paigesmom
Shy Member
Posts: 49 
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Post by paigesmom on Feb 18, 2015 17:37:15 GMT
I figured someone else must have gone through something similar.
We bought our house new 14 years ago and the builder installed smoke alarms (wired together) throughout the entire house. Over the past 6 months the alarms have gone off for no reason about 3 times.
We had a leak in the house last year and some of the sheetrock was ripped out and replaced. But our insurance had our entire home inspected and everything checked out.
So.....before I call our insurance company to ask if the leak could be related to our smoke alarm issues, I wanted to see if anyone had similar issues? Maybe a defective smoke alarm? Thanks for sharing any suggestions. I'm heading off to work but will check in a few times before I get home.
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Post by scrapqueen01 on Feb 18, 2015 18:27:36 GMT
Have you changed the batteries to see if they are bad?
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Post by bc2ca on Feb 18, 2015 18:43:38 GMT
Smoke detectors have a 10 year life whether hardwired or battery operated, so I would assume your units all need to be replaced.
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Post by 3SugarBugs on Feb 18, 2015 18:44:40 GMT
Hard-wired detectors have a battery backup...I would venture that the batteries are going out.
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Post by Merge on Feb 18, 2015 18:48:03 GMT
Some will go off if dust gets in the sensor. Try vacuuming all the units with a soft brush attachment to remove any dust trapped inside.
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paigesmom
Shy Member
Posts: 49
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Post by paigesmom on Feb 18, 2015 18:49:23 GMT
All smoke alarms and batteries were replaced after this happened the first few times. My DD has 2 bunnies in her room so maybe it's dust/dander? We are cleaning the unit with compressed air now
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Feb 18, 2015 18:50:29 GMT
other than the battery needing to be replaced, dust has been the cause of setting ours off in the past, too.
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Post by lily on Feb 18, 2015 18:52:33 GMT
Yep they only last about 10 years and need to be replaced.
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Post by shannoots on Feb 18, 2015 18:53:35 GMT
This happened to us a few months ago in the middle of the night. My husband checked the entire house and never found anything. We can only assume it was from dust or something.
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pudgygroundhog
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Posts: 4,652
Location: The Grand Canyon
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Post by pudgygroundhog on Feb 18, 2015 19:13:01 GMT
Interesting to know about the dust.
This happened to us once in our older house. The alarm went off for no apparent reason, but later we discovered something had happened with our furnace that triggered it.
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Post by compeateropeator on Feb 18, 2015 19:14:59 GMT
Smoke detectors have a 10 year life whether hardwired or battery operated, so I would assume your units all need to be replaced. This! It happened to me a bit ago and it just needed to be replaced. It didn't matter if you changed the batteries, vacuumed the dust out, or anything else - I just had to replace it. If you have a hard wired one, make sure you check to see what type of plug/connector it has so that you can make sure to get one that "fits". Different brands have different connectors. |
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akathy
What's For Dinner?
Still peaing from Podunk!
Posts: 4,546
Location: North Dakota
Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
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Post by akathy on Feb 18, 2015 20:57:13 GMT
I change the batteries on mine twice a year when I switch the clocks over for Daylight Savings.
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Post by peasful1 on Feb 18, 2015 21:13:17 GMT
When our last house was about 10 years old I replaced all of the hard-wired detectors. They were misbehaving at the most inopportune moments. You can buy a bulk pack of them at Home Depot. It's pretty easy. You twist the unit, unplug it, plug in the new one. twist back on. It helps if you're buying the same type, you won't even have to replace the bracket.
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Post by SnowWhite on Feb 18, 2015 21:39:15 GMT
I had a problem with one of our units in our old house setting off all the units and it turned out there was a spider that set up home in the kitchen smoke alarm. Just something else to look out for  |
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Feb 18, 2015 22:51:43 GMT
^^^^^ ewwwww!!  I would not want to be the one who finds THAT!! |
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Post by beachhappy22 on Feb 18, 2015 22:58:03 GMT
If you have done all of the above great suggestions you can call the non emergent fire department number and they should come and check to see if they can help identify the problem.
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Post by Dori~Mama~Bear on Feb 18, 2015 23:10:45 GMT
Smoke detectors have a 10 year life whether hardwired or battery operated, so I would assume your units all need to be replaced. I totally agree. I would replace the smoke detectors. also Are they carbon-monoxide detectors? if so I would check the carbon-monoxide levels in the house. |
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Nicole in TX
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Post by Nicole in TX on Feb 19, 2015 1:03:23 GMT
Flipping annoying, isn't it?!!!
Ours are usually due to dust in them. My DH gets out the shop vac and cleans them.
They prefer to go off randomly between the hours of 1 AM and 5 AM, OR when your are heading out the door to something really important.
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paigesmom
Shy Member
Posts: 49
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Post by paigesmom on Feb 19, 2015 2:09:19 GMT
Thanks everyone!
Like I wrote, we already replaced all the smoke alarms and batteries. Since I had to leave for work I had my DD vacuum her room and use the air compression cleaner on the alarm. The alarm hasn't gone off since then.
THEN she tells me that she turned on her ceiling fan last night for the first time since the summer. Yes, we dust all the fans and rooms on a regular basis but that explains a lot since she recently got a new bunny and she keeps her door closed at all times.
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Nicole in TX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,951
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Post by Nicole in TX on Feb 19, 2015 2:17:35 GMT
So far we have spiders and bunnies to blame in this thread.  |
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I would not want to be the one who finds THAT!!
Time to get off the internet!