Annoying smoke Alarms. Aaarrrgggghhhh

[Luke]

Luke

October 6, 2017 at 2:22 pm #255

Long shot but can anyone help with a smoke alarm issue please?

About 2 months ago one of our 3 linked mains powered smoke alarms started chirping – just once and quite randomly, sometimes once every 15 minutes for an hour or so, sometimes just once and then not for days, sometimes twice. They have a battery back up so we changed the battery.

Then the problems really started. It still chirped but now much more frequently as did one of the others – every 15 minutes or so, day and night. The third was and still is totally silent (but works if we test it)

We googled and tried absolutely everything we found. Tricks for resetting, changing ALL the batteries, hoovering them to remove dust. The chirping just got worse. We phoned the manufacturer and we’d already done everything they suggested.

We bought two new ones (luckily not massively expensive) and fitted them at the weekend. As soon as we plugged them in, they went off – constantly for about 5 minutes. We tried resetting, we tried taking them out and plugging them back in at exactly the same time, nothing would silence them.

Any thoughts? All we can think is there’s a problem with the wiring and the more we’ve fiddled with them the more we’ve loosened it and that’s what’s making them worse?

[Elly]

Elly

October 6, 2017 at 2:22 pm #256

we had a similar issue.

Do you have a gas boiler, by any chance? If so, please get it checked -ours was way out of balance, and depending on which way the wind was blowing, was well on the way to killing us.

[Sar]

Sar

October 6, 2017 at 2:22 pm #257

Maybe they are not playing you up, but telling you something? As above.

[Red-1]

Red-1

October 6, 2017 at 2:23 pm #258

Do you still have the ones that started chirping? If not connected to the mains, but running on the battery power, do they still chirp?

Have you put the correct battery type into them? Some specify to use certain types (I don’t mean have you put a 9V in, I mean specific rechargable ones, as far as I remember ours gave two options).

[mary]

mary

October 6, 2017 at 2:23 pm #259

If they are chirping but not actually sounding an alarm sounding then possibly they are detecting a fault in the system, or maybe there’s a fault in the system that is making them chirp in error.

Maybe this is due to a spiky/dirty/noisy mains power supply.

Are they detecting Carbon Monioxide perhaps ?

Are they just at end-of-life and need renewing ?

Maybe the alarms themselves are faulty.

For peace of mind, I’d be inclined to get a cheap new battery powered smoke/CO detector and see if that chirps or warns too.

[bobby]

bobby

October 6, 2017 at 2:24 pm #260

Used to work for fire prevention dept in the NHS. Little black beetles called thrips used to set the alarms off regularly. Is it the time of year or them? sometimes seem to get them when its muggy and thundery

[Luke]

Luke

October 6, 2017 at 2:24 pm #261

Thanks all.

We do have a gas boiler but also have an (unlinked) carbon monoxide monitor in the utility room where the boiler is and that’s not going off. It’s also serviced annually before we turn the heating on so it’s due a service in the next few weeks. I don’t think they’re combined smoke/CO alarms, hence the separate CO alarm, but will double check. If there is a problem though, I’d imagine the one in the kitchen would be going off too as that’s closer to the boiler?

We’ve triple checked batteries and yes they’re the right ones. It says not to use rechargeable ones. The new ones came with batteries so they must be the right ones. They still chirp with batteries in but much less frequently.

The “use by” date on them is 2023 so they shouldn’t be at the end of life and it doesn’t explain why the new ones were going off. They were installed when we had an extension in 2013.

I think there’s probably a wiring fault somewhere. The electrician our builders used when we had the extension was a bit of a cowboy to say the least and we’ve had a few electrical issues since then. Builder no longer in business / the country and we never has the electrician’s details so can’t chase him up. We’re just having to pay someone else to put right his wrongs.

[pakkasham]

pakkasham

October 6, 2017 at 2:25 pm #262

Our carbon monoxide alarm wasn’t going off – but the smoke alarm was chirping occasionally for a couple of hours at a time. Please, do get your boiler checked. Ours is, every year, but this still happened – and less than 6 months after the boiler was serviced.

[Katy]

Katy

October 6, 2017 at 2:25 pm #263

It might be worth getting someone from the fire service out with their detector – they can tell you what your CO levels are right away. Friends of mine moved into a house and the alarms went off in the night. Fire service found high levels of CO, coming from the unused chimneys. It can build up even when things aren’t being used much.

Otherwise I’d bite the bullet, get a decent electrician in, and rewire your smoke alarms.

[ester]

ester

October 6, 2017 at 2:26 pm #264

Put the batteries in tonight and left them for a bit. They chirped a couple of times in the first 5 mins but haven’t for the last 4 hours. Double checked and they’re not CO alarms, just smoke so I don’t think it’s CO. Also checked the CO alarm and it’s working so I think the next step will have to be an electrician. Will ask fire service for a check just to be sure. I spent all week last week in work tweeting about free fire service checks and never thought it could apply to me! D’oh!