Home Smoke detectors are all Beeping Batteries are not dead.???

[gary350]

We woke up this morning all 5 smokers detectors appear to be beeping. Its not a continuous warning beep. Beeps are 1 single beep about 1 per minutes. Smoke detectors are wired to 120 vac with a 9v mercury battery inside. Volt meter shows all the mercury batteries are 9.3v and batteries are not rechargeable. In the past we have heard beeps like 1 beep per month or 1 beep per week or 1 beep per day. Name on the front of the smoke detector says, US ELECTRIC. After removing all the batteries, testing batteries and putting batteries back into the smoke detectors all beeping has stopped. ???

TV weather says, humidity is low, pollen is very high 100%. We have been having 25 mph gusty wind for 3 days. New house air filter in the AC unit. We have a swamp cooler on wheels that recycles house air to remove pollen that was running 2 days ago but not today.

All the beeping worries wife. House is not on fire, I wonder about all the beeping.???

 

[danadak]

Pollen cutting down the detector smoke transmissivity....?

 

[MrAl]

We woke up this morning all 5 smokers detectors appear to be beeping. Its not a continuous warning beep. Beeps are 1 single beep about 1 per minutes. Smoke detectors are wired to 120 vac with a 9v mercury battery inside. Volt meter shows all the mercury batteries are 9.3v and batteries are not rechargeable. In the past we have heard beeps like 1 beep per month or 1 beep per week or 1 beep per day. Name on the front of the smoke detector says, US ELECTRIC. After removing all the batteries, testing batteries and putting batteries back into the smoke detectors all beeping has stopped. ???

TV weather says, humidity is low, pollen is very high 100%. We have been having 25 mph gusty wind for 3 days. New house air filter in the AC unit. We have a swamp cooler on wheels that recycles house air to remove pollen that was running 2 days ago but not today.

All the beeping worries wife. House is not on fire, I wonder about all the beeping.???


View attachment 149584View attachment 149585

Hi,

I can only guess but if the detectors are a little older and dust gets into them, that could be causing the problem. It's interesting though that 5 detectors are doing the same thing. If there is nothing else common but the air in the room(s), then something may be in the air or else they cannot deal with the temperature extremes very well.

By playing with them some of the dust may have cleared out but that would be temporary. Next time you could try cooling one and see if it stops while the others don't.

It could have been a fluke in the air quality and may not return. It's very hard to say without a few tests.
You can get meters that measure the air quality and in this case it may be the particulate matter that is causing the problem. If the meter reads high when they start beeping, you know what is causing it.

I have used smoke detectors for many years now, many decades, and only maybe one time did I see a problem with dust. However, I have seen moisture in the air set them off on a regular basis. Replacing the detector with a newer model helped a lot with that problem, so maybe a new model detector would solve your problem too.

 

[gary350]

Hi,

I can only guess but if the detectors are a little older and dust gets into them, that could be causing the problem. It's interesting though that 5 detectors are doing the same thing. If there is nothing else common but the air in the room(s), then something may be in the air or else they cannot deal with the temperature extremes very well.

By playing with them some of the dust may have cleared out but that would be temporary. Next time you could try cooling one and see if it stops while the others don't.

It could have been a fluke in the air quality and may not return. It's very hard to say without a few tests.
You can get meters that measure the air quality and in this case it may be the particulate matter that is causing the problem. If the meter reads high when they start beeping, you know what is causing it.

I have used smoke detectors for many years now, many decades, and only maybe one time did I see a problem with dust. However, I have seen moisture in the air set them off on a regular basis. Replacing the detector with a newer model helped a lot with that problem, so maybe a new model detector would solve your problem too.

Very good idea. I looked above 1 door dust has settled over the door. It is very dry now 80°+ and 30 mph wind every day it is dry and dusty + pollen is 100%. I have a portable air compressor tank and air blower I can bring into the house to blow dust out of the detectors.

 

[Externet]

There is smoke detectors with a battery as backup if the mains fail, as they are primarily powered by mains as the one in the first image appears to be (yellow, white, black wires from mains or link). Check a circuit breaker that supplies then or the chain wiring.
If one of the detectors triggers by any reason of failure, loose conection/splice, power loss, valid detection or unlinked, all 'daisy chained' will beep.

----> https://www.firstalertstore.com/sto...terconnect-hardwire-smoke-alarm-smi100-ac.htm

Typical bad connection reason :

 

[ZipZapOuch]

Check the date of manufacture on the detector. Mits recommended to change them every 10-years. ALSO, CLEAN THEM ONCE PER YEAR.

Check the manufacturer's directions for cleaning. Most recommend against air compressors because they emit a small mist of oil and this oil causes pollen and other fine dust to accumulate inside the detection zone.

