Smoke Detectors
-
Mine died when I wanted to sell my house ... I come home after multiple showings and 3 of them were chirping! Why then? Why did 3 start at the same time? If multiples fail at the same time, why didn't all of them fail at the same time? Very odd coincidence.
Probably because you buy batteries in multipacks, like I do. Smoke alarms don't use a lot of power, so it's quite likely that all the batteries will fail at the same time. Generally, if one of mine starts yelling at me, I'll meter the batteries in all of 'em and end up changing them all anyway to avoid the "02:30 wake up call" in a couple of weeks time. Which makes it more likely they will all start yelling at the same time.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
-
My guess is that because they are screaming "change my battery" Wherever you have them is coldest at night. So that's when the battery finally dips below allowable threshold.
-
Similarly, I used to say that a wireless mouse/keyboard's batteries always die an at inconvenient time. Until I realized there's no such thing as "a convenient time" at which a battery could die.
-
Mine died when I wanted to sell my house ... I come home after multiple showings and 3 of them were chirping! Why then? Why did 3 start at the same time? If multiples fail at the same time, why didn't all of them fail at the same time? Very odd coincidence.
Pualee wrote:
I come home after multiple showings and 3 of them were chirping!
Some are wired together so that if one goes off, they all go off. Unfortunately, it makes it impossible to figure out which one needs the battery replaced.
Latest Article - A 4-Stack rPI Cluster with WiFi-Ethernet Bridging Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802
-
:laugh: :laugh: :thumbsup:
-
smoke detectors? We don't need smoke detectors.
If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.
-
If you are in the UK they should be mains wired
We can’t stop here, this is bat country - Hunter S Thompson RIP
I'm in Canada, and I'm not aware that I'm required to have smoke detectors at all in my residence, but I do get a break on my home-owners insurance for having them. I think maybe new builds are required to have wired detectors, but my house dates from the 60s, so it would require a retrofit in any case. Are you saying that a 15th C cottage in the UK needs to be retrofitted with mains wired smoke detectors? My battery operated smoke detectors have a sticker saying "replace in 2020", at which point I'm guessing the smoke-detecting ability has degraded beyond any usefulness. Assuming that wired-in detectors have the same issue, do you have a replaceable detection unit, or do you need to wire-in a new unit? Either way, will they start chirping in the middle of the night to let you know that the detector needs replacing?
-
Mine died when I wanted to sell my house ... I come home after multiple showings and 3 of them were chirping! Why then? Why did 3 start at the same time? If multiples fail at the same time, why didn't all of them fail at the same time? Very odd coincidence.
Did the ghosts follow you to your new house, as well?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
-
This is a huge coincidence, but just last night I went to bed and I noticed the small light from the smoke detector (it's there, but I'm not very aware of it) and I thought to myself "That's been hanging there for years, when's the battery going to run out? Probably somewhere in the dead of night..." I've slept through smoke alarms in the past (luckily just my dad testing the alarm) :laugh: I'm about 10 years older now, so I'm not sure if I'd still sleep through it... Stress makes you sleep lighter :sigh:
Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly
-
you could mod and use your wireless mouse on a phone charging pad.
Message Signature (Click to edit ->)
-
go for the zero power option: hang up some whistling kettles instead.
Message Signature (Click to edit ->)
-
If you are in the UK they should be mains wired
We can’t stop here, this is bat country - Hunter S Thompson RIP
-
Pualee wrote:
I come home after multiple showings and 3 of them were chirping!
Some are wired together so that if one goes off, they all go off. Unfortunately, it makes it impossible to figure out which one needs the battery replaced.
Latest Article - A 4-Stack rPI Cluster with WiFi-Ethernet Bridging Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802
Like others, when one battery fails I replace them all. I learned this lesson the first time it happened -- 3 smoke detectors failing within a week. This wasn't as bad as when the sensor in a CO detector failed. We got the babies out and I opened all the windows. Took an hour to find the documentation that said either the battery was failing, the sensor was failing, or we were going to die. Given that the battery tested good and we hadn't died, I was quite certain it was the sensor ...
-
Like others, when one battery fails I replace them all. I learned this lesson the first time it happened -- 3 smoke detectors failing within a week. This wasn't as bad as when the sensor in a CO detector failed. We got the babies out and I opened all the windows. Took an hour to find the documentation that said either the battery was failing, the sensor was failing, or we were going to die. Given that the battery tested good and we hadn't died, I was quite certain it was the sensor ...
-
Most CO detectors have a built-in kill switch around 10 years because the sensors don't work anymore. Always write the install date on them.
englebart wrote:
Most CO detectors have a built-in kill switch around 10 years because the sensors don't work anymore. Always write the install date on them.
You may have mixed up smoke and CO detectors. Smoke detectors are supposed to last 10 years (just replaced mine and the warranty including backup battery is 10 years). According to several handyman sites I checked, CO detectors last 5 to 7 years -- although my story took place 20 years ago and we had a failure at 3 years. I don't know if the CO sensors last longer now or if I had a defective one. Regardless of that, your advice to record when installation occurred is spot on! Beyond that, I'm now in the habit of writing the purchase date and where purchased on the user manual for everything that comes with a user manual. Anything that doesn't have a manual gets recorded in a small notebook, which goes in the filing cabinet along with product documentation.
-
If you are in the UK they should be mains wired
We can’t stop here, this is bat country - Hunter S Thompson RIP
I'm not sure if wired-in is a universal requirement in the USA, but it is in my county. Mine are wired in -- currently the backup batteries are typically warrantied for 10 years, after which the unit should be replaced.
