(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.
I found it amusing that these posts were adjacent.
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
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.
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 👻
I wish he’d come over and tickle my balls instead of tickling my smoke detector
Had to scroll way too long to find the right answer.
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’ve set one off while dying my hair.
Does it get hot by your front door or in direct sunlight? We have a few in my house that go off if our kitchen gets too hot. We had to move them down the hall slightly and they stopped. A really old one we have upstairs, hardwired into the house electric (built in 86) trips if too much steam builds up in the bathroom and let’s loose into the hall.
it doesn’t, my house is outside Miami so it’s well designed to prevent direct sunlight from any of the windows.
They are probably both about the same age and need replacing. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have a finite lifespan, no matter how often you change the batteries. Fortunately they’re not all that expensive, just get new ones. I had the same problem in my apartment last year, and the carbon monoxide detector was over 10 years old. So they just replaced it, problem solved.
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I’ve had the first detector for like 5 years and the second had a manufacture date from about a year ago
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.
I’ma show this to my wife the next time the smoke thing beeps as an excuse to get a fancy new thermometer.
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 need to replace a set of expired smoke detector at my elderly parents’ house. They’re too old to have alarms going off in the middle of the night just because the wind blows.
Yet, Amazon only seem to sell ones with photo-electric sensors, and many reviews complain about over-sensitivity with dust, and under-sensitivity when the room is clearly full of smoke.
Additionally, the ones with sealed 10 year batteries - many reviews report a battery life of 2 years or so in practice, with increased false positives as battery life runs down. So now, they have to replace whole units rather than just batteries.
What happened to good old ionizing smoke detectors with 9v batteries that needed replacing every 2 years or so?!
Have you tried driving to the store?
Spend a bit more on UL approved brands, those tend to be more resilient to dust.
Photoelectric type is better for home use as your typical fires are smouldering, which photoelectrics are better at catching.
Here’s a deep dive if you’re interested https://youtu.be/DuAeaIcAXtg
so the other brand I have in my house, I’ve been very happy with. First Alert combination smoke and carbon monoxide. The only improvement they’ve made is that it runs on AA instead of 9V (I’m pretty sure my smoke detectors were the only reason I was keeping 9 volt around the house anymore), and you can slide the battery tray out without removing the detector so you can disable the alarm and replace the batteries without even having to take it down
I have set off smoke detectors with a power washer and with saw dust
I think you said elsewhere that they are new and that they are photoelectric rather than the radioactive ones.
I’m purely taking a shot in the dark but I’m wondering if you should try sealing up the hole(s) in the wall that you made to run electric and to mount the detector
My thinking is that dust might be getting caught up in a tiny draft through that hole and it’s so close to the source that it sets it off. Cause like, if wind hits the side of the house, there can be some positive pressure in the crawlspace which often also means inside the walls.
I guess maybe somehow there could be some stream or condensation as well. If it’s right by the front door and the humidity is high, maybe the hot air from outside meets the AC air and causes a tiny amount of condensation. Or if you live in hellscape temperatures, maybe there could be some vapor generated because of the hot air.
update - so I’ve got two more diagnostic steps. I have another detector of the exact same brand in another room, I’m going to switch them and see what happens. if the detector from my kitchen starts going off by the front door, then I’m going to try another brand that I have elsewhere in the house and move forward from there.
It could also be an issue with the wiring if they are interconnected
they’re connected to the base station wirelessly is all
Dust maybe? Dust can have the same particles as smoke.
I second the dust. Dust can collect on the sensor and trigger the alarm. You can try vacuuming or using a compressed air cleaner, or just replace.
this is a brand new smoke detector. it’s all up in the original post
That itself could be its own reason. Manufacturing isn’t 100% perfect.
