Hand Held Product Review of a 32 dollar, Carbon Monoxide Meter

[@PaulLascari]

I just bought the same model as you are showing. Thank you for your video. It helps me a lot.

[@Cameron_Caron]

Thanks for the video. Looks like a decent product was thinking of buying one.

[@techach3490]

wait..that little amount of charcoal produced all that amout of CO? that's amazing.

[@AntoninVirt]

What is the lifespan of the meter?

[@GregoryLog]

The meter I have is still currently working so at least two years is a guess

[@AntoninVirt]

@@GregoryLog The service life is 3 years and then you can do something about it, what is non-functional? And can it be thrown away?

[@Outside-In.]

The lifespan is 2-3 years from the time of manufacture, and not the time of purchse, but unfortunately Smart Sensor does not provide that information, and I wish they would as I use these all the time to test against other meters' accuracy. I love this meter, it is very very accurate and reliable, but the one I have - started getting too sensitive and that is when you know that it is reaching it's end of life, so I had to purchase another, but still the more sensitive one is still pretty accurate. These are well worth buying every 2-3 years, as they are very inexpensive.

[@Outside-In.]

​@@AntoninVirt Hopefully I will know soon how long it will stay functional, as I have had one for more than a year now, and probably was manufactured up to 6 months before I purchased it, so it probably has another year of use. As it gets older, it is starting to get more sensitive, but still is pretty close to the one I just purchased for accuracy. Unfortunately these cannot be re-calibrated (except for the count-down thing), but the count-down is not a true calibration on any monitor that does the count-down. A monitor that has the true ability of calibration, has a menu option to adjust it's reading while using a calibrated gas so you would know how to adjust the the reading that it gives. Forensics makes a CO meter that has this function, but the bad thing is that it is quite expensive to buy the calibration gas to adjust the meter LOL. I can't afford that much, so just have to keep buying this Smart Sensor every couple of years or so, but no big deal I say. The Smart Sensor is very accurate when compared to the more expensive Forensics meter. Can it be thrown away?, yes of course. It would be nice if we could just buy a new sensor and replace the one inside, and you could probably contact Smart Sensor for a replacement sensor, but I would say that by the time you purchased a replacement sensor, waited for it to arrive, and then take the time to de-solder the old one and then solder in a new one, it would probably be allot more sensible and less expensive to just buy a new one. If you are worried about recycling, then I guess you could send it back to Smart Sensor so they could re-use it? - I don't know just a thought, or you could just take it to a recycle facility so that it can be recycle correctly instead of just throwing it into the garbage, - just another suggestion. ...But yes these can be thrown away, it just depends on how you prefer to handle that aspect of it...

[@deniam11]

Thank you! Simple nice easy to use!

[@tracnunya7165]

i have used this to solve carb mon problems in two propane heater homes, it works, it is highly accurate, it is worth the money, 2 years in

[@tracnunya7165]

sensitivity, i had it on and rode from one house to another on an atv, when i stopped the exhaust apparently washed over me, the meter instantly jumped to triple digits and an alarm sounded, then went to 0

[@adeptheatingair]

Nice video!

[@LmgWarThunder]

looks bog standard. I feel like it goes off too soon, but that's just from what I'm reading online so far. Besides that decent video, I'm glad to have watched this.

[@americanpride9733]

That cap is removable, not the dome but whats next to it. Is that supposed to be taken off when working?

[@Cameron_Caron]

Is there a way to turn the alarm off on this thing? If so do you know how?

[@rafaelmonteirocdj]

just press power once after it's already on, it toggles alarm on and off, light still goes on

[@Cameron_Caron]

Do you know how long charcoal gives off carbon monoxide for if you spray it with water? When does it stop giving it off? Doesn't it also give off carbon monoxide if you burn it?

[@TekWhizz]

It sure does give off carbon monoxide when you burn it, but it gives off MORE when you spray water because REMEMBER that the INCOMPLETE BURNING OF FUELS causes Carbon Monoxide and water vapor to be produced! All burning gives off carbon monoxide but depriving a flame from oxygen, like with water or low oxygen just quickens the process. People need to know that even using a gas range or gas oven is giving off carbon monoxide, although not much, it adds up over time since it takes a long time to dissipate and takes even longer to leave the body, so CO poisoning is a slow process even with small amounts of CO. In fact constant levels in the air of over 7 PPM are considered pretty bad. It's good to have a rangehood which sucks fumes outdoors as you're using it. If you don't have one, a CO alarm won't go off unless you have a decent amount of CO in the air for an extended period of time, they actually kind of fool you into thinking you have no CO in the air, when you do, and you can have unhealthy levels of it. This is why a meter like this will show you even low levels, which is a great idea. This is why it's really smart to ban the installation of gas lines in new homes and buildings. It's too risky.

[@Russwig]

Buy a tripod or something to hold your phone!!!!

[@rgruenhaus]

Too slow a response

[@mrhow2712]

Another person that has no clue how to use this thing! It does not take 120 seconds to heat up you have to hit the power button again!

[@GregoryLog]

I believe I was following the instructions but if anyone buys this product they are free to try your method.

[@Handlebar-MustDash]

It is standard practice to allow a Carbon Monoxide CO meter to warm up prior to use for an accurate reading, part of the procedure on every meter I have owned, device needs to acclimatise to the room temperature in which the device is to be used.

[@rafaelmonteirocdj]

@@GregoryLog in my experience, I belive it's calibrating during those 120 seconds. If you interrupt it on the next time it seens to just use the previous level estabilished. I have gotten the same results from the same place, once with calibration, once with interrupting it

[@Outside-In.]

I use this monitor for all my testing of other monitors - Smart Sensor makes great meters. When first purchased, you need to let it countdown 120 seconds, as that is for calibration to your environment. Once you have completed the first calibration, then after that, all you have to do is to press the power button as it is counting down to dismiss the countdown, and it will use the last calibration to get it's readings. If you decide to take this to a friends house to test their air, then you must do another 120 second countdown, so that it can calibrate itself to their environment. But when you go back home, you again will need to let it countdown in your house or business to re-calibrate it to the current environment. He used this device quite well, so did know what he was doing. It is just that he didn't know about the calibration process this meter needs to go through to adjust to the environment in which it is to be used, but I am sure after comments, that he definitely knows now, so will be able to pass that new-found information onto anyone else he shows this too. Just my two cents LOL...