Smoke Detector False Alarm

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semule

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Fairport, NY USA
My father's home has three Kidde hardwired smoke detectors, all installed ~ 6 months ago. Simultaneously all three went into alarm and would not reset off. Two are in different rooms on the first floor, one is in a laundry area in the basement.

Any ideas as to why they alarmed at the exact same time? I suspect a power surge from the utility, but I have no way to prove it.
 
They are probably interconnected alarms. When one goes off it sends a signal to the others so they all go off. As far as why one went off- I have no idea. Sometimes when one goes bad it will periodically do that.
 
are they just smoke detectors or combo units? they are likely interconnected as already stated. when were they made (look on bottom of sensor)? these detectors expire after a period of time. i had very bad luck with anything from USI Electric (lots made under the "Universal" brand name). what i had was multi devices, CO and smoke in one unit. only a few months old from manufacture date some starting acting funny for no reason what so ever. turned out to be a bad batch made. they were swapped out by builder for same units but they had newer manufacture dates. then after about a year or so they started acting funny again for no reason what so ever. i contacted USI and they wanted a $12 processing fee per unit to swap them out. that was BS so i purchased two new ones, tri function (CO, smoke, & natural gas). had them installed from about 1yr, manufacture date was 2013, and one tripped natural gas detected. turns out the device was faulty, and to boot, they are made not-resettable when gas is detected. i sent defective unit back to USI along with my letter to the affect of "... please stop making junk ...". they sent me a new unit with a 2014 manufacture date.

for all intensive purposes of discussion, when detectors became mandatory in dwellings and commercial and other, i think the detector boom was there and then the companies started down that path of "make cheap crap that works most of the time so we can make more $$" mentality.

with interconnected detectors its sometimes hard to find the one that is faulty. i am not sure if the Kidde units will show which unit actually tripped. if thats the case then maybe try to just run them from battery to see which one is the problem unit.
 
It's possible they were doing their job and they detected something. CO maybe? Until we find out what kind of detectors they are, we're in the dark.

Can we get a product brand and model number please?
 
You are not the only one. I have had several through the years randomly go off for no reason at all.
So far in researching the problem the Kidde site offers some explanation to this phenominum.
They claim that a number of things could be the culprit. If it occurs at night it's probable that insects/spiders have entered the sensing chamber as they are more active at night, another is power spikes from power company switching.
Now it's also not uncommon to actually find a faulty smoke detector also and yes Kidde brand does use its indicator light to indicate the initiating unit.
In our local paper it's not uncommon to see the reports of fire department being dispatched for response to smoke detectors to find no carbon monoxide or other reason for the alarm. I would think that after several years of this crap the smoke detector companies would try to remedy these issues.
 
mopowr steve said:
You are not the only one. I have had several through the years randomly go off for no reason at all.
So far in researching the problem the Kidde site offers some explanation to this phenominum.
They claim that a number of things could be the culprit. If it occurs at night it's probable that insects/spiders have entered the sensing chamber as they are more active at night, another is power spikes from power company switching.
Now it's also not uncommon to actually find a faulty smoke detector also and yes Kidde brand does use its indicator light to indicate the initiating unit.
In our local paper it's not uncommon to see the reports of fire department being dispatched for response to smoke detectors to find no carbon monoxide or other reason for the alarm. I would think that after several years of this crap the smoke detector companies would try to remedy these issues.
Click to expand...

i do have bad power from utility, it has ruined several things in my home and may be the culprit in my case. for some odd reason i didnt make this connection, was thinking perhaps a life saving detector would have spike protection built-in. geez, what happens if a small spike damages a detector rendering the unit faulty in a way that it still passes manual test but fails to detect real issue???
 
FionaZuppa said:
i do have bad power from utility, it has ruined several things in my home and may be the culprit in my case. for some odd reason i didnt make this connection, was thinking perhaps a life saving detector would have spike protection built-in. geez, what happens if a small spike damages a detector rendering the unit faulty in a way that it still passes manual test but fails to detect real issue???
Click to expand...

This is why you go to the local ADI location and pick up a can of test smoke. Shoot it once a quarter to test detector response, but don't overspray.
 
gadfly56 said:
This is why you go to the local ADI location and pick up a can of test smoke. Shoot it once a quarter to test detector response, but don't overspray.
Click to expand...

my detectors are tri-function. do they have tri-function test "smoke"? even if they had it i couldnt use it, my detectors become "must replace" mode when natural gas is detected, etc.

i also have a fire detector hooked into my alarm system, this unit is temp sensing only.
 
I might take the one out of the laundry area in the basement, but only if it's a smoke alarm, if it's a CO/Smoke, I might check my dryer vent if you have a gas dryer.

I've had steam from showers set them off, swinging doors (if they're too close), dust, and any number of other things.
 
FionaZuppa said:
my detectors are tri-function. do they have tri-function test "smoke"? even if they had it i couldnt use it, my detectors become "must replace" mode when natural gas is detected, etc.

i also have a fire detector hooked into my alarm system, this unit is temp sensing only.
Click to expand...

They make canned CO and methane gas for span calibration of many sensors, although I'm not familiar with a 'natural gas' sensor that is a one shot and must be replaced. Typically the measurement of methane is via a sensor called a Wheatstone bridge, or less commonly in a scenario like this, a photo ionization detector. These are not a one time use device, but can be contaminated or damaged.

What is the brand of this device and what kind of mental midget designed a Tri-sensor device in which one just gets used up instantly, but the other two would be fine for hundreds of measurements to an alarm condition over its life time?
 
FionaZuppa said:
i do have bad power from utility, it has ruined several things in my home and may be the culprit in my case. for some odd reason i didnt make this connection, was thinking perhaps a life saving detector would have spike protection built-in. geez, what happens if a small spike damages a detector rendering the unit faulty in a way that it still passes manual test but fails to detect real issue???
Click to expand...

If you have had several items ruined in your home I would definatly be checking the condition of your neutral connections all the way to the power pole and call power company to check their side too.
 
semule said:
My father's home has three Kidde hardwired smoke detectors, all installed ~ 6 months ago. Simultaneously all three went into alarm and would not reset off. Two are in different rooms on the first floor, one is in a laundry area in the basement.

Any ideas as to why they alarmed at the exact same time? I suspect a power surge from the utility, but I have no way to prove it.
Click to expand...

I just thought of something, if the white neutral wire of one of the units would happen to be loose in a wirenut it will also cause them to go into alarm. Found this out once by accident when I was messing with one and I took the neutral out of wirenut before turning circuit off.
 
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