Smoke Alarms keep going off

[steve66]

The smoke alarms in my house go into alarm every once in a while. It usually only lasts 5 or 10 seconds, and then they may be fine for months.

It happened several times before last Memorial Day, and I replaced the batteries in all of them. Then one particular alarm started going off, or it started chirping (I can't remember which), so I pulled it and its still laying on a dresser with the battery beside it. (When I pulled it, the red wire that connects all the detectors together fell out of the connector. It had obviously been very loose, and I thought that might have been whey it went off. I haven't had time to fix the wire.)

Last night they went off again. About 5 seconds, and then they stopped. I didn't have time to see if they were all alarming, or if it was just one. No smoke or anything in the house that would explain an alarm. Checked and they all seemed to have a green light, and a second green light that flashes once in a while. Went back to sleep and they never went off again.

I know these detectors don't know what time it is, but for some reason this always seems to happen in the middle on the night when we are asleep - in the 11:00PM to 2:00AM range. Very annoying when it happens.

Any idea what is happening? These are Kiddie and Firex detectors, and I forgot to get model numbers. I did replace the one in the kitchen with a ionization only (or was it photoelectric only?) so it doesn't go off every time we cook.

 

[kwired]

The smoke alarms in my house go into alarm every once in a while. It usually only lasts 5 or 10 seconds, and then they may be fine for months.

It happened several times before last Memorial Day, and I replaced the batteries in all of them. Then one particular alarm started going off, or it started chirping (I can't remember which), so I pulled it and its still laying on a dresser with the battery beside it. (When I pulled it, the red wire that connects all the detectors together fell out of the connector. It had obviously been very loose, and I thought that might have been whey it went off. I haven't had time to fix the wire.)

Last night they went off again. About 5 seconds, and then they stopped. I didn't have time to see if they were all alarming, or if it was just one. No smoke or anything in the house that would explain an alarm. Checked and they all seemed to have a green light, and a second green light that flashes once in a while. Went back to sleep and they never went off again.

I know these detectors don't know what time it is, but for some reason this always seems to happen in the middle on the night when we are asleep - in the 11:00PM to 2:00AM range. Very annoying when it happens.

Any idea what is happening? These are Kiddie and Firex detectors, and I forgot to get model numbers. I did replace the one in the kitchen with a ionization only (or was it photoelectric only?) so it doesn't go off every time we cook.

Take a vacuum cleaner around to each one of them and suck out any dust, spiders, etc. 99% of the time that will fix the intermittent alarm issue, and believe it or not they usually mention cleaning them in the instructions.

 

[curt swartz]

They should have an indicator light that will tell you which one initiated the alarm. Also how old are they? Look for a date code on back.

 

[Johnnybob]

Take a vacuum cleaner around to each one of them and suck out any dust, spiders, etc. 99% of the time that will fix the intermittent alarm issue, and believe it or not they usually mention cleaning them in the instructions.

They come with instructions?:angel:

 

[steve66]

Take a vacuum cleaner around to each one of them and suck out any dust, spiders, etc. 99% of the time that will fix the intermittent alarm issue, and believe it or not they usually mention cleaning them in the instructions.

I'm always reluctant to use a vacuum around electronics due to static electricity, but I checked a Kiddie smoke alarm manual, and it does recommend yearly cleaning with a vacuum or compressed air. I'll probably use a can of air.

They should have an indicator light that will tell you which one initiated the alarm. Also how old are they? Look for a date code on back.

I wondered about the age also. But would one that is nearing the end of its life cause a false alarm?

From the manuals I read, it sounds like a bad battery should cause a chirp, not an all out alarm, so I don't think that is the problem.

Would a bad connection on the interconnect wire cause an alarm?

 

[mgookin]

Dirt
Bugs
Bad connection
Old alarms
Mixing brands?

Smoke detectors are cheap. Buy all new same brand detectors and replace all the connectors while you're at it. You'll be good to go for 10 years (or at least until you need batteries).
If you just bought one unit recently, use that brand and you'll have to buy one less.

 

[Jraef]

Around here, all smoke detectors in new construction must now be the type that are hard wired in with a battery backup. When you pull them off, you may not necessarily see the hard wire connection behind the plate, but it will have a plug assembly that mates up. I mention this because whenever there is a power loss, some will chirp for a few seconds to let you know they have gone onto battery power. So it could be that there is a consistent power drop or brown out late at night in your area because someone is taking advantage of lower rates by turning on large machines at that time, such as large pumps used to move water into storage tanks.

 

[JDB3]

In one of the houses that I lived in, if I did not vacuum a certain smoke alarm monthly, it would start going off a some point in time.

 

[mopowr steve]

This has been a common issue for a number of years. When I get an intermittent condition just like the one described I just relay what I've read... That either an insect has entered the sensing chamber (and it has been said that they are more active at night) or a blip in the power such as the power companies switching capacity on/off line creates the problem.

Of course if anyone out here works for a smoke alarm company would like to ellaborate our ears are open.

