First Alert Smoke / CO Dead at 6years old

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shortcircuit2

Senior Member
Location
South of Bawstin
3 First Alert / BRK talking SC7010B smoke/CO alarms at my sisters I put in in 2007 have malfunctioned :(

That's 6 years and dead. They rapid beep 3 times and won't work. The instructions say replace when this happens. They have 5 year limited warranty.

Anyone else experience this?
 
mgookin

mgookin

Senior Member
Location
Fort Myers, FL
shortcircuit2 said:
3 First Alert / BRK talking SC7010B smoke/CO alarms at my sisters I put in in 2007 have malfunctioned :(

That's 6 years and dead. They rapid beep 3 times and won't work. The instructions say replace when this happens. They have 5 year limited warranty.

Anyone else experience this?
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All 3 at the same time? Is there a traveler (interconnect)? If so, it would be interesting to know if they all 3 still do it without the interconnect.
Makes me wonder if there's a time bomb/ kill pill in it with a timer that starts when you apply line voltage.
 
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shortcircuit2

Senior Member
Location
South of Bawstin
Yup all 3 at the same time. Dated Sept 12, 2007 on the back of them...put them in at the same time. Yes they are interconnected...hard wired with battery backup.

They constantly do the rapid 3-chirp signal and the instructions say time to replace when this happens. They do this on just battery also. Disconnect all power and then re-install battery's and the rapid 3-chrip starts again.

These are expensive. POS

I might just put in smokes with separate CO next to them...
 
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GoldDigger

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Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
shortcircuit2 said:
I might just put in smokes with separate CO next to them...
Click to expand...
As I understand it, the sensor mechanism in a CO detector or alarm has a limited operating life. It is a function of the way it works. There is not so definite a cutoff point with photoelectric or ionization detectors as long as they are kept clean.
 
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mek421

Member
Location
Upstate NY, USA
GoldDigger said:
As I understand it, the sensor mechanism in a CO detector or alarm has a limited operating life. It is a function of the way it works. There is not so definite a cutoff point with photoelectric or ionization detectors as long as they are kept clean.
Click to expand...

Yes, CO sensors go bad after a period of time. The sensors in our CO dosimeters are usually only good for two years.
 
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shortcircuit2

Senior Member
Location
South of Bawstin
CO Detector....Guaranteed to Fail

CO Detector....Guaranteed to Fail

I found this on another site...

What?s going on here? The answer is that carbon monoxide detectors do indeed have a limited life. Inside many detectors is an electro-chemical cell that reacts in the presence of carbon monoxide. It tends to be very accurate. But, over time, the chemical can degrade and its performance is diminished. Accordingly, a national safety standard for carbon monoxide detectors published by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) requires that manufacturers build in a warning system to alert consumers that the unit is no longer functioning properly.


8.1 The unit (including the sensor) shall have a specified lifetime of at least 3 years from the date of manufacture, or from the date the unit is placed into service.

38.1.6 The unit shall indicate end-of-life, based on the manufacturer?s specified lifetime, with an end-of-life signal (see 3.11). This signal shall be triggered either by an internal timer or by a self-diagnostic test(s).

3.11 END-OF-LIFE SIGNAL ? An audible signal, differing from the alarm signal, intended to indicate that the device has reached the end of its useful life and should be replaced. ? The end-of-life signal shall repeat once every 30 ? 60 seconds ?10 percent. ? UL 2034, Standard for Single and Multiple Station Carbon Monoxide Alarms.

So, no matter what brand of carbon monoxide detector you buy, the unit will automatically commit suicide at the end of its useful life.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
shortcircuit2 said:
Yup all 3 at the same time. Dated Sept 12, 2007 on the back of them...put them in at the same time. Yes they are interconnected...hard wired with battery backup.

They constantly do the rapid 3-chirp signal and the instructions say time to replace when this happens. They do this on just battery also. Disconnect all power and then re-install battery's and the rapid 3-chrip starts again.

These are expensive. POS

I might just put in smokes with separate CO next to them...
Click to expand...
Is that the "born on date" or the install date?
 
gadfly56

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
kwired said:
Is that the "born on date" or the install date?
Click to expand...

Power up date. Kidde's current offerings in AC/battery have a life of 7 years. The also offer a smoke only battery model with a sealed lithium battery good for 10 years.
 
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mike_kilroy

Senior Member
Location
United States
been there, done that. there is a built in timer in the processor cpu - based on mfgr date code; I would have to go back and rsearch again to get exact time (IIRC 6 years) when the unit then FAILS 100% and gives this beep indication to throw it away and buy new ones; for this reason you must watch date of mfgr on any you buy ONLINE as they may be old stock and have limited life left. this is only for CO detectors; I know of no smoke detectors with this built in time killer. It is due to the CO detector have this life only whereas smoke detectors do not have this lifespan.
 
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