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Had five in my small house, one in each BR, up hall, and down common area. Hardwired in with battery back-up and when one goes off it sets them all of. 4am this morning they all start shrieking! This happens about once every 12-18 months at the least opportune time like last night and I didn't have any good 9v batteries. And it's not the occasional little chirp.... they all begin going off full volume for 15 seconds about every 5 minutes! Why in the hell don't they operate off the AC voltage and only use battery if AC power goes off AND there's smoke? Why aren't the batteries in them rechargeable with the AC keeping them fully charged, like my cordless electric toothbrush? If they make them as I described I'll buy and install them but for now all five of mine are in the trash and I'll do without before I ever put ones like them up again. No car is as much fun to drive, as any motorcycle is to ride. | ||
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| Purveyor of Fine Avatars  |
They just want to be noticed. They're lonely.  "I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes" | |||
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| Member |
I just had a similar experience. We've been in this newer house a few months. There are 4 detectors, one is located near the apex (but not at) of the living room ceiling. It is literally 17 feet up. You know which one started beeping. I was able to use my flexy-bendy ladder (with socks on the legs) to scale the height, remove the battery and disconnect the unit. My next step was to buy a battery operated model, move it over a few feet where the ceiling is over the loft, and install it in the normal height ceiling. Nothing funny about a fat old man on a ladder, if you happen to be the fat old man! | |||
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| Member |
Have Nest’s AC powered fire/CO detectors here. They have 10-year lithium batteries for backup. Since the units should be replaced every decade, it’s likely their batteries may never need to be replaced. Being able to monitor them via wifi on a smartphone is also handy. | |||
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Member |
Mine are AC powered and linked. They chirp when they have issues. They only all go off if they detect smoke. I forgot what I’m using but it’s the model that’s been recommended here before. No issues for 15 years. "Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy "A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book | |||
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אַרְיֵה |
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Ammoholic |
You described it exactly as they are supposed to work. Yours are bad and need to be replaced, that's all. Just replace them, problem solved. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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| Ammoholic |
Things other than manufacturers defects that make them fail are: •Poor connections or painted over connections •Power company power quality •Power surges. The only thing you have control over is the connection. When replacing, never just plug and in plug them. Remove the old manufacturer supplied pigtail, inspect connections. If wires are not twisted tightly use linemans pliers to make twists tight. Also if you see paint on wires use wire wheel or linesmans pliers to clean paint off. You can use linemans pliers to clear the paint by loosening your grip slightly after twisting wires and letting pliers cross marks rub over/off paint. Remember these are a combination of sensors and electronics and do sometimes fail. If you buy ones with ten year warranties, you simply call manufacturer and get free replacements. Also the replace your batteries thing every year is bogus. You can go three or four years no problem as long as you don't have any power outages since the battery is only used as an alternative power source when house power is down. I replace them all at the first chirp I hear or after power outage if it's been a while since I've replaced them. The once a year thing stems from when houses didn't have them and people just slapped up battery powered only ones. Those do actually use the batteries to do their job. $11 replacements These have ten year warranties, very economical, basic, easy to change battery. For dual sensor or combo CO/Smoke units expect to spend $30-60 ea instead.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Skins2881, Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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| That rug really tied the room together. |
One of the wires on each unit is used to interconnect them. If you don't like that feature, disconnect that wire and throw a wire nut on it. THEN when one goes ape shit, you can easily diagnose the problem one and disconnect it. I hope you make it a priority to put them back into working condition. Most fire deaths are the result of non-working smoke detectors, completely preventable. ______________________________________________________ Often times a very small man can cast a very large shadow | |||
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I have dogs that will let me know if there is any problem be it fire, smoke, water, and an intruder. They really get pissed when something or someone disturbs their sleep. Chris | |||
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| Member |
Thanks, may do this or just go with one battery detector downstairs and call that it. No car is as much fun to drive, as any motorcycle is to ride. | |||
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Member |
