3AM awakened by alarm, but no smoke. Hit silence button- all 8 stop ringing. 3:17 AM all 8 again start ringing- best distance for smoke alarm toss with 4 kids crying to improve throw is now 80′.
– House wired by long time licensed electrical contractor
– House free of dust , spyders, ants, smoke, etc.
-Manufacturer BRK electronics, date made Feb 09, 01
-House occupied for 7 months with no false alarms.
-No power outage or thunderstorms
Any suggestions for false alarm, different detectors, surge protectors on circuit. I belive alarm toss seems to be working ok.
Thanks
Kelly
Replies
sometimes one just goes bad. If you can figure out which one, replace it.
Some detectors get flakey. I don't know if this relates.
Some smoke alarms are sensitive to very fine water droplets. Usually from a nearby hot shower but once we had one that would go off when the nearby washer was doing a hot load. This was getting one guy out of his shower. The house had 8 smoke alarms that were wired together. Assuming the fire department is within 2 miles all 8 alarms going off at once eliminates the need to dial 911.
Loud is an understatement.
Lesson: Don't mount smoke alarms too close to the bathroom.
I put hard wired smoke alarms in the spec house I built. The tenants say they go off when the place loses power, even if it's just a "blip" for a second or 2.
Don't know if it has anything to do with your situation, but it came to mind......
"If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something."
Boss
Do your wired smoke detectors have a battery backup in each unit ?Mike
It's O.k. to think out of the box, Just don't walk off of the plank!
Mike -
Only one of them has a battery backup. Why does that matter?
All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner.
Yes but is the smoke leaking out of the unit? This could set itself off.
Ya gotta keep the smoke in!!!!
Had to be said.
The trouble with the rat race is even if you win, you're still a rat.
may be one gone bad.......or.....like already mentioned.......is a standard smoke installed near a wet/humid area.......bath area......laundry room....basement with laundry nearby?
A standard smoke can't take the moisture. in those locations......a heat detector is recommended. There are 2 types of Heats.....one will go off when a certain temp if met.....the other goes off if the temp rises too quickly.
This might be a good case for an alarm specialist to check.......could even be that a smoke is installed in a position where dust is blown past. Any new activities like AC on for the first time? Doors open now that weren't before? Think along lines like that and do some dectective work.
I'd look for improper smokes where a heat sould be....then a bad heat...then dust blowing........
Jeff
.......Sometimes on the toll road of life.....a handful of change is good.......
I had trouble with our smoke detectors last year. The trouble ended up being small amounts of dust that had gathered in the units. I had never heard this before, but the nice (and patient) guys/gals from the fire department said you should clean your smoke detectors once a year with a vacuum cleaner.
Of course, I can't be 100% sure that dust was the culpret as there was significant damage done to two of the alarms after they woke me for a third time:)
I replaced all the alarms and haven't had any trouble since. I plan on vacuuming out each one when I replace the battery.
Usualy if it's just the battery back up they will chirp, not go off like yours. The only way to do it is plug them all in and disconnect them one at a time until they stop giving a false alarm. Or if that doesn't do it, buy a new one same make and model to insure you don't get a false because they are incompatable. Take it from unit to unit and swap it out. Smokes are a pain in the keister when they false but the one time they do their job it's worth all the trouble.
I have a funny smoke alarm story if you want to hear it. I used to live in a three story apartment building. One Sunday evening the Smokes in the hall started going off. Everyone met out in the hall on my floor (the first) and stared at the detector, "It must be broke." We reasoned. One guy climbed up on a chair and pulled it down. The second floor one was still going off so we went up there and met the second floor tenants and they took theirs down. Finaly we went up to the third floor to silence that one. And you probably guessed it, there was a fire. Two hippies were standing in this big cloud of smoke smiling sheepishly. One of them had set the couch on fire. It was already out, but everybody gave em a dirty look and went back to their apartments. Being the smart one of the bunch I chimed in. "Spose the damn things were trying to warn us the building was on fire?"