to make sure you have fresh air coming into the cab. Word to the wise.

 

this was one of my fears and why I rarely idled over night. Usually always kept the windows cracked for fresh air too.

 

Back then in 2008 when I was working for a owner operator I experienced the same thing with milder symptoms though. The mechanic at a TA showed me a bad leak from under the sleeper and explained to me the dangers of co. Since then I have always kept one by the bed. A couple of months ago I woke up at a rest area to my co going off. At first I thought it was my alarm going off but realize that it was the co. I thought that it was broke or something since I don't idle over night. So being upset that it was going off for nothing I took out the batteries and threw them. Then later as I was doing my pretrip, I notice that the guy next to me had a generator running. He didn't have a truck he had one of those small uhaul type vans. There was a little scent but not much but his generator exhaust was shooting out towards my sleeper. Then it all came to me why my co alarm came on. For all of the otr drivers out their that sleep in their truck and want to wake up another day, get yourself a carbon monoxide detector. Its one of best cheap investments you'll ever make.