Bigfoot Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Hi all, anyone know anything about smoke detectors.We got home last night and had all of our detectors screaming at us (about 10 of them). NO, there was no fire.I shut the breaker off and they still screamed. I finally found one with a red light and pulled the battery and got them all to shut off. God that was annoying.Anyway, I replaced the battery and it all seemed fine until 0930 again this morning when they all started screaming again. Red light on again on that detector and still no fire or smoke or anything to make them go off.Apparently they are somehow wired together in some sort of detection grid that makes them all go off when one does.I just replaced all batteries about 6 months ago.My question is do these things go bad like this and if so, what happens if I cannot find the exact brand or model replacement to swap it out? Will this affect how the grid works?Thanks,Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert and Elizabeth Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I don't know anything but what I am telling you now. Sometimes dust gets in them and that can set them off. It happened to us with the detector on our 20+ foot ceiling. Also, if one does go bad, it can set them all off also. I would first try to blow the dust out of all of them. If that does not work, I would take the detector to Home Depot or someplace similar and have them help you find a replacement that would work. Not all of ours are the same brand and they all work well together. Yes, they are all hardwired in so if one goes off, they all do. Even if you turn the power off, they have that battery as a back up. Hope this helps...E~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmike32172 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Smoke, dust, and steam/humidity from a hot shower will make them go off. A weak battery in one could trigger the others if they are linked together.You could find the culprit by using a volt meter on the battery to see which one is weak, or just replace the batteries in all. I would replace the batteries in all and then check them with a volt meter to see what they were at to insure that in fact it was a baterry and not that one of the detectors is a defect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASU Fan Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 All of your smoke detectors should be wired together so if one goes off they all do. Sometimes dust will affect the detectors, try using the vacuum or a can of the compressed air that people use for computers and electronics to clean the detector. You could also use an air compressor just watch the amount of air pressure that you blow at the detector.Hope this helps, if all else fails try the batteries one more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P51tj Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Agree with all above! Awhile back I had just replaced the batteries and in a few months mine did as yours. Found 1 bad battery, replaced it and all was well again. Maybe you got an old battery when you did the swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratch Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 We were called to check a noisy (clicking) sound in a fairly new, two-story residence once. It was a smoke detector installed, inside the ceiling between floors. We would of had to cut out the drywall to get to it...told them to contact the builder, have them get a crew out for some re-model work.Oh, and I agree with the above comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 OK, will check that whole dust thing. I know the battery that I put in EARLY this morning was ok...at least it was a lot stronger than the one that was in there. I guess I'll also go buy all new round of batteries and do it again. If that fails then I'll go buy a new detector. :Thanks guys and gal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill's Vette Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 All mine went off when I turned on the heating in the house, but I have a gas heater (Does it every year). When I was a kid, all the detectors went off in the middle of the night; part of the electric heat coil burned out in central unit - we couldn't hardly smell anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmike32172 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Step 1.) Remove smoke detector cover.Step 2.) Remove fried scorpion inside of detector.Step 3.) Replace smoke detector cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstrutt Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Are they the type that also checks carbon monoxide levels. Be sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie44 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Are they the type that also checks carnon monoxide levels. Be sure! be sure! Carbon Monoxide is odorless and you might not be aware of the leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert and Elizabeth Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Sean, did you figure out your detector problem??? Was it carbon monoxide instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 No, they are not CO detectors, strictly smoke. I'm going for batteries and a can of air (it will be easier that way) today. Will let ya know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarAB13 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Had that happened to us too! Trust me, it's the DESERT DUST! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOLDCYLON Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 As stated above the smoke detectors get a lot of dust in the photo eye sensor which causes them to chirp, Also a low battery as part of an AC failure back up if they are tied into AC house power causes a chrip. Indeed in the newer homes (last ten years) when one chirps or goes off they are ALL are susposed to go off to alert the entire household due to legal changes in the life safety code.We had a bad unit in my sons room, would go off whenever it wanted day or night, Would be ok for days them whamo 230am they all went off. Tried cleaning it, replaced the battery nada. I ended up going to Home Depot bought another AC powered with battery backup wired it into the same household wiring series and problem was solved. About $7.99While pulling all the units down I noted all the detectors had and expiration date!!! I guess these units are only good for ten years!!!! Stamped clear as day on the underside of the unit. Just thought Id pass that on to the rest of the ACE crew. Daryll aka Goldcylon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 As stated above the smoke detectors get a lot of dust in the photo eye sensor which causes them to chirp, Also a low battery as part of an AC failure back up if they are tied into AC house power causes a chrip. Indeed in the newer homes (last ten years) when one chirps or goes off they are ALL are susposed to go off to alert the entire household due to legal changes in the life safety code.We had a bad unit in my sons room, would go off whenever it wanted day or night, Would be ok for days them whamo 230am they all went off. Tried cleaning it, replaced the battery nada. I ended up going to Home Depot bought another AC powered with battery backup wired it into the same household wiring series and problem was solved. About $7.99While pulling all the units down I noted all the detectors had and expiration date!!! I guess these units are only good for ten years!!!! Stamped clear as day on the underside of the unit. Just thought Id pass that on to the rest of the ACE crew. Daryll aka GoldcylonThanks for the info. Our house is only about 4 to 5 years old but it would not surprise me if the detectors had been sitting on a shelf somewhere for a while. I'll check into that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert and Elizabeth Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Update???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Update????So far so good. Vaccummed all the "vent" areas and replaced all 9 batteries. Who would have thought that a 1745 square foot home would need 9 smoke detectors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie44 Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Who would have thought that a 1745 square foot home would need 9 smoke detectors?Especially when our 3000 sq ft only has three??? I'd add more but since the kids moved out Kim and I only use about 1000 sq ft downstairs and there are two in that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert and Elizabeth Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 We have 3532 sqft and we have 11 of them. Wow Eddie, only 3????? That really surprises me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Who would have thought that a 1745 square foot home would need 9 smoke detectors?Especially when our 3000 sq ft only has three??? I'd add more but since the kids moved out Kim and I only use about 1000 sq ft downstairs and there are two in that area.Tell ya what Eddie, if you want a swap, I'm game for an even trade. You take 1745 and we'll take 3000. As long as we keep our payments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie44 Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Who would have thought that a 1745 square foot home would need 9 smoke detectors?Especially when our 3000 sq ft only has three??? I'd add more but since the kids moved out Kim and I only use about 1000 sq ft downstairs and there are two in that area.Tell ya what Eddie, if you want a swap, I'm game for an even trade. You take 1745 and we'll take 3000. As long as we keep our payments. Having bought mine almost 15 yrs ago I'll bet my payments are less than yours. I only paid $144k for it. Needless to say my equity is a good part of my retirement nestegg. We'll probably downsize when we both decide to quit work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Having bought mine almost 15 yrs ago I'll bet my payments are less than yours. I only paid $144k for it. Needless to say my equity is a good part of my retirement nestegg. We'll probably downsize when we both decide to quit work.Well, since ours is smaller and a little over 5 years old, we only financed $130K and for only 25 years. So we are probably about the same. Less than one year after we got ours they shot up over $200k, so we like our nest egg too, but we'll stay in ours when the kids leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knkayotte Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 2500 sq ft here with 8 detectors connected all together. Had them redone when we added the extension. When the detectors go off, I figure supper is ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert and Elizabeth Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 When the detectors go off, I figure supper is ready.Boy, have we been done that when my 3 daughters were learning to cook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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