Smoke alarms, but no fire?

[gregsparky1]

I have a customer who had a fire in the second floor bedroom in their house. After making the necessary repairs the building inspector said that he wanted to see a smoke detector in the bedroom on the first floor. No problem yet. Added the extra detector and tested the interconnection and all the detectors communicated with each other.
Now 8 months later I get a call from this customer saying that the smoke detectors are going off for no apparent reason. This has happened 3 different times now.
All the detectors are not the same brand and the original ones are obviously older. Do smokes get old and start to false alarm? Any one out there experience this problem?

 

[nakulak]

if they get dust in them, or painted, etc. then you have false alarms. replace.

 

[ivsenroute]

The NFPA recommends replacement of smoke detectors that are more than 10 years old. Probably time to change them anyway. The renovation work more than likely caused this problem over time. I hope the client does not expect the work done for free.

 

[sparkyway]

I had a customer recently tell me that their electrician mounted an interconnected 120v w/9 volt batter within inches of a recessed can in their master bedroom (nothing wrong with that--right?). Occasionally, when they flip on their can lights it causes a full alarm in their detectors to sound. They are convinced that this is causing a problem (for me the jury is still out) They want the smoke detector relocated and when I get time, I will write in a follow-up. Wonders never cease.

 

[mxslick]

I have a customer who had a fire in the second floor bedroom in their house. After making the necessary repairs the building inspector said that he wanted to see a smoke detector in the bedroom on the first floor. No problem yet. Added the extra detector and tested the interconnection and all the detectors communicated with each other.
Now 8 months later I get a call from this customer saying that the smoke detectors are going off for no apparent reason. This has happened 3 different times now.
All the detectors are not the same brand and the original ones are obviously older. Do smokes get old and start to false alarm? Any one out there experience this problem?

Two major red flags stand out here:

First off, since they had a previous fire, it is very possible that there is still some "burn residue" that is getting into the air and triggering the alarms. And are you SURE that ALL the wiring in the house is completely undamaged? There may be another fire waiting in the wings if ALL of the water and/or heat damaged wiring wasn't replaced.

Another issue is the interconnection of different brands of detectors..HUGE NO-NO!! Most makers of interconnected smokes will void warranty on detectors that are interconnected with other brands, not to mention the HUGE liability you're opening yourself up to if there is another fire.

So, find out if the fire damage repairs (not talking about the electrical for the moment) were done by an experienced restoration company. Recheck (use that magic M-word, Megger!) ALL of the wiring in the house, including the smoke alarm wiring.

Replace ALL of the smokes (including the new ones that were interconnected with the wrong brand) with new ones of the same brand.

Best of luck to you. Oh, and BTW I would change the smokes on your dime as you shouldn't have interconnected the mixed brads anyway.)

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

I have a customer who had a fire in the second floor bedroom in their house. After making the necessary repairs the building inspector said that he wanted to see a smoke detector in the bedroom on the first floor. No problem yet. Added the extra detector and tested the interconnection and all the detectors communicated with each other.
Now 8 months later I get a call from this customer saying that the smoke detectors are going off for no apparent reason. This has happened 3 different times now.
All the detectors are not the same brand and the original ones are obviously older. Do smokes get old and start to false alarm? Any one out there experience this problem?

If you read the instructions, the manufacturers do not permit the installation of different brands.

 

[fillmorr]

Mentioning smoke detectors awhile back i was on a remodel job to a basement and when the ceiling was pulled down it was discovred that at one time someone decided to use one transformer for both the door bell and smoke detectors but long story short the inspector had us rewire the smoke dectors back to the panel

 

[goldstar]

Now 8 months later I get a call from this customer saying that the smoke detectors are going off for no apparent reason.

There has to be a reason but like most homeowners they just don't want to walk around and check to see which detector went off.

All the detectors are not the same brand

There's your first problem.

and the original ones are obviously older.

And there's your second. You should have replaced them all at the outset especially after a fire.

Do smokes get old and start to false alarm?

Don't we all