CO alarm performance: Fireboy-Xintex vs Safe-T-Alert?

S

sws01

Member
Aug 4, 2020
35
Marietta, GA
Boat Info
1994 Sea Ray 400 Express Cruiser
Engines
7.4L Bluewater Mercruisers
Anyone have any thoughts to share about performance of the 12v CO alarms from these 2 vendors (Fireboy-Xintex vs Safe-T-Alert)?

Thanks in advance.
 
The Fireboy-Xintex is the OEM unit that came on my boat. I replaced it once when it started to beep that it expired. No issues with it.
 
I just replaced the original Xintex CO detectors on my boat with the new Xintex CMD5's. Although they work fine, a couple of personal opinion notes. One, while the original units had a quick disconnect within the unit itself, the new ones do not. The quick disconnect was a nice "feature", as if you did have a CO issue that you were aware of, such as a long idle time or other reason that you could get an alarm, you could take the cover off and disconnect the unit to stop it from sounding. (Potentially dangerous, I know, due to the possibility of accidentally leaving it unplugged, so please know I am not recommending this.) Another thing that was annoying was the "new and improved mounting bracket", which is not really that easy to install on upholstered surfaces, where my CO's are located. Because you have to feed the wires and butt connectors into and behind the adhered upholstery (another reason why a quick disconnect would have been helpful), it left a "lump" which did not allow the backing plate to be screwed down fully. In fact, I needed to loosen the mounting screws up quite a bit to get the detector to clip onto the mounting plate. The height of the unit is a bit less then the old, so you may see one of the original screw holes after install, but not really bad. Finally, the "system is functioning" indicator lamp has a three minute cycle in between one second "blinks", which seems excessive if you are quickly wanting to make sure they are working. Ninety seconds would have been more reasonable, in my opinion. Anyway, they seem to work fine, but just my feelings on install and functionality.
 
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amajamar said:
Another thing that was annoying was the "new and improved mounting bracket", which is not really that easy to install on upholstered surfaces, where my CO's are located. Because you have to feed the wires and butt connectors into and behind the adhered upholstery, it left a "lump" which did not allow the backing plate to be screwed down fully.
Click to expand...

Here's a suggestion that worked out for me. Use a cover plate available at your hardware store.
 

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Little Ducky said:
Here's a suggestion that worked out for me. Use a cover plate available at your hardware store.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I saw them too (Xintex sells them for the units as well). They look good on your install. I didn't use them, but probably should have as it looks like it may have been a bit easier to install.
 
Thanks for all these informative responses. Any others?
 
I have had both. They need to replaced every 5 years. Both would go on is similar circomstance
 
I did same as ducky. I took old out and used a simple plate behind to cover old screw holes. Cant even see the change i made
 
I use two kidde CO units from homedepot, but there basically hidden from sight. Replace the batteries every season. $20 a piece, work great. I also have the fireboy but couldn't find a reasonable replacement CO so went with the kidde.
 
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Skybolt, my understanding is that you should not use a house co detector on a boat. The marine ones are made differently then house ones and may not detect what will kill you. Any other imput guys or do i have bad info
 
Does anyone know if using a non marine component can void your insurance. I know you need explosion proof components in a gas engine room; but what about in the cabin. Would the Coast Guard accept a battery powered detector
 
Jeff Delbuono said:
Skybolt, my understanding is that you should not use a house co detector on a boat. The marine ones are made differently then house ones and may not detect what will kill you. Any other imput guys or do i have bad info
Click to expand...

I am not aware of that. From my perspective CO is CO. That can't fundamentally be changed by what ever is making it. But I would like to know more about this. Especially if that is even possible, not detecting "marine" CO from "land" CO. As for the detector being made differently, thats entirely possible. I am sure it has to do with the PCB being conformal coated against water/humidity damage. The ones I use have test buttons and I replace the batteries every season and perform the test after that. But I still need to look into this a bit further. Thanks for posting this Jeff.
 
northern said:
Does anyone know if using a non marine component can void your insurance. I know you need explosion proof components in a gas engine room; but what about in the cabin. Would the Coast Guard accept a battery powered detector
Click to expand...

That is a good question, but my insurance didn't ask about CO detectors and wasn't even brought up in the survey when I switched companies recently. If they did my guess is they would have to be USCG approved. Which changes things in the thread a bit. Did anyone else's insurance bring this up?
 
I couldn't let the residential and marine CO detector differance thing go. So I found a few articles that say the same thing. The basic difference is that a marine one will allow a longer duration of detected CO and a larger spike as well. So based on this article a home CO detector will be more sensitive and possibly give false alarms.

http://sailingmagazine.net/article-899-can-i-use-any-carbon-monoxide-detector-.html

For the price difference of the detector and mine are basically hidden from direct view (facing down under cabinets) I am alright with a false positive should this ever happen. In three years this hasn't happened yet.
 
Skybolt, good read. When i replaced mine this early year i was yold not to use a home co detector. Not because it is different kind of co but more that the marine ones are spec for a smaller area and made for the harsh marine life. I have 2 in my boat and at about $100 a piece was worth the piece of mind. I would rather save money elsewhere.
 
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