 

[Inquisitive]

Depending on date of manufacture they may have reached their end of life. Then they all need to be replaced. Your local fire department may be able to assist. They will certainly be able to check them for you.

 

[camerart]

Hi G,
One beep may be a recognised error code, so as they are all joined, they will all do the same thing.
Can you check the mains power is getting to them?
C.

 

[gary350]

House smoke detectors are beeping again. Rain every day stopped 2 days ago. Now hot 98° and dry as desert for 2 days. I blew air through the sensor to clean out dust and pollen it still beeps 1 every 15 seconds. I unplug detector from AC and remove 9v battery the detector still beeps. There must be a charged capacitor inside. I short circuited the AC wire to see if that will discharge the capacitor and the frequency of the beeping started increasing faster faster faster until beeping stopped. VOM shows battery is 9v. Installed battery and plugged it into AC and no beeping for an hour. That fixed the problem, blowing air through the sensor to remove dust did not stop beeping. Discharging the capacitor seems to be what made it stop beeping.

 

[camerart]

Hi G,
I'm puzzles as to why they are mains and battery powered, do you know why?

(My first comment assumed that they are interconnected, but it appears they aren't)
C.

 

[gary350]

Hi G,
I'm puzzles as to why they are mains and battery powered, do you know why?

(My first comment assumed that they are interconnected, but it appears they aren't)
C.

Detectors appear to be AC powered but if electricity goes off it has battery back up. I was surprised to learn with no AC and battery removed the detector continues to functions for several hours.

We live in tornado alley we have 3 months of tornadoes and 4 ft of rain every spring.

 

[camerart]

Detectors appear to be AC powered but if electricity goes off it has battery back up. I was surprised to learn with no AC and battery removed the detector continues to functions for several hours.

We live in tornado alley we have 3 months of tornadoes and 4 ft of rain every spring.

Hi G,
Are you sure the signals aren't connected, perhaps through the mains wires, like the old baby alarms. Do the all go off, if one smells smoke?

Also I wonder if they could charge a rechargeable battery?
C

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hi G,
Are you sure the signals aren't connected, perhaps through the mains wires, like the old baby alarms. Do the all go off, if one smells smoke?

Also I wonder if they could charge a rechargeable battery?

Really, really, bad idea!

Rechargeable batteries are too unreliable, and usually require far more frequent replacement than non-rechargeable ones.

 

[sagor1]

Correct, many AC detectors are interconnected by a third wire. So if only one detector sees a fault, all detectors will beep the same error code. You need to check all of them…

 

[camerart]

Really, really, bad idea!

Rechargeable batteries are too unreliable, and usually require far more frequent replacement than non-rechargeable ones.

Hi N,
I have the none mains type of detector, and my re-chargeable batteries probably only need charging 1/year, and I jot the date on them each year 3 so far.
C

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hi N,
I have the none mains type of detector, and my re-chargeable batteries probably only need charging 1/year, and I jot the date on them each year 3 so far.
C

And non-rechargeables last 5+ years

 

[picbits]

I did some research into optical smoke detectors a while ago and some of the control chips have a built in obsolescence feature where they will trigger a warning after a certain length of operation (many years). It could be your smoke detectors have this function and have reached end of life as stated above.

 

[gary350]

I did some research into optical smoke detectors a while ago and some of the control chips have a built in obsolescence feature where they will trigger a warning after a certain length of operation (many years). It could be your smoke detectors have this function and have reached end of life as stated above.

Some day every thing we own will have a built in life expectancy so your forced to buy a new one so rich people can make themself richer. My cell phone did that it just turned itself off. Our house water faucets did that also. The company that makes these water faucets changes the design and stops making repair parts every 5 years so you have no choice but to buy a new water faucets. I will never buy water faucets from that company ever again. We had that problem at work with Honeywell a replacement 2 dollar switch cost 180 dollars from Honeywell. Honeywell buys standard parts from Micro Switch with Honeywell part numbers on them. Some day your car will stop running at 100,000. miles and your forced to buy a new one. Has anyone noticed you can no longer buy 5 year car battery, you can only buy 3 year batteries. I wonder if our new TV will turn off in 3 years and make us buy a new one. Who remembers about 1968 Sears came out with TVs that no TV shop could repair and Sears charged 5 times more than a TV shop charged. Customers were mad Sears was out of the TV business in 2 years.

 

[For The Popcorn]

Some day every thing we own will have a built in life expectancy so your forced to buy a new one so rich people can make themself richer.

You do realize that smoke detectors lose sensitivity over time? Their lifespan is limited to ensure that they work when you need them to save your life. I assume not.

Any faucet from a reputable company will have 3rd party repair parts available for many years – I can still buy replacement parts for my 50 year old shower and bathtub faucets.