 

[goldstar]

What brand are they ? Not trying to knock any brand in particular but I've had this problem with Firex in the past at several installations and always at 3:00 AM or so. If you have the where-with-all I would switch to BRK or another reputable brand.

Are all the units of the same manufacturer ? You can't mix and match.

Also, are there any combo units (smoke/CO) ?

Did you try to eliminate one unit at a time to narrow down which one is giving you trouble ? If you find it try switching it with another unit. If the problem re-occurs it could be the location.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tony S]

I wondered about the age also. But would one that is nearing the end of its life cause a false alarm?

I’ve just replaced all the smokes in my place, they were getting old and unreliable (a bit like me). It cured the odd false alarm waking me up at 3AM. They do still work, I found that out cooking last night.

 

[mbrooke]

Read the reviews for FireX. It seems they all do this. I had a home with 1997 circa FireX alarms, and occasionally they would all go off without reason. Bast advice: switch to First Alert/ BRK. Yes the budget brand of alarms, but trust me, in the 7 -10 years of use they perform flawless.

 

[iwire]

Steve, unless you know these detectors to be less than 5 years old I would just replace all of them.

You can get a good deal for a 'contractor pack' of four or six smokes at HD.

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Electric...2bMvlvIng1GBzHta_NjQ_4BgsexPBWho-8BoCnWLw_wcB

To me it would be worth $55 bucks to put this problem to bed in one shot.



FWIW they are supposed to be replaced every 87,000 hours (10 years)

http://www.ecmag.com/section/miscellaneous/smoke-alarms-life-expectancy

 

[mbrooke]

If any are a CO combo don't forget to pick one of those up when getting the pack. :thumbsup:

 

[nhfire77]

Smoke Alarms keep going off

Assuming the ones you have are not old-

The majority of transient alarms such as that are EMI or RF induced. And it also could be a poor build quality of one alarm that is getting triggered by the EMI/RF due to a loose or poorly constructed component on board (or one of them is just bad!)

All new models have their sensing chambers are sealed so insects cannot get in there (again unless a poor build quality and there is a hole. Dust/dirt/cooking grease built up on the sensor's lens is a possibility though highly unlikely due the timing issue you referred to.

As stated already, replace ALL of the alarms at the exact same time with the exact same brand. Most importantly- make sure you don't miss one that you forgot was there. It will be that one that is the culprit if you do.

Edit- I have dug out a NM staple in a wall where is was over driven and the interconnect wire and line was making occasional contact-- that was a tricky one


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[Knuckle Dragger]

For what it's worth.
I install a lot of BRK/ first alert smokes/ combos and I find them fairly reliable. Most of time when the detector initiates into alarm the cause is environmental like the other posts before me have mentioned.

What I noticed with this particular brand is when the neutral is loose or gets disconnected first, the detector will go into alarm.

 

[kwired]

All new models have their sensing chambers are sealed so insects cannot get in there (again unless a poor build quality and there is a hole. Dust/dirt/cooking grease built up on the sensor's lens is a possibility though highly unlikely due the timing issue you referred to.

How do they let smoke you are wanting to detect into the sensing chamber then?:?

I have BRK units, about once every 10-15 months they seem to give false alarms. Taking a vacuum around to all of them has always stopped the issue for another 10-15 months.

They seem to always do this in the middle of the night as well. First time they did it I eventually found the one that was triggering it and disconnected it. While I had it sitting on the table looking at it wondering why it was doing that a tiny spider came crawling out of it, and it dawned on me he could have been the cause.

 

[nhfire77]

It's a very fine mesh screen, wit large enough perforations for smoke particles of a certain size through (depending on detection technology)

Dust is a possible issue, but a false alarm in the OP's case was almost at the same time 11p-2a it's just less likely with that kind of coincidence.

If vacuuming helps great- I don't doubt it's efficacy. And insects could cause it, assuming they got into the sensing chamber- they shouldn't be able to with any newer detector, unless its screen was malformed or put together poorly.



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[kwired]

It's a very fine mesh screen, wit large enough perforations for smoke particles of a certain size through (depending on detection technology)

Dust is a possible issue, but a false alarm in the OP's case was almost at the same time 11p-2a it's just less likely with that kind of coincidence.

If vacuuming helps great- I don't doubt it's efficacy. And insects could cause it, assuming they got into the sensing chamber- they shouldn't be able to with any newer detector, unless its screen was malformed or put together poorly.



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How new are we talking? Mine really are at/maybe slightly past that 10 year age and should be replaced.

 

[nhfire77]

Those should be fine regarding the chamber but the 10 year thing is misleading. It's a best case scenario.

That 10 years may have been picked by NFPA with some science or it was a good round number to use- as are a lot of those types of things. If you have dusty house, a very humid climate, the alarm is close to a kitchen or you look at it funny on a Monday, it's functional life is reduced.

Unlike system smokes we cant measure their alarm threshold or test their sensitivity to tell if they should be replaced or are getting dirt that you cannot remove and more sensitive. Environmental contaminates that aren't able to be removed with a vacuum will make them more sensitive. Sometimes even dust sticks to the sensor and just won't let go.


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