So it's 10 minutes to 11 pm and...

[slackerisme]

every GD smoke alarm in my 7 year old house starts screaming. I was watching TV in the basement when they went off. I sprint my rather robust booty up the stairs and start looking for a fire....nothing. Back to the basement and I shut the breaker off. Five minutes of peace and then the screaming begins once more.

Its ten after now, my house is smoke detector-less, but it's quiet

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[SmileDocHill]

I had mine go off like that in the house I lived in prior to this one. I looked into possible causes and determined that dust accumulated on the sensors. Some detectors can detect things other than smoke (carbon monoxide) that you are unable to smell so I wouldn't take it lightly just because you can't smell smoke.

 

[slackerisme]

Thanks Doc, sound advice. We are all electric though. I will give them a good dusting.

 

[Ricnzak]

It's God getting even for your ugly Avatar. Just Sayin.....

 

[slackerisme]

LOL. My avatar is full of WIN!!! I know this because it is also my facebook icon and my wife hates it. My wife hates only good things

 

[spasmo]

OH, ours would do that. If one went off, they all went off. We have to go through and reset all of them.

 

[BumpShadow]

If it's all of them, could it be the batteries?

 

[slackerisme]

@spasmo Reset how?

@Bumpshadow new code has them all supplied by 110V service. The batteries are backups. They are only supposed to all go off if one is triggered.



I read on the interwebs that the one that is flashing "ok" is the one that triggered the event, any experience here.

 

[K_W]

do the detectors have carbon monoxide sensors? if so get out.

 

[Wild Deuce]

Take it step by step ... start in the room where the detector was activated. Check everything that uses electricity. Then go to the outlets and switches themselves .... feel them and the wall above them. Don't forget your ceiling fixtures. If those are clear, start with any and all other heat generating stuff in the house ... especially below or adjacent to the room with the activated detector (furnace, water heater, dryer, etc.). Don't forget the fireplace and adjacent walls. Peek in the garage too.

Go ... check.

 

[netsecurity]

It does sound like a possible carbon monoxide alarm. If the alarm goes off again when you turn on the breaker then I would consider staying in a hotel, or sleeping with
my windows open (brrrrr). Be safe!

 

[K_W]

Update?

 

[slackerisme]

I have done the room by room thing, twice now, along with a peek in the attic. All of my service equipment is in the basement, where I am now. There is no detector in the kitchen where the rest of the equipment is. There is one in the laundry room, but nothing in there was running.

There was one that had a blinking light, the rest were solid. I will do a unit by unit reconnect tomorrow morning. Unless my dog has extreme gas issues tonight, it cannot be Carbon Monoxide. We are all electric and the detectors are all in the living quarters.

 

[K_W]

"fail safe"? Maybe fault in the blinking one triggered alarm as a precaution?

 

[public servant]

How old are the detectors? They are supposed to be replaced every 10 years. At 11 years one of mine went bad...kept setting them all off.

 

[slackerisme]

How old are the detectors? They are supposed to be replaced every 10 years. At 11 years one of mine went bad...kept setting them all off.

Dated 2004 on the back. Like the avatar btw!

 

[sepe]

@spasmo Reset how?

@Bumpshadow new code has them all supplied by 110V service. The batteries are backups. They are only supposed to all go off if one is triggered.



I read on the interwebs that the one that is flashing "ok" is the one that triggered the event, any experience here.

Ours would do that and even though the battery was a backup, it was causing the problem. One would start going off and then it would go down the line setting the rest off. I think part of the problem with ours is that they're really cheap bulk order builder crap. Just about every review I read online about our model says the same thing. Cheap builder crap that gets real annoying, real quick when the batteries start going bad.

 

[teddy12b]

It's God getting even for your ugly Avatar. Just Sayin.....

Sound advise from the guy with the best avator ever!

 

[Dead Duck]

If you suspect carbon monoxide, stand outside holding one side of a rope and tie your wife to the other.(for safety) Have her go in with a ladder(promise her shoes or something)and clean each detector and change its battery.(couldn't hurt)
If she passes out(you'll hear the ladder) just pull the rope. You've just proved that you do have a carbon monoxide leak. If she walks out on her own, then there's not a leak and you have successfully serviced your detectors. Now go to walmart and get her some shoes. Win - Win.

In the past, I've used my leaf blower in the house to clean the dust from the detectors. Overkill? Yes, but fun. Also works on the kids to get up for school.

With some detectors, when they are all powered together off the house and in sync, after the initial alarm, the one that started it all would be the one that is blinking so you at least know where your problem started.
Companies are always changing so who knows what yours does.

BTW - Your avatar is LOUD.

 

[Ogre]

Ours did that as well a couple years ago. It turned out to be a loose wire going into the circuit breaker in the breaker box. We pulled off the cover and that wire and a couple others had come loose.