Smoke detector malfunctioning

[Sirrahsim]

Why the heck did my smoke detector pick 3 am to start malfunctioning Every 10 minutes or so it lets out a loud squeal and then gets quiet again!! It is wired into the houses power so I can't even remove the battery!! *yawn*

[Sirrahsim]

i'm going to give sleeping another try though the adrenaline rush caused by waking up the smoke detector doesn't seem to want to go away

[moosmom]

Missy,

I SWEAR the manufacturers of those detectors make it a point to have the batteries die in the middle of the night. And it's not even a squeal you can avoid. It's loud and annoying. If they weren't so much so, we'd sleep through smoke and fire.

I unplugged mine till I bought batteries for it. I don't trust anyone in my building to not smoke, or run out while a fire is brewing. I've got me and my furbabies to think about!!

[pomtzu]

Yikes - is there a virus spreading???
My brother called me from his place in NC over the weekend to tell me of the commotion at his place. The smoke detectors started blaring at 4 a.m. They are all centrally wired together, so when one goes off, they all do. They checked the place with a fine tooth comb and couldn't find anything, so reset them and went back to bed. A half hour later they went off again, so he called 911 (you'll see why). They had the fire marshal, rescue squad, firemen, and local police swarming the place. They brought in a heat sensing camera and went thru the house and found nothing and came to the conclusion that it was one of the detectors that is faulty. My brother put in a call to his contractor that installed them a year ago, to come find the problem. NOW!!!
You see - he's only lived in that house for a year. He bought it about 2 and a half years ago, and was moving in a little at a time from his home in FL, when there was an electrical fire when no one was there and he was at his FL place. It was completely gutted, and all that was left standing was the outside brick walls and the brick fireplace. The place was rebuilt - custom specs and upgrades, and is twice the place he originally purchased. Fortunately, it was well insured.
So that's why he called 911. I probably would have called when they first went off. Most of the firemen that were there over the weekend, were also at the first fire, and said he definitely did the right thing by calling them.

[Sirrahsim]

I blew out the dust and it hasn't gone off again since. I'm soooo sleeeeeeeepy

[moosmom]

Missy,

Haven't you ever learned from having kids that naps are SOOOOOO underrated!!! Sweet dreams, girl!!

Ellie,

so when one goes off, they all do

Sort of like Christmas lights, right???

[Sirrahsim]

Naptime is in 18 minutes... not that I'm counting

[RICHARD]

The building I used to work at had a SD right over our desks. It would go off (tests) often, so I took my knife and unwired it.


A few weeks later the construction guys come in, look at it and start to get all giddy and begin back slapping each other.

I knew the guy and asked him why all the commotion..

He explained that they were tracking a light on the SD board-seems like they are wired in sequence and when a BREAK IN THE CIRCUIT happens, a light goes on on the board and they have to track it down and fix it.

I admitted to him that I had undone the wire and he laughed about it and warned me about doing any more McGuyver stunts.

Now I only work on them when they are the battery operated modules.

(I did do a wiring job in another office that ran afoul of the IBEW union another time.....but that is another story?)

[Asiel]

I guess those smoke detectors work the same everywhere.We went through a few of those wake up calls until we got fed up and unplugged the wires. Seems they were good only to warn you that you burned the toast anyway. I smoked the house once with burning oil on the stove and the darn thing didn't go off. We're non smokers and don't allow smoking on the property so I didn't mind unplugging it. I don't cook enough to worry about a fire either and we always check the stove after a meal. We mostly use the bbq for most of our food.

[pomtzu]

I guess those smoke detectors work the same everywhere.We went through a few of those wake up calls until we got fed up and unplugged the wires. Seems they were good only to warn you that you burned the toast anyway. I smoked the house once with burning oil on the stove and the darn thing didn't go off. We're non smokers and don't allow smoking on the property so I didn't mind unplugging it. I don't cook enough to worry about a fire either and we always check the stove after a meal. We mostly use the bbq for most of our food.

Mine are centrally wired and all have battery backup too. I'll put up with the annoyance of them maybe going off once in a while. What if you had an electrical fire??? That could smolder between the walls for days - that's what they speculate happened at my brother's house. There's a lot more ways for a fire to start in your home that are not just from cooking or smoking.

[moosmom]

Our whole apartment building is wire to the fire department in the hallways. So far I've had 2 visits from the fire department asking me about the alarm going off in the hallway. Both times they caught me off guard. If I had KNOWN those hotties were coming I would've showered, brushed my teeth and shaved my legs!!!

[RICHARD]

If I had KNOWN those hotties were coming I would've showered, brushed my teeth and shaved my legs!!!

Oh, stop.

They could have singed the hair of your legs.

[Cinder & Smoke]

VERY Well said >>>

I'll put up with the annoyance of them maybe going off once in a while.

What if you had an electrical fire???
That could smolder between the walls for days ...

There's a lot more ways for a fire to start in your home
that are not just from cooking or smoking.

A whole lota things can go wrong in a house and lead to either toxic smoke
or an actual fire.

If you suspect a "false alarm" --- CALL 9-1-1 FIRST and tell 'em you don't
"see" any fire; but that you want it checked out.

They might not send ALL the apparatus at once for a "Nothing Showing to the Occupant"
report, but they WILL COME and do a check of the building!

It's always easier to extinguish that "false alarm" than it is to show up
to a roaring inferno after someone ignores or unplugs a sounding alarm.

[Asiel]

Mine are centrally wired and all have battery backup too. I'll put up with the annoyance of them maybe going off once in a while. What if you had an electrical fire??? That could smolder between the walls for days - that's what they speculate happened at my brother's house. There's a lot more ways for a fire to start in your home that are not just from cooking or smoking.

You're right about that but we only disconnected the ones in the ceilings. The constant sreaming from those things were driving us nuts. We still have the central one hooked up but that one doesn't go off unless there was real trouble. I'ts hooked up to the panel downstairs. Thankfully we've never had our CEO go off for nothing while some of the neighbours have and had troops walking in to check things out.

[Sirrahsim]

VERY Well said >>>



A whole lota things can go wrong in a house and lead to either toxic smoke
or an actual fire.

If you suspect a "false alarm" --- CALL 9-1-1 FIRST and tell 'em you don't
"see" any fire; but that you want it checked out.

They might not send ALL the apparatus at once for a "Nothing Showing to the Occupant"
report, but they WILL COME and do a check of the building!

It's always easier to extinguish that "false alarm" than it is to show up
to a roaring inferno after someone ignores or unplugs a sounding alarm.

Yes but what if while the fire fighters are rushing over to blow dust out of our faulty smoke detector there is a REAL emergency?