In our last house the fire department did a free inspection/install for the owner and installed a ceiling detector inches away from a second bathroom door. No problems unless someone took a shower and left the bathroom door open. Evidently the hot steamy air would travel along the ceiling and spill right into the detector. Much hilarity would ensure. I promptly moved the detector a few feet down the hallway ceiling and it solved the issue. | |||
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| Ammoholic |
Just in case you didn't catch what you wrote down. Every year to year and a half you get inconvenienced and woken up. Your solution was to remove an important life safety device instead of fixing the problem. Hopefully after reading it in someone else's writing you will realize how crazy that sounds. Spend the $60 to replace them, if you can't inspect wiring and replace yourself spend the $200 to have a pro do it. Less than $300.00 is not worth your life. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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Member |
As a past active firefighter we would always hear about when people died in a fire, most did not have a working smoke detector. It may be a pain in the ass but please replace them. I live in a 1000sq foot house and have 4 interconnected and 1 battery smoke detectors in my house. When a hard wire one goes off they all go off and they are less than 10 ft apart. It makes it hard to determine what one is in need of a new battery or is going off from cooking. For the low cost to replace the detector or battery it is not worth taking a chance not to replace them. I have 9 volt batteries put away just for the reason to be able to replace a battery at 3 in the morning. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State NRA Life Member | |||
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| Member |
I'm going to spend $15 to replace the one at the bottom of the stairs with a cheap non-hardwired battery detector that makes an intermittent chirp when the battery gets low and call that it. Having four hardwired ones within 6' of each other, in the up hall and three bedrooms, that all start shrieking full volume at 4am when any one of the batteries are low in them (or the one down stairs) IN SPITE of still being 100% functional since they have AC power is beyond inconvenient. No car is as much fun to drive, as any motorcycle is to ride. | |||
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| Ammoholic |
They are not 100% functional if they are doing that, they chirp when they have a low battery, not alarm. One or more is broken. I'd really suggest just replacing them all. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes |
I 100% agree with this and other posts by Jesse in this thread. The system is laid out for max safety as in maybe a fire would occur in a room with a closed door. The overall reason for the interconnect feature. New smoke detectors with a battery backup and a combination type SD/CO in hallway by the sleeping quarters. One smoke detector probably malfunctioned causing the alarm. Maybe try a different brand. I've used Kidde with good success but have heard that BRK is top notch as well. Battery backup low signal is a chirp every several seconds. When that happens replace all batteries as previously advised in this thread. That said, the detectors should last around ten years. Replacement at ten years or less is a damn good idea. _______________________ “There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.” ― Frank Zappa | |||
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| Raised Hands Surround Us Three Nails To Protect Us  |
Kiddie, I won’t every buy Kiddie anything. HUGE fire extenguisher recall almost 2 years ago. Guess who still does not have recall replacements? This guy, and a started the dang gone thread here that tons of folks got their replaced. And not too long ago Kiddie had to recall smoke detectors. I recently replaced all mine with 1st Alert. I also put the Nest ones near my furnace units that way if they detect carbon monoxide they’ll get shut down. ———————————————— The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad. If we got each other, and that's all we have. I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand. You should know I'll be there for you! | |||
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| Member |
These hard wired, connected alarms have ever chirped like every other smoke I've ever had. One goes off then instantly all the others do as well, at full shrieking volume, usually in the middle of the night. Replacing the battery in the one that started (not always easy to determine) makes them all stop but I generally just replace the batteries in all 5 since I'm already wide awake. This time at 4am I didn't have any new 9v batteries on hand. I'm just fed up with them and am fine going forward with one downstairs, maybe even one in the up hall, but simple battery units. The other thought is I'll put all 5 back up to cover the holes in the ceiling leaving the 3 in the bedrooms disconnected w/o a battery, then connecting just the two in the hallways but without the interconnect wire. No car is as much fun to drive, as any motorcycle is to ride. | |||
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Drill Here, Drill Now |
I don't understand why you're insistent on not following the sound advice in this thread. Something is wrong if they're doing anything other than chirping on low battery. It doesn't sound like a placement issue as you're not having the issue from showers (i.e. set off by steam) or cooking (set off by ordinary cooking). Replace all of the hardwired ones and I'd suggest replacing with the built-in 10 year battery models. The batteries should die about the time you should be replacing the smoke detector. Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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