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View Full Version : PSA: Check your smoke detectors


Frederick Skelly
07-03-2021, 5:38 PM
A reminder because I just went through it - smoke detectors have about a 10 yr lifetime and carbon monoxide detectors a little less. Here's words from Allstate Insurance: LINKhttps://www.allstate.com/tr/home-insurance/smoke-detectors-101.aspx#:~:text=Like%20coupons%20and%20canned%20g oods,%2D%20to%20seven%2Dyear%20warranty.

The story. I had a detector chirping so I replaced the battery and hit the test button while I was on the ladder. It did not work - not a sound. Pulled/reinstalled the battery and tried again - not a peep. Looked on the back at the manufacture date and realized it was made in 2009. Checked the others and they werent working either - not a one. They were all made in 2009. Turns out newer models alert you when they expire, but the older ones just stop working.

Be safe out there!
Fred
Ralph Okonieski
07-03-2021, 7:23 PM
We had one detector that went off in the middle of the night when it hit 10 years old. New batteries did not quiet it. I learned how to throw a discus that night!
Dave Anderson NH
07-04-2021, 9:23 AM
One of my Smoke/CO detectors is on the ceiling at the bottom of the basement stairs. When I installed it I magic markered the expiration date on the outside of it large enough to read. It is a quick and easy reference reminder.
Frederick Skelly
07-04-2021, 11:05 AM
One of my Smoke/CO detectors is on the ceiling at the bottom of the basement stairs. When I installed it I magic markered the expiration date on the outside of it large enough to read. It is a quick and easy reference reminder.

Thanks Dave. I did something similar this time too.
Lee DeRaud
07-04-2021, 11:16 AM
We had one detector that went off in the middle of the night when it hit 10 years old. New batteries did not quiet it. I learned how to throw a discus that night!"New batteries"? I wasn't sure that was even possible in the newer '10-year' ones.
Ken Fitzgerald
07-04-2021, 1:16 PM
"New batteries"? I wasn't sure that was even possible in the newer '10-year' ones.

The 10 year ones I bought don't have a replaceable battery either. IIRC, they have a switch to make the final discharge on the battery.
Derek Meyer
07-05-2021, 6:31 PM
I ended up replacing all of mine a few years ago. One started chirping and replacing the battery didn't fix it. Then, a few days later, another did the same. I decided that since they were all over 10 years old it was time.

I'm lucky that I'm tall enough to reach all the detectors in my house save one without a ladder. One went off at 3 am, and I just reached up, took it off the bracket, unplugged it and then removed the battery.