Some of us have been rudely awakened by the low battery chirping alert, always between midnight and 4:00 am. This has for me required a tedious investigation as I have detectors in every bedroom and the hallway upstairs.

Last night, the chirp was just faint enough that I thought I could sleep through it with the headphones on. I did, but at 5:18 am I arose to get some coffee and put the bird out of its misery.

In my morning stupor, I remembered that the alarm company app was getting smarter and smarter. Maybe they have battery level visibility on these various sensors? They do! Thank goodness...I don't have to stand under each one hoping it is the one. Look, the upstairs office detector battery is showing red. Easy.

So, I finished the coffee, and checked the news while I listened to Channel 6. This took a while, and I began to wonder -- why don't I hear the low battery chirp? Maybe it is a borderline voltage, and the colder thermostat setting overnight pushed it over the edge?

After changing the Varta "Made In China" OEM batteries for Streamlight, I looked at the battery indicator on the app. No, I didn't check before changing them AFTER the chirping stopped. It's not yet 6:00 am, so my decision-making and detective skills are compromised.

But, I was curious enough to measure the voltages. 2.85 volts DC on the $10 "Made In China" DVOM. Really? The app showed complete discharge?

Back upstairs. Varta batteries go back in. Streamlight go into the desk drawer. Check the app -- full voltage indicated on the detector.

Now I'm thinking...all six detectors were replaced the same day (under warranty). All "generation 2" and have been trouble free. All batteries should be about the same voltage. Why would one set be low? Bad manufacturing? But why now, do they show full voltage on the app and on the DVOM?

I'm not going to spend any more time on this quest for the murderer of the batteries. I know I have 48 Hours to find the suspect, but I think it has fled the area and is likely already on the flight to China. If it is not on the Airbus A320 today.

I will send my report to the alarm company, but I suspect they will treat this e-mail the same as they did my earlier e-mails about adding equipment to the system...deafening silence.

Yeah, it is always in the dead of night when they chirp!

Our dog is quite frightened by it. And most of our detectors are high on the wall requiring the 8 ft step ladder to reach them.

One of our CO detectors started chirping last week mid-morning. Freaked the cat out and took half a day to get her to come back inside. First time this has ever happened when I wasn't sleeping. Changed the batteries, fine, done.

Until three days later it starts chirping again. Ok, the batteries check out ok, so the unit is over 10 years old and shot.

Go to Lowes. Detector section is a jumble, but I find the unit I want. Good I'm not after a smoke detector, one of the ones on the shelf is chirping (not a good recommendation).

Put the batteries in the new one and take it outside to test it (cat has only just started speaking to me again). Works fine. Go to mount it on the wall, and of course the mounting screws are a different size and at different spacing than the previous detector. Good thing I have time on my hands.

My wife and I replaced the 7 fire alarms in the house we rent. The old ones required you to twist around to drop down to replace the battery. Many were 20 years old. We bought KIDDE alarms that fit the base of the old ones. The new ones have a spring loaded door on the outside making replacement much easier. We used the batteries that came with the new alarms. BIG MISTAKE, Within the first 2 weeks 4 of the alarms went off between midnight and 4 AM. Bought new batteries and replaced all the batteries that came with the alarms

The best way to stop them from chirping in the night is to change them in the early afternoon.

We built our house 10 years ago and one of the alarms started chirping. Replaced the battery and within 3 days it started chirping again. I had never heard they are only good for 10 years. Within a week all 8 of them had chirped and needed replacement. What a scam.

Smoke detectors should be replaced at 10 years, and CO detectors should be replaced at 7 years. I pulled them all down, got the dates off of them. Ended up replacing a set last year.

All mine are interconnected, so its pretty hard to find the "one" that is low battery and chirping. Luckily, I havent had to do that in years as I always replace batteries yearly.

I have a pack of batteries on the China cabinet that I bought the other day just for that project .Now I have to get motivated to do it before they make the decision for me .

All of the smoke detectors the local Ace Hardware is selling come with a non-replaceable ten year battery. No random chirping, but you're forced to replace them when the internal battery dies.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
I have a pack of batteries on the China cabinet that I bought the other day just for that project .Now I have to get motivated to do it before they make the decision for me .

Mission accomplished .. Check that off the list .

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
All of the smoke detectors the local Ace Hardware is selling come with a non-replaceable ten year battery. No random chirping, but you're forced to replace them when the internal battery dies.

Which is what you are supposed to do anyway, smoke detectors are only meant to last 10 years before they degrade. I always cringe seeing them in people's homes and they're clearly 15 or 20 or more years old.

A stylish solution.

Smoke alarms use radioactive material as part of the detector, this degrades (I've been told by a colleague that the degradation makes them MORE sensitive, hence false alarms) necessitating mandatory replacement at 10 years. I replace the batteries every fall whenever Daylight Savings time ends, easy to remember. One of my attendings in residency who had been a firefighter drilled into us to change our smoke detector batteries, which I still do. Seeing a few people rescued by firemen rather than not seeing them at all (because they were woken up by a working detector and walked out of the house), has simply reinforced the idea.

My wife's nephew had some remodeling done after the flood in 2016 . They stripped a lot of drywall off and some jackass removed a smoke detector and stuffed it behind some insulation . Well , you know what happened about a year later ...
My son went over there and they were able to pinpoint it and remove it without tearing the whole wall out .

I assumed since the electrician hard wired the smokes in my house that they would run off that which would also keep a rechargeable back up battery topped up incase of a fire when power was out. But that's not the case, in addition to being hard wired each one still requires a 9v battery. Furthermore when any one goes off they all do which is deafening. Happened twice in the middle of the night where I had to replace them during the incessant shrieking of 5 of the things. After the second time I was so pissed that I disabled them except for the one at the bottom of the stairs.

My worst experience with smoke detectors was in 2007. My wife and I lived in the Pearl City Military housing on Oahu. Every Marine had moved but me. Nice and quiet while awaited orders then……Beep Beep Beep. Not my residence, one of the many empty homes. Of course the sound echos. No insulation on those 1950 era built homes. As days passed more Beeps from more homes. We were very happy to leave “Paradise”. BTW I always keep replacement batteries handy.

Lock N Load

Michael
USMC Ret

quote:

But, I was curious enough to measure the voltages. 2.85 volts DC on the $10 "Made In China" DVOM.

Your $10 DVOM is likely only measuring the voltage potential and not the capacity of the battery to deliver that voltage over an extended period at a given discharge rate.

A ZTS battery tester will test your batteries under load and give you a result indicating remaining capacity as a percentage remaining from 100% to 10%.

They are expensive but cover a wide range of battery types, sizes, and chemistries. With the proliferation of battery-powered devices these days, it may be worth it, especially if it helps you avoid the dreaded Nighttime Chirp.