Bleeping Smoke Alarms Going Off After Power Failure...ARGH!!!

[Vraciu]

The nanny state strikes again with their stupid rules.

So........in my newly built home we have hard wired smoke detectors on a dedicated circuit with battery backup.  This is all well and good except that every time we have a power failure (and there have been quite a few lately) the stupid things go off.   This is a really pleasant experience at 2AM when I have to wake up at 5AM.

Anyone have experience with these stupid things?   I want one that will ONLY ONLY ONLY go off if there is a fire.  I don't need to be awake for a friggin' power failure.

Cheerio!

 

[colmbo]

That doesn't sound right.  Battery back-up is so they can alarm if the power is out....not wake you up.

My last house I ended up replacing all of them because I was constantly having the low battery beeps even with new batteries.

[Ciaphas]

This might be a dumb question but are all of the detectors battery compartment guards removed to allow for contact between the battery and the detector?


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[pembquist]

That doesn't sound right.  Battery back-up is so they can alarm if the power is out....not wake you up.

My last house I ended up replacing all of them because I was constantly having the low battery beeps even with new batteries.

AHHHH! Let me sound smart and informed now! I had this problem and after multiple battery changing and head scratching I finally got to the bottom of it. That pathetic bleep that signals a dying battery won't go away just by changing the battery,(at least in some models,) what you have to do is take out the dying battery then press the test button till you hear it make an attempt at alarming which tapers off to silence. Hold the test button a little longer, then put in the new batteries.

[Bizman]

A friend of mine is a trained electrician who built a new house with a similar set of smoke detectors. Hard wired with backup batteries, all new from the stock of his employer. He encountered the same issue as you. In the end it turned out that the best before date of the original batteries had passed. So although the batteries still showed a solid 9 V on a multimeter, they didn't work consistently. Fresh batteries did the trick.

Changing the batteries and doing what Pembquist said should help.

[100Coogn]

I don't trust hardwired smoke detectors.  What if it's the electrical that started the fire in the first place?  Odds are you would have no power after that, so no smoke alarms either.

Coogan

[Bizman]

I don't trust hardwired smoke detectors.  What if it's the electrical that started the fire in the first place?  Odds are you would have no power after that, so no smoke alarms either.

Coogan

That's why there's a backup battery.

[Vraciu]

Thanks all.  I’ve read all the responses carefully and appreciate the input.

I replaced all the batteries bout two weeks ago and it still did it when the power went out the other day.

Can I just go with traditional battery-only units and skip the hardwired nonsense?

It is so damned frustrating to wake up to an alarm with no fire.   I think these units are yellling fire over a power outage.   I can’t help but think this is by design.

If there is a hard-wired unit that will be quiet during a non-fire power failure that would be ideal. 

[colmbo]

Talk to the manufacturer and see if they are functioning properly.

[Devil 505]

Out of curiosity, does the alarm sound when the power first goes out or when it comes back on?

[Maverick]

Thanks all.  I’ve read all the responses carefully and appreciate the input.

I replaced all the batteries bout two weeks ago and it still did it when the power went out the other day.

Can I just go with traditional battery-only units and skip the hardwired nonsense?

It is so damned frustrating to wake up to an alarm with no fire.   I think these units are yellling fire over a power outage.   I can’t help but think this is by design.

If there is a hard-wired unit that will be quiet during a non-fire power failure that would be ideal.

Frankly that is what I would do. Bought a house last summer, no detectors in it at all so I got hardware store ones with a 10 year built in battery for about the same cost as the smaller annual battery change models and installed them. It's your house, do what you want. AFAIK I have never heard of a mandatory hard wired detector inspection by the "authorities" so what is stopping you?

[Vraciu]

Out of curiosity, does the alarm sound when the power first goes out or when it comes back on?

The entire time the power is out.   It's a nightmare.   I've replaced the batteries.  No change.  It's like it is telling us the power is out because of a fire or something.

Just loud intermittent chirps spaced at regular intervals.      I can try the batteries again...

[Vraciu]

Frankly that is what I would do. Bought a house last summer, no detectors in it at all so I got hardware store ones with a 10 year built in battery for about the same cost as the smaller annual battery change models and installed them. It's your house, do what you want. AFAIK I have never heard of a mandatory hard wired detector inspection by the "authorities" so what is stopping you?

The only thing stopping me is the knowledge required to choose a better product.

I can put these in the garage and reinstall them when I sell the house.   I hate these damned things.

[Vraciu]

Talk to the manufacturer and see if they are functioning properly.

I'm calling the builder today.  I'm still under an all-inclusive warranty so they need to pay to fix it whatever the cost.

[Devil 505]

It's like it is telling us the power is out because of a fire or something.

Yeah, that's what I'm figuring. It may be a "feature"