Photoelectric smoke detector false alarms

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Gordy7

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#161775 19-Jan-2015 14:33

Sleepless night....

Photoelectric smoke alarm (PCR OM588H), in my dining/lounge area started beeping at about 1am and every 1/2 hour until the problem was solved.

After a couple of presses of the hush button I decided to replace the battery.
However the old battery was pretty good at about 8.7 volts.

By 5am I got the jewellers screwdrivers out and popped apart the case.
All looked clean.

Could see some latches on the optical chamber, so popped off the lid.
Out flew a very small fly.
Also removed a couple of very fine hairs and put the alarm back together.

Fitted the old battery and gave the alarm a button test.

Alarm has been quiet now for 9 hours.

Cheers

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

allan

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#1217626 19-Jan-2015 14:42

Spiders have set ours off

jarledb

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#1217634 19-Jan-2015 15:02

Photo electric smoke alarms are really the only type that give you warnings for all types of fires, and have the fewest false alarms. But given how they work (sensing light reflections inside of the sensor chamber), they are susceptible to false alarms from pollen, small insects, and even condensation (when temperatures shift rather quickly, and typically below 15 degrees celcius).

I used to sell fire safety equipment and we always had a rush of customers getting in touch for false alarms in the spring and autumn when temperatures would vary a lot. And typically from people that had false alarms in their bedrooms, sleeping with their windows open.

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