Hair dryer and Smoke Detectors?
- Thread starter Davis9
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quogueelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- new york
smoke tripping
smoke tripping
Try bagging the smoke with a 1 qt baggie and tape it so it is tightly sealed then try hairdryer. This will tell you if the trip is electrical or some type of ionization is taking place those high watt hairdryers are notorious for causing trouble in a house. you might want to test for the presence of some other gas which gould be conductive like methane or radon or co. A heavy gas could be low lying and the hair dryer/vacuum might just kick it up to trip the detector. Does this detector also detect CO?? If it is being tripped by ionization you may want to change the head to a photoelectric type.
smoke tripping
Try bagging the smoke with a 1 qt baggie and tape it so it is tightly sealed then try hairdryer. This will tell you if the trip is electrical or some type of ionization is taking place those high watt hairdryers are notorious for causing trouble in a house. you might want to test for the presence of some other gas which gould be conductive like methane or radon or co. A heavy gas could be low lying and the hair dryer/vacuum might just kick it up to trip the detector. Does this detector also detect CO?? If it is being tripped by ionization you may want to change the head to a photoelectric type.
cadpoint
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
Get a can of compressed air and clean the heads make sure to wipe it off if moisture builds up
I like Winnie's explaination, and I like Quogueelectric QC testing, Good Show ...
I like Winnie's explaination, and I like Quogueelectric QC testing, Good Show ...
sparky59 said:
Classic..
Not a CO detector.
It is on the 3rd floor of a house so I'm guessing the low lying gas is out. No Gas producing appliances up there. Just a heated towel rack and toilet seat... Those are electric though.
These are 2 month old smokes. It's friday and I'm going to tackle this on Monday armed with all of the suggestions.
Thanks Everyone.
Tom:smile:
bccodes
Member
- Location
- Altoona Pa
Try a straight photo sensor . In 15years of fire alarm work i've seen ions do some weird stuff. We had one false in a printing room due to amonia fumes . A photo head either sees smoke or is dirty....... Did they keep the cover on it during construction and more importantly final cleaning
Updated, I found nothing but a nicked White wire(blushing) on one of the Smokes and I replaced the Smokes in the House and the problem went away.
Not sure if the nicked wire was the problem but the AFCI never tripped even after i swapped it for 2 new ones just in case. I also tried a straight up 15A 1P brkr and it still did it.
Anyways thanks to all who added to the mystery!
Tom:smile:
Not sure if the nicked wire was the problem but the AFCI never tripped even after i swapped it for 2 new ones just in case. I also tried a straight up 15A 1P brkr and it still did it.
Anyways thanks to all who added to the mystery!
Tom:smile:
ghostbuster
Senior Member
- Location
- Great White North
We just investigated that exact same problem with firex detectors this week.It was a brand new old age home facility.It had 9 of these detectors,all fed from 1 std. 15A. breaker.All these units would go off randomly for the last year.It has driven the nursing staff "crazy"(especially when they trip at 2 a.m.).By their code they have to call the fire trucks each time.The trucks have been there approx.11 times so far and counting.
We noticed each time the diesel kicks in for a transfer test, the units will go off.The units are now on normal power and they still trip.Beside this home ,there are large transmitting towers.We conducted a rf study as well as a power audit at this location.
We noticed each time the diesel kicks in for a transfer test, the units will go off.The units are now on normal power and they still trip.Beside this home ,there are large transmitting towers.We conducted a rf study as well as a power audit at this location.
I replaced all of them with Photos. Some where already Photos but I figured that this would be my last trip to the twilight zone if you know what I mean.
I'm not sure of the problem really, I tried the shotgun approach. It worked. It may have well been the nicked wire? I thought if it was touching anything else(grounding conductor) it would trip the AFCI? It didn't trip it. I tried a 15A brkr 20A brkr and a new 15A AFCI and it would still do the thing. So I started swapping the Smokes and found a questionable insulation and fixed that while I was there, when I turned it back on I couldn't reproduce the anomaly. The nicked wire was from the, wait you guessed it, Rotozip...
I also swapped the Heat Detector and CO Alarm as well. The only thing I didn't swap was the module for the Sprinklers.
Tom:smile:
I'm not sure of the problem really, I tried the shotgun approach. It worked. It may have well been the nicked wire? I thought if it was touching anything else(grounding conductor) it would trip the AFCI? It didn't trip it. I tried a 15A brkr 20A brkr and a new 15A AFCI and it would still do the thing. So I started swapping the Smokes and found a questionable insulation and fixed that while I was there, when I turned it back on I couldn't reproduce the anomaly. The nicked wire was from the, wait you guessed it, Rotozip...
I also swapped the Heat Detector and CO Alarm as well. The only thing I didn't swap was the module for the Sprinklers.
Tom:smile:
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