Smoke Detectors

[Boyd Gathwright]

Smoke Detectors


.... Does anyone know how to stop a smoke detector from chirping? I have Two, which are AC/DC, 110V/9V connected together,one upstairs and one downstairs. It use to be that all you had to do was change the battery or if the battery was good you used a Q tip and alcohol and cleaned the sensor. The ones I now have, have the sensor encased/shielded which makes cleaning all but impossible.

Any thoughts :confused:?

Boyd

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Boyd......How old are the smoke detectors? Most of the smoke detectors use a small amount of radioactive material in the sensor portion. Over time this radioactive material starts loosing its "oomph" and the smoke detector needs to be replaced.

[Boyd Gathwright]

Hi Ken,

....I am afraid you're most likely right. These detectors are probably twelve to fourteen years old. I don't know what the longetivity of the newer models are if any.

Thanks ;).

Boyd
.


Boyd......How old are the smoke detectors? Most of the smoke detectors use a small amount of radioactive material in the sensor portion. Over time this radioactive material starts loosing its "oomph" and the smoke detector needs to be replaced.

[Bob Nieman]

The typical isotope in a smoke detector, Americium 241, has a half life of 432 years, so a smoke detector should have a longer life than that. Other parts may break down, but decay shouldn't be a consideration.

That said, I had a similar smoke detector in Phoenix and found that vacuuming it occasionally helped keep down the false alarms and chirping.
Proper disposal of a smoke detector is a different issue....:eek:

[Bart Leetch]

Also something to remember is that just pressing the button to test the smoke alarm does nothing but test its electrical circuit. To test to see if it will react to smoke there are products in spray cans or you can actually use something that smokes.

[Andrew Ault]

My wife wisely tests ours by occasionally burning something on the stove.

:)

[Cecil Arnold]

Change the battery! The chirp should be sounding about every minute or so, that is THE low battery indicator. That is a sign that the battery needs changing. The other thing is that if the polarity of the battery is not correct it will still chirp even with a new battery.