Air Tight Teardrops can KILL YOU

Important Information and Stickies...
(Threads with essential information about building teardrops)

Postby parnold » Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:51 pm

Well I guess it's still not my time then! I had never read the thread about open windows without a heater. I've read plenty where it talked about windows and heaters, lanterns, candles, etc.

Of course, when I got home from my little expedition, what was waiting for me on my front porch? My new 12v electric blanket of course. :lol:
User avatar
parnold
Donating Member
 
Posts: 2344
Images: 302
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:49 pm
Location: Northwest New Jersey

Postby robfisher » Sun Oct 17, 2010 9:02 pm

It the teardrop is air tight you won't run out of oxygen but instead you will poison yourself with CO2. An average person at rest expells about .6 cubic feet of CO2 per hour. CO2 is considered toxic at 40 parts/10,000. If I've done my math right that concentration could be reached in an average teardrop in as little as 1/2 hour if it is truely air tight.

Should have went right out and bought a lottery ticket. You're lucky.
User avatar
robfisher
1000 Club
1000 Club
 
Posts: 1034
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:43 pm
Location: Greenleaf, ID

Postby wannabefree » Sun Oct 17, 2010 9:06 pm

Just for fun, according to Wikipedia you breathe 6L of air per minute,or about 0.2 cubic feet. The volume of a typical tear is 4x8x4 = 128 cubic feet, minus 28 cubic feet for bed, bodies, and to make the math easy. That leaves 100 cubic feet of air.

Now, if there are 2 of you, breathing 0.4 cubic feet per minute, you will breathe all that air once in 250 minutes, just over 4 hours.

When you breathe, you take in some of the available oxygen and expel the rest along with some extra carbon dioxide you produced. So you haven't run out of oxygen in 4 hours, but there is maybe 25% less than when you started,and more carbon dioxide.

Bottom line - don't seal yourself in a box.
In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
User avatar
wannabefree
The 300 Club
 
Posts: 380
Images: 82
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:00 pm
Location: Phoenix
Top

Postby Goldwing » Sun Oct 17, 2010 9:54 pm

Remember that you don't have to deplete all of the oxygen to get into trouble, the key factor is CO2 levels. Think Apollo 13. Lots of O2, Lots of CO2 = Your dead.

All this being true I do admire the fact that you built your TD as tight as one of the old VW beetles!

P.S. We seem to have left out what should be very obvious if were are dealing with any type of combustion in a closed area, DON'T DO IT. Carbon Monoxide (CO) will also kill you very quickly.
User avatar
Goldwing
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:10 pm
Top

Postby Miriam C. » Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:26 pm

:shock: OH MY! We sleep with a vent or window opened slightly. Just got back and had nights in the 40-50*s....Mine is bigger and I had read about someone else getting in trouble over a too tight TD. Mine is not air tight....It is not going to be and I have a zero degree sleeping bag.... 8) Now my granddaughter slept under a thin fuzzy blanket.... She made me turn the heat off...

Once you get your TD warmed up it will hold the heat for a long time...Just remember that you are a heater too.
“Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.â€
User avatar
Miriam C.
our Aunti M
 
Posts: 19675
Images: 148
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:14 pm
Location: Southwest MO
Top

Postby jplock » Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:36 pm

I have been there and done that too. Always leave it vented while sleeping.
:) :) :)
jplock
Keep smiling!
Image
jplock
500 Club
 
Posts: 507
Images: 233
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:44 pm
Location: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Top

Postby Cliffmeister2000 » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:32 pm

I built my trailer with a large air passage to the galley, and there is a non-close-able vent in the galley. I didn't do it on purpose, but I'm glad it worked out that way. :thumbsup:
Last edited by Cliffmeister2000 on Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
God Bless

Cliff

♥God. ♥People.
1 John 4:9-11

My Teardrop build pictures
User avatar
Cliffmeister2000
Titanium Donating Member
 
Posts: 3622
Images: 157
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:18 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Top

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:58 am

Paul it sounds as if your construction skills are top notch! :applause:

Seriously though, glad this didn't turn out any worse and you woke up in time!

