ACTSNYC@cs.com on mon 29 nov 99
I
> Ray Aldridge wrote:
> > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > At 03:01 PM 11/26/99 EST, Monona wrote:
> > >
> > >I suggest you get a CO detector of the type that will read out the
> highest
> > >reading in the last 8 hours. Unfortunately, the highest reading they
> will
> > >report is 30 or 35 ppm! But at least that is a start.
> > >
> > >Schools with serious ceramics programs should purchase one of the
> expensive
> > >continuous CO monitors for the kiln room.
> > >
> >
> Good suggestion. We have one of the continuous monitors in the hallway
> next to the closet that holds our gas furnace, and it's a source of
> reassurance to look at the readout and see "0" in big red letters. <
Fascinating. There is always some CO in the air. What is the unit's lower
detection limit?
Monona
ACTS
181 Thompson St., # 23
NYC NY 10012-2586 212/777-0062
ACTSNYC@cs.com
L Skeen on tue 30 nov 99
I believe that the origin of this thread was someone's allegation that somebody
had died of CO poisoning when they went in their kiln room during a firing. ie:
said person walked in the room and was immediately overcome, literally before
they knew what hit them. Others dissented, and I think someone offered to look
up an article in a magazine as proof of the allegation.
Did said article or any other proof of the above allegation ever materialize? I
have lost quite a bit of clayart and other email over the weekend due to
reformatting the computer, and thus missed the resolution of the discussion.
Thanks in advance y'all.
--
Lisa -
Ray Aldridge on tue 30 nov 99
At 03:13 PM 11/29/99 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I
>> Ray Aldridge wrote:
>> > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>> > At 03:01 PM 11/26/99 EST, Monona wrote:
>> > >
>> > >I suggest you get a CO detector of the type that will read out the
>> highest
>> > >reading in the last 8 hours. Unfortunately, the highest reading they
>> will
>> > >report is 30 or 35 ppm! But at least that is a start.
>> > >
>> > >Schools with serious ceramics programs should purchase one of the
>> expensive
>> > >continuous CO monitors for the kiln room.
>> > >
>> >
>> Good suggestion. We have one of the continuous monitors in the hallway
>> next to the closet that holds our gas furnace, and it's a source of
>> reassurance to look at the readout and see "0" in big red letters. <
>
>Fascinating. There is always some CO in the air. What is the unit's lower
>detection limit?
>
Hmmm. I may have mispoken. I assumed it was a continuous monitor because
of the LED readout, but upon turning it over, I find that it's set to go
off at 200 ppm over a 35 minute period. Maybe some day when everyone's
away, I'll choke off the return air to the furnace and see what happens.
What fun!
Well, I'll never be wrong again. The unit is, at least, UL-approved.
Ray
Aldridge Porcelain and Stoneware
http://www.goodpots.com
Percy Toms on wed 1 dec 99
In a message dated 11/30/99 7:35:57 AM, lpskeen@living-tree.net writes:
>I believe that the origin of this thread was someone's allegation that
>somebody
>had died of CO poisoning when they went in their kiln room during a firing.
> ie:
>said person walked in the room and was immediately overcome, literally
>before
>they knew what hit them. Others dissented, and I think someone offered
>to look
>up an article in a magazine as proof of the allegation.
>
>Did said article or any other proof of the above allegation ever materialize?
>I
>have lost quite a bit of clayart and other email over the weekend due to
>reformatting the computer, and thus missed the resolution of the discussion.
>
>Thanks in advance y'all.
>--
>Lisa -
Hi Lisa
Attached is the earlier 'CO death' thread. By way of clarification:
1. The evidence does NOT suggest the victim was overcome upon walking into
the kiln room. It does seem she had been there awhile already, and was no
doubt tired - to the point that she overlooked the damper being closed as she
fired the kiln the second time. As a result, there was far more CO in the
room than a normal firing would have caused.
2. As for the report's corroboration, it's up in the air. Ceramic Review
(ceramicr@globalnet.co.uk) has not yet replied to my email asking if they can
trace the source issue. If it's not in their year on year index of contents,
we're looking at one or two hours of heavy duty thumbing-through. This needs
a motivated volunteer. The ample Ceramic Review collection in which I found
this report is over a thousand miles away (I'm in northern California) - or
I'd have traced it already.
If I were searching I'd focus on the late 80's and early '90s back issues.
And should I yet hear from Ceramic Review, I'll pass it on.
Ned
> In a message dated 11/21/99 1:41:12 PM, epriddy@my-Deja.com writes:
>
>
> >There are times that your kiln
> >will outgas chemicals that can knock you
> >unconscious BEFORE your nose tells you to get
> >out. And then you lay there breathing it ALL
> >in until you hopefully wake up or someone finds
> >you. The mythic "kiln accident" is more likely
> >to kill you this way than by blowing you up.
>
>
>
> Elizabeth,
>
> Not so mythic, sadly...
> This really happened to a young potter, in England. If the report and my
memory are
> correct she collapsed in an ill-ventilated kiln room while doing the
second of two,
> back-to-back, firings of a gas kiln, at night and alone. Cause of death
was carbon
> monoxide poisoning.
> The damper was found in a closed or part-closed position, as might have
been
> expected at the end of the first firing. It was assumed that in her
fatigue (it was
> known she was working hard to a deadline) she somehow did not get to open
it for the
> second firing that was already underway.
> This tragedy was reported some years ago in what was already a back issue
of
> Ceramic Review (UK) when I read it, and I regret I can't give a more exact
> reference.
>
>
> Ned
***
ACTSNYC@cs.com on wed 1 dec 99
I
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 10:42:50 EST
> From: Ray Aldridge
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
> Subject: Re: CO death - true or false? WAS Re. kinder,gentler kiln room/...
> Resent-Subject: Re: CO death - true or false? WAS Re. kinder,gentler
> kiln room/...
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> At 03:13 PM 11/29/99 EST, you wrote:
> >----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >> Ray Aldridge wrote:
> >> > ----------------------------Original
message---------------------------
SNIP
Ray replies:
>
> Hmmm. I may have mispoken. I assumed it was a continuous monitor because
> of the LED readout, but upon turning it over, I find that it's set to go
> off at 200 ppm over a 35 minute period. Maybe some day when everyone's
> away, I'll choke off the return air to the furnace and see what happens.
> What fun!
>
> Well, I'll never be wrong again. The unit is, at least, UL-approved. <
UL are the idiots that changed the limits to keep fire departments happy. I
called them and bawled them out at the time. Also wrote an article about
what I think of the new limits. Instead of caving in to the fire
departments, they should have gotten into a public to understand that when
these devices read out higher that normal limits, they should find out what
is wrong on their own or call the gas company. Fire departments should only
respond when the devices alarm at the new high limits.
Whenever UL or any other organization says that something "meets standards,"
ask who is on the committees that set the standards. That would be an
eye-opener. The committees are almost always primarily made up of the very
manufacturers of the items for which standards are being set.
Monona Rossol
ACTS
181 Thompson St., # 23
NYC NY 10012-2586 212/777-0062
ACTSNYC@cs.com
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