Smoke alarm keeps going off!

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Chicknsoup

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#251401 24-Jun-2019 08:48

Hi all,

Wondering if any of you could shed some light on why the smoke alarm in my hallway keeps going off!

Details as follows:
- it’s a FireTek Clipsal 755PSMA installed by the building company when we built the house in 2015. The replace the detector date is 2023
- I’m pretty sure it wired into the mains power
- I’ve dusted it with the vacuum
- I’ve replaced the battery with an energiser 9v (the same that was put in it originally)
- not sure if relevant but it’s about 2m away from our heat pump in our hallway. This has been the set up since the build and we haven’t had any false alarms until now
- this is the smoke alarm near the bedrooms

I’m not sure if I need to get an electrician in to replace it and if so, what do I replace it with?

Any advice would be much appreciated. We’ve had to sort of deactivate it as it went off once when we weren’t home and our neighbours called the police to check our property as we have had a spate of burglaries in the neighbourhood - don’t want to be a bother again so I need to get this fixed ASAP!

Thanks all

jonathan18

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#2263175 24-Jun-2019 09:13

That model is indeed a mains version with battery backup.

It mentions in the manual it comes with a five year warranty, so you should be within that period if you can't resolve the issue yourself.

Given it's a mains model, I can't imagine many of the typical reasons for false alarms with a smoke alarm would apply - older battery, cheap/crud battery, dropping voltage, cool air at the top of a high-stud ceiling...

Does it still work with the battery out, and do you still get the false positives in this situation?

timmmay

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#2263177 24-Jun-2019 09:15

We got false positives near a heat pump with a different model of smoke alarm. Might just be that.

jonathan18

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#2263217 24-Jun-2019 09:19

Then, if this is the cause in this case, the question would be why it's started causing a problem now, given the two items have always been 2m apart?

Being hard-wired, it's a lot more work shifting its location too, if the heat pump is the cause! (And this may not be feasible, given you say it's the one near bedrooms.)

timmmay

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#2263219 24-Jun-2019 09:21

Yeah it just starting is odd.

Rikkitic

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#2263220 24-Jun-2019 09:21

I can't speak for your model, but I have had a lot of issues with stand-alone battery-powered units. Some seem to work fine, others give constant false alerts. It varies from model to model. Other than defects, the main causes of false positives seem to be low battery voltage and moisture in the air. Perhaps your unit is responding to humidity, which might or might not be related to your heat pump. In my experience, the (recommended) photoelectric alarms are most susceptible to this. Because of that I have both types of alarms in my house, with the photoelectric only in locations that produce the fewest false alerts and ionisation alarms elsewhere.

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Chicknsoup

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#2263233 24-Jun-2019 09:46

I’m was wondering whether it was the heat pump but as I said before, it was never an issue until last week. The humidity in the house has increased this year (this is only based on observation as our condensation has gotten worse!) and we are looking into ventilation options to resolve this. If humidity was a factor then would I replace the smoke alarm with another model? Or would other photoelectric smoke alarms have the same problem?

With regards to operating it without the battery - we haven’t tried this but I fitted a newly bought battery in the hopes that this would solve the issue. Currently it’s been unclipped from the base and is hanging on its hinges. It is letting out a periodic and rather loud beep which drives the family insane. Also it isn’t an ideal safety situation!

jonathan18

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#2263239 24-Jun-2019 10:04

Agree - there are few more annoying things than errant smoke alarms!

We had one going off a few weeks ago - that same annoying periodic beep, that makes even working out which one it is somewhat frustrating (we have them in both kids' bedrooms, plus two in the hall). That one was a battery-powered one, and with a '10-year' lithium battery that gave up after only about three years; I've bought a Cavius one to replace it (a brand I've had no such issues with - I've given up on any other brands with the long-life batteries).

The manual I linked to above indicates a beep every minute is related to a flat battery; we've had this problem (with the cheaper lithium- or alkaline-powered models) much more in winter, and in the rooms with the 3m stud.

I reckon see if it functions without the battery, and if so if this stops the periodic beep; at least then you'll know if issue is battery-related.

If it is the battery, this could be a similar issue to a smoke alarm at my mother's place - it had functioned fine for years, then started beeping indicating batter replacement needed. I did so, starting with a $2 shop one, then a mid-price one, then an expensive model - the same 'replace me' beep continued with all three. The solution was to buy a new, better- quality alarm!

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tdgeek

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#2263242 24-Jun-2019 10:10

Is there an accessible sensor plate? It might be dusty, or dust and humidity has caused a coating to be on it?. Clean that and see what happens? The sensor is deciding its unsafe

allan

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#2263246 24-Jun-2019 10:31

Had a small spider in one once that kept setting it off as a web was constructed. It was determined and seemed to survive multiple vacuuming attempts, but eventually I either got it, or it died.

RunningMan

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#2263414 24-Jun-2019 14:00

If it's in the path of the air stream from the heat pump, it's probably full of dust inside.

surfisup1000

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#2265657 27-Jun-2019 10:25

Just in process of replacing our 3 fire alarms with cavius.

We didn't have false alarm issues with the existing ones, but, the batteries are expensive and last a year only.

And, I don't even know what type of alarm they are, no model code or brand. Can't see if they even work OK.

Noel leeming do a deal on cavius, $20 off your order, so got 2 cavius for $40 ea, which seems OK.

jonathan18

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#2265664 27-Jun-2019 10:47

surfisup1000:

Just in process of replacing our 3 fire alarms with cavius.

We didn't have false alarm issues with the existing ones, but, the batteries are expensive and last a year only.

And, I don't even know what type of alarm they are, no model code or brand. Can't see if they even work OK.

Noel leeming do a deal on cavius, $20 off your order, so got 2 cavius for $40 ea, which seems OK.

Yep, it's just not worth the hassle to fart about with replacing batteries annually, nor deal with models using poor-quality long-life batteries.

$40 is a good price - I've bought them only slightly cheaper at $39 at Mitre 10, using the 15% price-beating offer (as Bunnings sells them cheaper than M10).