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View Full Version : Is it a law?



dennis thompson
12-20-2012, 10:45 AM
Is it a law that the batteries in your smoke detector can only run down and start beeping at 3 am? Sure seems that way in my house!
Dennis

Moses Yoder
12-20-2012, 10:52 AM
Is it a law that the batteries in your smoke detector can only run down and start beeping at 3 am? Sure seems that way in my house!
Dennis

Yes, it's a law. Murphy's Law.

Erik Loza
12-20-2012, 11:00 AM
Yes, the same law that says that while it is acceptable to keep spare 9V batteries in the house, the 6' ladder must be kept in the garage.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Jeff Monson
12-20-2012, 11:10 AM
Same law that makes it illegal to tell ANYONE that you took the last 9 volt battery, or any battery for that matter of fact. My family keeps Duracell a very profitable company.

Brian Tymchak
12-20-2012, 11:18 AM
Sneaky engineers.. :mad: I've had 2 hardwired detectors go bad in the middle of the night. Sure makes for an exciting few minutes...

Steve Meliza
12-20-2012, 11:23 AM
For those living in an apartment or town house your neighbor's smoke alarm will start chirping while they are out of town for the weekend.

Tony De Masi
12-20-2012, 12:03 PM
Sure seems to be the law at my house.....

Ben Hatcher
12-20-2012, 12:39 PM
The actual law is that human nature will cause us to remember things that are unpleasant better than those that are routine and those that match with our expectations more than those which refute them. But then, that's not nearly as entertaining to talk about;)

Erik Loza
12-20-2012, 2:06 PM
Same law that makes it illegal to tell ANYONE that you took the last 9 volt battery, or any battery for that matter of fact. My family keeps Duracell a very profitable company.

...Or the law which states that you must leave exactly ONE AA or AAA battery in the pantry. I believe this law was written by the same folks who wrote the one stating that there must always be half a dozen various pens in the drawer, only one of which actually contains any ink.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Brian Elfert
12-20-2012, 2:27 PM
I have hard wired combo smoke/CO alarms with battery backup. They still chew through batteries because the silly designers check the battery voltage every minute. The voltage checks kill a standard 9 volt in about a year. I have voice alerts on the alarms so I hear "low battery" every minute or so when the battery gets low. I have 6 or 7 alarms to meet the current building code so I sometimes have a hard time finding the bad one.

The other irritating thing is the alarms reach end of life after seven years and they emit a beep every 30 seconds or so at that point.

Jim Underwood
12-20-2012, 3:36 PM
The other irritating thing is the alarms reach end of life after seven years and they emit a beep every 30 seconds or so at that point.

I had one or two do that in the past year... Of course they were 20 feet up, and I couldn't get to them with a ladder, and no one else was around to help with the forklift. So I finally got a long stick and knocked the offending junk off the ceiling...

Peter Kelly
12-20-2012, 5:45 PM
The Verizon FiOS cable box will start beeping after 1.5 years too. The lead-acid battery inside costs $40 to replace. Pretty annoying.

Curt Fuller
12-20-2012, 7:49 PM
Not only the law, but at my house the one that always goes out is at the top of the 12' vaulted ceiling. It's such a PITA that I think I'm going to replace it with one of these...http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-Fire-Safety-Smoke-Alarms/Kidde/h_d1/N-bmh8ZuaZ5yc1v/R-100156058/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UNOxW2_Acx4 and all the rest with the same over time.

Brian Elfert
12-20-2012, 8:02 PM
The Verizon FiOS cable box will start beeping after 1.5 years too. The lead-acid battery inside costs $40 to replace. Pretty annoying.

Shouldn't Verizon replace that, or do you buy the box instead of rent it? The battery is almost certainly an AGM or gel battery due to being indoors so it should last way longer than 1.5 years.

Peter Elliott
12-20-2012, 11:15 PM
3am and only when I am at work... at the FIREHOUSE. My wife calls to let me know too..

I got the 10yr batteries in most now.

Rick Potter
12-21-2012, 4:00 AM
Have you ever taken a good look at that test button? It's a little known fact that it is also a daylight sensor. Designed so it will never activate untill at least 5 hours after dark.

Rick Potter

Fred Perreault
12-21-2012, 6:43 AM
Erik.... You have a pantry also? Stored extra goods, pots and pans, light bulbs, dog food, occasional bakeware, extra candy, microwave unit, string, batteries but never the right number or size, various tapes, screwdrivers, pliers and wrenches, short stepladder..... and lots of stuff that hasn't been used in years.

Erik Loza
12-22-2012, 12:17 PM
Erik.... You have a pantry also? Stored extra goods, pots and pans, light bulbs, dog food, occasional bakeware, extra candy, microwave unit, string, batteries but never the right number or size, various tapes, screwdrivers, pliers and wrenches, short stepladder..... and lots of stuff that hasn't been used in years.

Troof ^^^^

Erik Loza
Minimax USA