smoke detectors won't stop beeping

[LarryFine]

She calls again a week later with the same problem and after about an hour of just sitting and listening while they were playing cards it seemed to me it was coming from under the table. And wouldn’t you know it, that when she would lean just right to pick up a card the table squeaked with a sound exactly like the chirp of a smoke detector.

That is funny. A past customer had a large parrot that mimicked sounds, such as their baby crying, the phone ringing, the clink of a glass bottle being put in the recycle bin, TV commercials, etc.

When we were working there, he would whistle a pattern, and I would repeat it. He would make each one more complicated until I said that I couldn't do that one. Then he laughed at me.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

I had a service call a few weeks ago to troubleshoot "singing LED light bulbs in the kitchen".
Mind you the customer had the issue for a full day and a half.
When I arrived the next day I could definitely hear a high pitched noise originating from the kitchen island area.
I listened to the customers story the pitch would change as the turn on the lights and dimmed them but stopped at at night.
I told him that all the lights are off now (it's1:00pm) and sunny.
I move a pile of clutter off the island and find their 10 year old's STEM "solar powered buzzer".
He was embarrassed

 

[LarryFine]

Without going into detail, the most embarrassing service customer story I heard about was a complaint about an incessant buzzing noise that ended up being a "personal toy" that was left on.

 

[marmathsen]

This thread is GOLD!



Rob G

 

[GoldDigger]

Had one exactly like that, even after removing battery kept beeping for more that 2 hrs on the shelf. Thought the same #3.

They have a largish capacitor and the short beeps take very little power. If you want to discharge the capacitor, just press the TEST button.

 

[steve_p]

You're gonna laugh at this one...neighbor and friend had a beeping one...I was out of town...his wife took it down and pulled battery and even put it under a pillow, but the beeping in the house still continued...they had out of town guests coming....I'm back in town now and I'm on the phone with friend and said, something's going on...went over there at 11PM...it was a low battery warning from a plug-in-CO detector they had mounted on the wall below a smoke detector on the ceiling.

Hi, I had this happen to me as well. Be nice if the plug in co2's used a different tone. How about this one, customer pulled the smokes, stuck one in his dresser drawer then forgot about it. Took us awhile to find it when the chirping stated.

 

[ggunn]

That is funny. A past customer had a large parrot that mimicked sounds, such as their baby crying, the phone ringing, the clink of a glass bottle being put in the recycle bin, TV commercials, etc.

My daughter had a parakeet whose cage sometimes was kept on the counter in her bathroom, which was also the facility that guests in our home used. During that time I was hosting regular jam sessions in my studio, which were well attended beer intensive gatherings and the attendees were mostly male. One day my wife was alone in the house when she heard emanating from the bathroom the distinctive sound of a 1/8" stream of water falling into a vessel of water from the height of about 18 inches.

 

[kwired]

My daughter had a parakeet whose cage sometimes was kept on the counter in her bathroom, which was also the facility that guests in our home used. During that time I was hosting regular jam sessions in my studio, which were well attended beer intensive gatherings and the attendees were mostly male. One day my wife was alone in the house when she heard emanating from the bathroom the distinctive sound of a 1/8" stream of water falling into a vessel of water from the height of about 18 inches.

There has to be even funnier stories when beer was involved, just sayin.

 

[Rick 0920]

I don't know if this has anything to do with it. The red interconnect wire does not close a contact like people think when one detector goes off. The interconnect wire works through the 9 volt battery. I'm wondering if a staple is driven too tight might cause some sort of interference between the black/red of the NM cable? Just grasping straws here.

 

[Mr. Serious]

Well, I did suspect a wiring error at one point, but if you read my really long reply, you'll see I found the problem - an unused carbon monoxide alarm hidden away in a closet was beeping.

I had asked if a wiring error could cause that beeping, but did not get a response from anyone to that particular question, so I'm guessing it doesn't usually beep for that. For First Alert smoke alarms, the five beeps only indicate the end of life of the alarm, or a single beep indicates a low battery.

 

[James L]

Well, I did suspect a wiring error at one point, but if you read my really long reply, you'll see I found the problem - an unused carbon monoxide alarm hidden away in a closet was beeping.

I had asked if a wiring error could cause that beeping, but did not get a response from anyone to that particular question, so I'm guessing it doesn't usually beep for that. For First Alert smoke alarms, the five beeps only indicate the end of life of the alarm, or a single beep indicates a low battery.

As far as the wiring error, that's usually ruled out by virtue of that circuit having worked for quite a while previously. But not always

Some of my preliminary troubleshooting questions to the customer are..... How long has it been not working? Have there been any repairs, remodeling, or any other changes to any part of your house during the time when it stopped working?

 

[RichB]

Not a smoke detector but--The wife was using my truck, 2020 f250--for a week and kept complaining about a beep or clink or something--I was thinking it was just some empty 30-06 cases or the M1 clips clinking in my range bag--Went out on the week end, removed the bags and yup--it still clinked/beeped-sounded like it was coming from the dash right at the power outlets--started digging and found the old receiver for my bbq temp probes--low batt--LOL-- drove her nuts!!--Told her it was the trucks revenge for the mess she left in the passenger seat!!