Here is a strange story...important if you use an electic shaver.

Princess

This is weird. On Sunday Steve replaced the cleaning cartridge on his new Braun shaver. It fits into a stand and self cleans using a cartridge full of some sort of cleaning solution. About an hour later our carbon monoxide detector went off. I quickly moved it downstairs closer to the furnace and water heater. Nothing happened. Steve got a new carbon monoxide detector and plugged it in the old location which happens to be the outlet where his shaver is plugged in.

Monday he didn't put the shaver through the cleaning cycle. Tuesday he did and about an hour later the new alarm is going off. The digital display read "HI". I opened the window and turned on the fan and waited for the unbelievably piercing alarm to stop. After it stopped I moved it across the hall to another room and took the kids and left for an hour. When we got home the alarm was going off and the digital display now read "96". I called the gas company and they sent someone out within an hour to check it out. He thoroughly checked my home, ran the furnace and water heater and checked to see what their output was. He said they were both burning clean and was at a total loss as to the high level of carbon monoxide.

After a rather sleepless night (wondering if at any moment that infernal shrieking alarm was going to go off) we decided it was just a fluke. Couldn't figure it out and the day went by as usual. No alarm, but then again, he hadn't cleaned his shaver that day. This morning when the alarm started to shriek, I called Steve and he had used the cleaning cycle. Mystery solved. The shaver puts high levels of carbon monoxide into my home every time he cleans it. This time it read 149. REALLY high. I aired out the house and chucked the cleaning contraption in the garage.

I sent an email to Braun (they were closed for training) and to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I'll let you know what they say.

Rachel

Brummie

Gee whiz! Thanks for letting us know, What a story, you should let the media know if Braun doesnt put a warning on this product. A good fluke if I ever heard of one, I'll be checking mines.

let us know the outcome of your communication with braun

Brummie

bikerchic

Rachel that is scary! Please let us know what Braun says back to you.

I'm glad that your family had a carbon monoxide detector, it probably saved your lives!

Katie

RAYZORBLADE

Princess, you just never know.

I haven't used one of those self-cleaning electric shaver. But it wouldn't surprise me that it may be the Braun item. They'd be happy to hear from you.

Those Carbon Monoxide detectors: super sensitive. I doubt it is faulty.

I use a good old razor and shaving cream.

Yes, by all means, keep us posted on this. I am eager to know where the source of this (CO) was coming from.

Glad you are all safe.

Satanus

You should keep the cleaning cartidge as possible evidence.

SS

Princess

I'm keeping the cartridge, just put it in the garage so it doesn't kill us. Braun was closed for training when I called this morning then closed for the day when I called this afternoon. I'm hoping my email will generate some interest, if not then the one I sent to the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the local news should.

I'm guessing most people don't have a carbon monoxide detector in their homes. If they do, it's not very likely that it is close to the bathroom where such a shaver would be kept. Chances are really small that something like this would ever be caught. We are just lucky I guess.

I did report this to Braun on Tuesday. They had never heard such a thing and didn't make any effort to check it out. I told them at the time I thought it was a possibility and wanted to know if anyone had reported it before me. They did take my last name and zip code just to document the call. Tomorrow I will make sure they take me seriously.

Been there

Princess,

Maybe you could have the gas & electric company come out while you do it to see what there meters read. That way you can have documentation from another source if they don't take you seriously this time. Maybe it isn't carbon monocide but something that the meter is picking up as such.

Francois

Don't forget to contact Consumer's Union, you know, the folks who put out Consumer's Digest.

francois

Dansk

Tell Steve to grow a beard. Problem solved!

Dansk

Nathan Natas

Hi Princess,

I'm thinking that your carbon monoxide detector gave you a "false positive" as a result of a gas other than carbon monoxide that was generated by the Braun cleaner.

Many carbon monoxide detectors work by using a little electrochemical cell to react with any carbon monoxide in the air. The carbon monoxide is converted to carbon dioxide in the process, and a small electrical current is generated. Other gases can react in the sensor, for example, hydrogen and ntrogen dioxide. I suspect there may be other gases that would react as well; possibly ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, and methane.

I don't know what brand of carbon monoxide detector you are using, and I don't know what the cleaning solution Braun uses is made of, but I do know from what you have told us that the braun cleaner is somehow "digesting" the hair particles, so with that in mind I would speculate that the carbon monoxide monitor is reacting to either ammonia gas or hydrogen sulphide gas or methane produced by the Braun cleaner.

This would be a fascinating thing to explore further, but it runs the risk of permanently damaging the electrolytic cell of the detector. (By the way, electrolytic cells have a limited lifetime, after which the device should be replaced.)

You could dampen a bit of paper towel with clear household ammonia and waft it around near the carbon monoxide detector to see if it responds.

Methane is present in the gas produced by our digestive tract. You could ask a flatulent friend to help you test this theory.

Hydrogen sulphide is a gas that it is best you not play with. It is a toxic gas - actually more toxic than cyanide, but fortunately it is also so stinky that most people are repelled by the odor before they get a toxic exposure. If you have access to a high school or college chemistry lab, you might be able to put the carbon monoxide detector in a fume hood and expose it to a bit of hydrogen sulphide - or get the chemistry teacher to do it for you.

This could be an interesting idea for a kid's science project: discuss the theory of operation of the CO detector and other gases that would cause false positives.

There are also carbon monoxide detectors that work by detecting the "opacity" of CO at a specific infared wavelength. These sensors might be less likely to be fooled than the electrochemical sensors.

Here is a strange story...important if you use an electic shaver.

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