AC powered smoke detectors...what wrong with them?

[KILOWATT]

Hi...thanks for your attention. Since 1994, our landlord had to replace our
smoke detector (ac powered) three times,all because of intermittent false
alerts! The actual one, wich is a different brand from the others, (Kidde)
is the 4th and we had two false alerts since last week.It's installed since
spring 2002. I think that i'll switch to a battery operated detector...never
had problems with those. Do you had any bad experience (should i
say..."awakenings"!) with those AC operated detectors?

--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian!
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)

 

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 14:00:27 -0400, "KILOWATT"
<kilowatt"nospam"@softhome.net> wrote:

Hi...thanks for your attention. Since 1994, our landlord had to replace our
smoke detector (ac powered) three times,all because of intermittent false
alerts! The actual one, wich is a different brand from the others, (Kidde)
is the 4th and we had two false alerts since last week.It's installed since
spring 2002. I think that i'll switch to a battery operated detector...never
had problems with those. Do you had any bad experience (should i
say..."awakenings"!) with those AC operated detectors?

Some cheap photo-type smoke detectors are sensitive to things other
than smoke, such as dust, high humidity. Is this detector located
near a kitchen, heat vent, sink where wife uses hair spray, etc?

-Chris

 

[Jeff Wiseman]

Hey! A question that I might be able to help with!

The main difference between an AC and battery operated detector is that the AC operated detector HAS A HOLE IN THE CEILING BEHIND IT. Because of this I've discovered that there seems to be constant drafts going back and forth through those openings due to pressure differentials in the house which accelerates the buildup of crap in the detector.

Try this:

Remove the detector and seal all around the utility box opening so that no air can pass through it (I've even done this with duct tape Then clean out the detector and its sensing chamber as best as possible. I've done this with a vacuum. Replace the detector and see if you have any more problems with it.

This procedure has eliminated the "dirty detector" scenario everyplace that I've tried it so far. Maybe you'll have the same experience.

Hope this helps.

- Jeff



KILOWATT wrote:

Hi...thanks for your attention. Since 1994, our landlord had to replace our
smoke detector (ac powered) three times,all because of intermittent false
alerts! The actual one, wich is a different brand from the others, (Kidde)
is the 4th and we had two false alerts since last week.It's installed since
spring 2002. I think that i'll switch to a battery operated detector...never
had problems with those. Do you had any bad experience (should i
say..."awakenings"!) with those AC operated detectors?

--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian!
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)

 

[red]

AC powered Smoke detectors are nice, in the fact that they will work with a
dead battery, but if your power goes out, as long as the battery is good,
you're alright. The only reason I DO NOT recomend AC powered detectors are
because of lightning and surges can kill a detector in an instant. Rendering
it and the battery useless. (Know from experiance) If you still want to keep
the AC powered one, I recommend adding a battery ONLY powered on close by or
on the same floor.

red


"KILOWATT" <kilowatt"nospam"@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:ASymb.29539$XO.1507843@news20.bellglobal.com...

Hi...thanks for your attention. Since 1994, our landlord had to replace
our
smoke detector (ac powered) three times,all because of intermittent false
alerts! The actual one, wich is a different brand from the others,
(Kidde)
is the 4th and we had two false alerts since last week.It's installed
since
spring 2002. I think that i'll switch to a battery operated
detector...never
had problems with those. Do you had any bad experience (should i
say..."awakenings"!) with those AC operated detectors?

--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian!
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)

 

[KILOWATT]

Thanks a lot for all your replies. I think i may have found the problem:

Chris wrote:

Some cheap photo-type smoke detectors are sensitive to things other
than smoke, such as dust, high humidity. Is this detector located
near a kitchen, heat vent, sink where wife uses hair spray, etc?

This one Chris is a ionisation type...and is not located near any vent.
It's near the kitchen (not in) but we use a range hood with exterior
venting.
The false alarms didn't occured when we cooked something. But what you
mentioned is effectively the cause of problems with false alarms in many
houses
i admit.

Jeff wrote:

Hey! A question that I might be able to help with!

The main difference between an AC and battery operated detector is that the
AC operated detector HAS A HOLE IN >THE CEILING BEHIND IT. Because of this

I've discovered that there seems to be constant drafts going back and forth

through those openings due to pressure differentials in the house which
accelerates the buildup of crap in the detector.

Try this:
Remove the detector and seal all around the utility box opening so that no
air can pass through it (I've even done this with >duct tape Then clean

out the detector and its sensing chamber as best as possible. I've done this
with a vacuum. Replace >the detector and see if you have any more problems
with it. This procedure has eliminated the "dirty detector" scenario

everyplace that I've tried it so far. Maybe you'll have the same
experience. Hope this helps.

Jeff...what you've wrote was no so far from our problem. When i did twisted
off the detector and removed the power connector from it, i did noticed a
considerable draft coming out of the hole from the mounting plate. But
worst, i've found small bugs (not the ones we find in software! ) in the
detector...two went out when removing it, and found two others still inside
when i disassembled the casing. Not cockroaches, but small ones about half
an inch, light brown with some white stripes on them and large
antennas...and the kind of nervous than run FAST! One of the two i've
found inside was in the ionisation chamber...sucked it out with the vacuum.
I thought i would find some dust but the inside was pretty clean besides
it's occupants! I dont know if it was the draft from the ceiling or the bugs
that caused the false alarms, but for what i know about electronics, bugs
aren't among the kind of good electrical conductors except probably for very
high voltages wich is not the case in a smoke detector. Anyway...sealed with
duct tape all the openings from the mounting plate except for a small
section for the wring and the power connector. Unfortunately i may take a
few days or even a few weeks before i see if the problem is solved or not.

Red wrote:

AC powered Smoke detectors are nice, in the fact that they will work with a
dead battery, but if your power goes out, as >long as the battery is good,

you're alright. The only reason I DO NOT recomend AC powered detectors are
because of >lightning and surges can kill a detector in an instant.
Rendering it and the battery useless. (Know from experiance) If you still

want to keep the AC powered one, I recommend adding a battery ONLY powered
on close by or on the same floor.

You're right Red...battery operated is more safer. Most new installation now
are made with AC operated ones because people were peobably too lazy to
change the battery...and unfortunately here in Québec...it's going the way
that some would preffer to spend for a six pack of beer instead of buying a
good alkaline 9v battery! (not our case! )
--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian!
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)

 

[KILOWATT]

Ohh...as an additional reply...i would like to know if anyone is aware of a
good brand/model of smoke detector that can operate in very low temperatures
(say...down to -30°C or -22°F) ? It's for our garage that is separeted from
the house. I have some spare wires from a muticonductor cable that goes from
the house to the garage, used for the intercom,alarm and telephone line. I
would interface the detector directly or indirectly to something in the
house to warn us. TIA

--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian!
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)

 

[Eric Vey]

--Most new installation now are made with AC operated ones because
people were peobably too lazy to change the battery.--

In many cities, AC units are required by code in rental units.

"KILOWATT" <kilowatt"nospam"@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:CGZmb.228$9j3.67036@news20.bellglobal.com...

Thanks a lot for all your replies. I think i may have found the
problem:

Chris wrote:
Some cheap photo-type smoke detectors are sensitive to things other
than smoke, such as dust, high humidity. Is this detector located
near a kitchen, heat vent, sink where wife uses hair spray, etc?

This one Chris is a ionisation type...and is not located near any
vent.
It's near the kitchen (not in) but we use a range hood with exterior
venting.
The false alarms didn't occured when we cooked something. But what you
mentioned is effectively the cause of problems with false alarms in
many
houses
i admit.

Jeff wrote:
Hey! A question that I might be able to help with!

The main difference between an AC and battery operated detector is
that the
AC operated detector HAS A HOLE IN >THE CEILING BEHIND IT. Because of
this
I've discovered that there seems to be constant drafts going back and
forth
through those openings due to pressure differentials in the house
which
accelerates the buildup of crap in the detector.

Try this:
Remove the detector and seal all around the utility box opening so
that no
air can pass through it (I've even done this with >duct tape Then
clean
out the detector and its sensing chamber as best as possible. I've
done this
with a vacuum. Replace >the detector and see if you have any more
problems
with it. This procedure has eliminated the "dirty detector" scenario
everyplace that I've tried it so far. Maybe you'll have the same
experience. Hope this helps.

Jeff...what you've wrote was no so far from our problem. When i did
twisted
off the detector and removed the power connector from it, i did
noticed a
considerable draft coming out of the hole from the mounting plate. But
worst, i've found small bugs (not the ones we find in software! )
in the
detector...two went out when removing it, and found two others still
inside
when i disassembled the casing. Not cockroaches, but small ones about
half
an inch, light brown with some white stripes on them and large
antennas...and the kind of nervous than run FAST! One of the two
i've
found inside was in the ionisation chamber...sucked it out with the
vacuum.
I thought i would find some dust but the inside was pretty clean
besides
it's occupants! I dont know if it was the draft from the ceiling or
the bugs
that caused the false alarms, but for what i know about electronics,
bugs
aren't among the kind of good electrical conductors except probably
for very
high voltages wich is not the case in a smoke detector.
Anyway...sealed with
duct tape all the openings from the mounting plate except for a small
section for the wring and the power connector. Unfortunately i may
take a
few days or even a few weeks before i see if the problem is solved or
not.

Red wrote:
AC powered Smoke detectors are nice, in the fact that they will work
with a
dead battery, but if your power goes out, as >long as the battery is
good,
you're alright. The only reason I DO NOT recomend AC powered detectors
are
because of >lightning and surges can kill a detector in an instant.
Rendering it and the battery useless. (Know from experiance) If you
still
want to keep the AC powered one, I recommend adding a battery ONLY
powered
on close by or on the same floor.

You're right Red...battery operated is more safer. Most new
installation now
are made with AC operated ones because people were peobably too lazy
to
change the battery...and unfortunately here in Québec...it's going the
way
that some would preffer to spend for a six pack of beer instead of
buying a
good alkaline 9v battery! (not our case! )
--
Alain(alias:Kilowatt)
Montréal Québec
PS: 1000 excuses for errors or omissions,
i'm a "pure" french canadian!
Come to visit me at: http://kilowatt.camarades.com
(If replying also by e-mail, remove
"no spam" from the adress.)

 

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 13:17:39 -0500, "Eric Vey" <junk@ericvey.com>
wrote:

--Most new installation now are made with AC operated ones because
people were peobably too lazy to change the battery.--

In many cities, AC units are required by code in rental units.

Around here, AC powered is required. I'm not sure, but I think they
are all required to be chained so that one detector can trigger the
other alarms.

Gets pretty loud in my house when all 10 go off at once.