Home Page link

Smoke Detector Timing

Home| Search | About
Login Password
Register Now! Lost Password?

Home Repair - - If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Otherwise look here. 

Page 1 of 3       1 2 3 > last >> Bookmark this page:  YahooMyWeb Yahoo!  Google Google  Windows Live Favorites Windows Live  del.icio.us del.icio.us  digg digg  Add to Netscape Netscape
Subject Author Date
Smoke Detector Timing The Ranger 12-16-2007
If you were  Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Posted by The Ranger on December 16, 2007, 12:02 pm
I have First Alert smoke detectors located throughout my house
(each bedroom, main hallways, and two non-bedrooms.) The whole
series are hardwired and I'm anal about changing the batteries
every 6 months.

This last week, two of the units started beeping at random times
(usually late at night around 3-4 am); not the full-alert beeping,
just that 1-second ear-splitting, I'm out of battery power and you
should change me beep.

I took them down, immediately changed their batteries (9V
Duracell) and put them back into place. The beeps stopped.

...Until this morning at 5am.

Six of the eight units started beeping randomly. It daisy-chained
down the hallway in a weird march. The beeps were first 20 minutes
apart but have graduated to every 20 seconds now.

I've blown out each unit, tested them (and my ears are still
ringing), and put them back into place. Still, every 60-90
seconds, the damn things march down the hallway beeping away.

Thoughts or ideas to cure this annoying morning alarm?

The Ranger



Posted by Nate Nagel on December 16, 2007, 12:00 pm
The Ranger wrote:
> I have First Alert smoke detectors located throughout my house
> (each bedroom, main hallways, and two non-bedrooms.) The whole
> series are hardwired and I'm anal about changing the batteries
> every 6 months.
>
> This last week, two of the units started beeping at random times
> (usually late at night around 3-4 am); not the full-alert beeping,
> just that 1-second ear-splitting, I'm out of battery power and you
> should change me beep.
>
> I took them down, immediately changed their batteries (9V
> Duracell) and put them back into place. The beeps stopped.
>
> ...Until this morning at 5am.
>
> Six of the eight units started beeping randomly. It daisy-chained
> down the hallway in a weird march. The beeps were first 20 minutes
> apart but have graduated to every 20 seconds now.
>
> I've blown out each unit, tested them (and my ears are still
> ringing), and put them back into place. Still, every 60-90
> seconds, the damn things march down the hallway beeping away.
>
> Thoughts or ideas to cure this annoying morning alarm?
>
> The Ranger
>
>

Are these "tandem" detectors? you might have to take each down,
disconnect the tandem wire, then see which one is still beeping, then
replace that detector.

If they are above "a certain age" (what that is depends on your personal
comfort level) you may simply want to replace them all.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Posted by The Ranger on December 16, 2007, 12:19 pm
> The Ranger wrote:
>> I have First Alert smoke detectors located throughout
>> my house [and they...] are hardwired
[snip]
>> Thoughts or ideas to cure this annoying morning alarm?
>>
> Are these "tandem" detectors?

Yes; six per wire.

> you might have to take each down, disconnect the tandem
> wire, then see which one is still beeping, then replace that
> detector.

<sigh> It couldn't possibly be easy. That just wouldn't be fun.

> If they are above "a certain age" (what that is depends
> on your personal comfort level) you may simply want
> to replace them all.

That was going to be my "final" solution.

Thanks for the answer.

The Ranger



Posted by Nate Nagel on December 16, 2007, 12:19 pm
The Ranger wrote:
>
>>The Ranger wrote:
>>
>>>I have First Alert smoke detectors located throughout
>>>my house [and they...] are hardwired
>
> [snip]
>
>>>Thoughts or ideas to cure this annoying morning alarm?
>>>
>>
>>Are these "tandem" detectors?
>
>
> Yes; six per wire.
>
>
>>you might have to take each down, disconnect the tandem
>>wire, then see which one is still beeping, then replace that
>>detector.
>
>
> <sigh> It couldn't possibly be easy. That just wouldn't be fun.

I've worked for two different suppliers of fire alarms for large
commercial buildings, if you have any kind of trouble such that the
control panel doesn't tell you what it is, troubleshooting is Not Fun.
That's just a fact of life :(

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Posted by JoeSpareBedroom on December 16, 2007, 12:10 pm
>I have First Alert smoke detectors located throughout my house (each
>bedroom, main hallways, and two non-bedrooms.) The whole series are
>hardwired and I'm anal about changing the batteries every 6 months.
>
> This last week, two of the units started beeping at random times (usually
> late at night around 3-4 am); not the full-alert beeping, just that
> 1-second ear-splitting, I'm out of battery power and you should change me
> beep.
>
> I took them down, immediately changed their batteries (9V Duracell) and
> put them back into place. The beeps stopped.
>
> ...Until this morning at 5am.
>
> Six of the eight units started beeping randomly. It daisy-chained down the
> hallway in a weird march. The beeps were first 20 minutes apart but have
> graduated to every 20 seconds now.
>
> I've blown out each unit, tested them (and my ears are still ringing), and
> put them back into place. Still, every 60-90 seconds, the damn things
> march down the hallway beeping away.
>
> Thoughts or ideas to cure this annoying morning alarm?
>
> The Ranger
>

While you're waiting for answers, you might poke around this site and see if
there's anything helpful:
http://www.firstalert.com/support.php



Page 1 of 3       1 2 3 > last >>
Similar ThreadsPosted
Smoke detector and CO detector installed next to each other? October 14, 2005, 4:40 pm
smoke detector August 11, 2007, 7:34 am
Smoke Detector ? December 3, 2007, 7:09 pm
Cigarette Smoke Detector September 8, 2005, 5:00 pm
Remote smoke detector November 14, 2005, 6:08 pm
Smoke detector batteries November 15, 2005, 1:24 pm
Smoke / CO2 Detector Discussion January 21, 2006, 9:49 pm
Smoke Detector Woes November 5, 2006, 3:04 pm
Cigarette smoke detector February 11, 2008, 4:00 pm
Testing a smoke detector April 23, 2008, 12:56 pm

Contact Us | Privacy Policy

XML SitemapXML Sitemap