False Alarms

[gbaglo]

I've been meaning to replace my smoke detector with one that has a "Hush" button.

I bought it, but haven't gotten around to installing it. I installed the battery and left it on the counter in the trailer.
Next day I hear the thing sounding the alarm for no apparent reason.
I removed it to the house and some six weeks later decided once again to install it. Didn't get that far. Left it on the counter again.

Six AM this morning I woke to the alarm going off in the trailer. Once again, for no apparent reason.

Checked the Kidde site and way down at the bottom of the help page I found that false alarms can be caused by high humidity.

So there you go. It's not just a smoke alarm, but can serve to warn you that you should air out the trailer.

baglo

[medora]

You could also just get yourself a baseball bat. That's what we did when ours started going off in the house every time we took a shower. Our friend at the local township volunteer fire dept informed us they also often go off when there's too much dust in the house -- that one's called the "Sorry, Slob, it's Time to Clean" notification. Embarrassment prevents me from detailing the number of times we've gotten that "reminder."

[gbaglo]

I've had to cover too many house fires as a news photographer.

In this tiny 800 square foot house we have three smoke detectors, a carbon monoxide detector and four fire extinguishers.

I also wouldn't allow the Old Bag to put my daughter's graduation picture on the entertainment center. I've had to do too many copy shots of dead kids grad photos.

baglo

[Vermilye]

Have to agree with baglo. I spent a couple years as a Disaster Team Leader with the Red Cross. It always seems the greatest losses, both possessions, and unfortunately, life happened in homes that didn't have working smoke detectors. Rather than "hammer" it or remove batteries, etc get one that has a hush button.

[gbaglo]

I believe Elizabeth was joking about the bat.

It would take her all afternoon to wipe out all of her smoke detectors.

baglo

[escape artist]

Hi: All...You could try putting a sock on it!!! A clean one that is. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Garand]

Rather than conduct a futle search for the detector that's doing the low-battery-chirp,n We replace all of the batteries every Nov 19th (the "great American Smoke-out" day). While that date is designed to encourage folks to quit smoking, it serves a good reminder for us that the batteries should be changed.

As an aside, Deb and I quit smoking together on a "great smokeout" more than 20 years ago. Not only did we quit, we stayed married!

Dave

[medora]

Yes, I was joking. Apparently badly. Apologies, folks. As I mentioned to Baglo, we have 9 detectors in our house, and two CO2s. It's a symphony orchestra around here. Batteries are changed regularly; we've heard the stories and don't mess around, though we do have a baseball bat we wave occasionally in their direction IN JEST.

Our dogs are trained on an electric fence that sounds warning beeps before the bzzzt. The sound of the smoke detector is very similar to the beeps just before the bbzzt ... so you can only imagine the calm state of affairs around here after every false alarm, with two 75+ pound beasts attempting to crawl into our arms for comfort.

Ours do go off regularly for humidity or dust, which is to say -- OFTEN. I keep asking our volunteer fire department guys if there's a model that's better than others w/r/t false alarms, but they all are reported to be uniformly flaky that way. Were I loads smarter, I would take on the challenge of crafting a Perfect Smoke Alarm, as I think I would be able to comfortably sweep Dan and our menagerie away for a lifetime of carefree Escaping with all the money I'd make.

[Vermilye]

Sorry to sound "upset" - I listen to far too many people who don't believe in smoke detectors, C0 detectors, propane detectors, etc. Sometimes I get carried away...

[Garand]

We get frequent alarms when our trailer is sitting at home in the driveway, unless we leave the fantastic fan open a bit. Just a little bit of air circulating prevents the false alrms.

I suspect the source is the new materials (cabinet finishes, adhesives, etc.) out-gassing.

[gbaglo]

My trailer is almost 4 years old. The installed alarm wasn't going off in mine. It was the one I was going to use to replace it.

I left it sitting on the counter face-up, which is why I believe that it's humidity ( and that's what it says on the Kidde alarm site ) is the culprit.

baglo