I would not have known about the suffocation factor had I not gone over to Kerry's house to check out his Cubby way back in the spring. I remember him telling me to always sleep with a vent at least cracked - to allow for airflow to prevent suffocation, and to reduce moisture in the air.

Maybe there should be a STICKY about suffocation somewhere?
Zach
Coming Soon...
Image Image
User avatar
absolutsnwbrdr
Donating Member
 
Posts: 2657
Images: 412
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 6:10 pm
Location: Hanover, PA
Top

Postby BILLYL » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:59 am

May I add to MadJACK -

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER and NEVER do that.

My son borrowed DA MOOSE and did the same thing you did and woke up - Thank God - gasping for air. Since then I added a small side vents that are always open and can't be blocked to the sides of the DA MOOSE.

So at least if you forget to crack a window or the vent there will be a vent opened.

Consider it.

Bill 8)
"If your children ever find out how lame you really are, they'll
gonna murder you in your sleep...." Frank Zappa
User avatar
BILLYL
Donating Member
 
Posts: 2822
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:12 am
Location: Maryland, Gaithersburg
Top

Postby mikeschn » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:52 pm

Billy,

That's a really good idea... How big were the side vents? And of course, do you have a picture?

Mike...
The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, so build your teardrop with the best materials...
User avatar
mikeschn
Site Admin
 
Posts: 19202
Images: 479
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:01 am
Location: MI
Top

Re: TOO Air Tight!

Postby planovet » Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:12 pm

Gage wrote:
parnold wrote:Is it possible that the trailer is so air tight I was running out of air after 3 hours or so?

Lesson learned. You do have a roof vent, don't you? I know it's been talked about several times on several threads over the years, but you DO NOT sleep in a teardrop all closed up. Because if it was built correctly, it will be air tight.


Well, MY teardrop was built correctly but it is not airtight. The permanently installed air conditioner allows for some ventilation even when it is not being used. That is unless adding an air conditioner is not "building correctly".
:roll:

That being said, I always crack my roof vent anyway.
ImageMark (& Cindi)
Visit our website: Little Swiss Teardrop

I was wondering why the water balloon was getting bigger... and then it hit me.

ImageImageImageImage
User avatar
planovet
The Cat Man
 
Posts: 5583
Images: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:48 pm
Location: Plano, Texas
Top

Postby stumphugger » Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:24 pm

I crack the window on the dog's side of the trailer. I figure he'll heat it up a bit. I carry a blanket for him but so far he's not needed it--unlike his first time tenting in coolish weather.
stumphugger
500 Club
 
Posts: 658
Images: 76
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:04 pm
Location: Warshington The State
Top

Postby evane » Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:01 pm

You may have just saved my life, and others, with this post. :D I'm almost finished with my first TD and wouldn't have even thought about CO poisoning. :oops:
Thank You, and glad your OK.
evane
Teardrop Inspector
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:42 pm
Location: Central Florida
Top

Postby jdarkoregon » Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:26 am

Paul, Glad to have you with us, and I just bet you NEVER make that error again. I've camping in 15 degrees with snow on the ground, I don't gave very big cracks in the windows and vents, but they are there. Having the fresh air also helps decrease the humidity.

When I made the same mistake I woke up in a rain shower, and I was still inside my trailer.

John
Innovation is essential
The world can be better
ImageImage
User avatar
jdarkoregon
Donating Member
 
Posts: 1236
Images: 47
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:07 pm
Location: Oregon, Sublimity
Top

Postby bohemian » Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:20 am

I also thought that this might happen so I put a dedicated air vent in.
It runs inside the closet from under the trailer to the top of the headboard.
It consists of 2" PVC and a screen and grill that cant be covered, so you always have fresh air even if you close her up tight. :thumbsup:
Wayne
User avatar
bohemian
Donating Member
 
Posts: 500
Images: 233
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:09 am
Top

PreviousNext

Return to Essential Information about building teardrops

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests