(I have carbon monoxide detectors that are not going off)
I have smoke detectors that are incorporated into my home alarm system. The other day, the one by my front door went off for no apparent reason, twice, and when I changed the batteries, it started alarming again immediately.
there was absolutely no reason for it, there were no open windows or doors nearby, it just went off. so, my alarm company replaced it. installed the new smoke detector yesterday and… it just went off again. completely different smoke detector.
there’s absolutely nothing in my house that could produce carbon monoxide, but I have separate CO detectors anyway that aren’t going off. there’s no smell, there’s nothing visible, and these are those electro optical photoelectric style ones.
Some newer (in the last 10 years) smoke detectors use an infrared sensor to detect fire as well as smoke, and it may be going haywire off a reflection of the sun, or intense heating of a spot within its detection area.
If you can, borrow a FLIR or infrared camera and check the area when the detector goes off.
If you post your model of smoke detector, it would be easier to tell if it has this feature.
Heat or carbon monoxide. Check what type of detector you have, it could save your life
Call the fire department, they have detectors that they can use to look for gas leaks and other things that can set off a detector.
You can also call your gas provider. One of those two should be able to track it down, it could be a lot of things, but two different smoke detectors going off in the same location is a huge red flag.
Best case, you have something kicking up fine dust, worst case, you have a smouldering electric fire in your wall somewhere.
Don’t panic, but also do not ignore this.
The weird thing is, it alarmed three times in its current position, but when I changed the battery, it started alarming in my hands in a completely different room, which I already had two other smoke detectors in it that weren’t going off.
and there’s no gas. I live outside Miami
Sounds like a bad unit, try replacing it. The fact it’s going off elsewhere and no other detectors go off says it’s the unit.I missed that you changed units, check your wires.
If the new unit starts going off, you may have a switched wire between your signal (red) and your hot (black) that fried the unit.
it’s not hardwired, my security system is entirely wireless
Then some signal from the base unit alerts all units that one detector has gone off, to alarm the home. Either the base unit is sending a false signal, or some outside signal is mimicking the signal.
Personally I’d install a standalone detector in that spot.
This makes it sound like it’s probably just a defective detector. Swap it with one that hasn’t been going off and see if that one starts going off too. If it doesn’t then odds are something just failed in it.
You could also just try blowing some air through it to blow out any dust. But it shouldn’t be that dusty after only a year so I’m still leaning towards defective.
I had trouble with them going off in humidity, they were past their expiry date so replacing them fixed the issue.
Mine went off in high humidity when I showered and forgot to turn on the fan
I thought of this one too. “Photoelectric” smoke detectors are a thing, and it’s good to know if that’s the kind you have.
thing is, it’s the smoke detector farthest from my shower, and only the third time it went off was anywhere near a time that I had showered.
Are they Kidde? I’ve had 3 photoelectric Kiddes that started failing and going off randomly. I’ve been slowly replacing all of mine.
The builder installed them. Occasionally walking through our neighbourhood we hear other people’s going off too.
I’ve had a photoelectric alarm set off by steam from a dryer in the next room, through a closed door.
That’s why I don’t understand why a ton of hotels have no bathroom vent fan, and photoelectric detectors within feet of the bathroom door.
High humidity can cause them to go off as well. Used to use a cool air humidifier in our kids’ room at night and had to stop because it would eventually set the alarm off.
I found it amusing that these posts were adjacent.
omg 😭😭😭 The new detector went on off in the living room where the old one did. switched it to the kitchen, put the kitchen detector in the living room, and the new one went off in the kitchen. wtffff
Sorry, trying to follow here. Three locations: front door, kitchen and living room. 4 detectors: original front door, new front door, kitchen and living room?
Original front door went off in situ and in the living room while holding it?
New front door went off at front door. Swapped NFD with living room - NFD went off in living room.
Moved NFD to kitchen and it went off in there too?
Where are the K and LV detectors now? Have any of those gone off anywhere in the house? Are THEY functional? (Sorry if you already said, I’m trying to piece the bits together and mighta missed that)
Might be worth buying an infrared thermometer to see if there is wiring overheating in your walls. I’m not an electrician but i wonder if it’s something then can happen sporadically such as if there is something drawing a lot of power that turns on/off. There are inexpensive ones out there and they can be handy to have around.
Have you ruled out other types of fumes? Eg fresh paint, perfume, scented oil diffusers etc.
yeah I’m autistic so i can smell that shit a mile away
What country? AFAIK in the US you can’t make the batteries replaceable. If they are wirelessly linked they can have auxiliary batteries for that, but (I believe) that’s different than the main battery…
EDIT: I seem to be thinking of California, maybe not all of US.
It’s the same here in New Jersey, or at least the city I’m in. Recently a fire inspector came by the condo building I was living in & failed ~ 60% of the units because they still had the old style replaceable battery smoke detectors. Apparently going forward we are/were supposed to be using sealed battery smoke detectors & replace them entirely every ~10 years when they stop working.
EDIT: Not sure if that’s OP’s problem unless their alarm company is so cheap that they keep giving OP really old detectors to replace with.
Look for an expiration date. Radionucleotide style detectors end up failing with false positives when they reach end of life. You might need to have all the old ones replaced.
I used the wrong word, but this is a photoelectric detector. The manufacturer date is less than one year ago
Sorry, I must have skimmed too quickly and missed that.
A ghost 👻
Had to scroll way too long to find the right answer.
I wish he’d come over and tickle my balls instead of tickling my smoke detector
