Smoke detectors

[Josie]

I've got one smoke detector in the house that goes off almost every time I use the oven. It once went off when I was making toast. :dunno: But I never smell or see any smoke.

The house is laid out with the kitchen, living room, and dining room all one big open area. There is a bedroom off the living room, and the troubled detector is just outside that bedroom door, about 10 ft from the kitchen. The detectors are direct wired into the house, so I can't just take the silly thing down. (there are several others in the house, so I wouldn't really miss that one, but I don't see how I could get rid of it)

Any suggestions on how I can shut the thing up?

[Matty]

Ater years of hating the things fr the same reason i just bought one that differentiates.
It cost a few quid more but it only goes off now if i REALLY burn the toast.

I'll find the model for you, it was only a home depot one, nothing overly special.

[Worldtraveller]

Learn how to cook? :D

[Josie]

Learn how to cook? :D

Ok, why don't we have any raspberry smilies? I happen to be a great cook, thank you very much. :D Besides, the smoke detector will go off before I even put anything in the oven, if it is set at a temp above 400F. And yes, the oven and racks have been cleaned, repeatedly. There is nothing there that should be causing this. And we keep the vent fan running when the oven is on.

thanks Matty, maybe a new model will help. It almost seems like it is reacting to heat from cooking, not anything else.

[Matty]

asi understand this new one it take into account consistency of the smoke over a minutes or two before triggering, and even of you do cook like a pro with smoke and flame everywhere, it has a mute button that you can hit that kills the thing for 15 minutes whilst you are cooking or pulling your bong directly underneath or whatever, :)

will check the model etc when i get back from work tonight.

[FryingPantheist]

Learn how to cook? :D

Ok, why don't we have any raspberry smilies? I happen to be a great cook, thank you very much. :D Besides, the smoke detector will go off before I even put anything in the oven, if it is set at a temp above 400F. And yes, the oven and racks have been cleaned, repeatedly. There is nothing there that should be causing this. And we keep the vent fan running when the oven is on.

thanks Matty, maybe a new model will help. It almost seems like it is reacting to heat from cooking, not anything else.

If it is a heat detector it may be adjustable. Can you take the head off and see if you can see a way to adjust it?

[Josie]

Nope, no way to adjust it. The only thing inside of it is the battery. Just WHY it needs a battery, when it is direct wired into the house, I will never understand.

and the damn thing beeps when you just open it up, too, a nice piercing shriek that goes right through the brain. :bang: I hate this thing.

[rog]

Nope, no way to adjust it. The only thing inside of it is the battery. Just WHY it needs a battery, when it is direct wired into the house, I will never understand.

and the damn thing beeps when you just open it up, too, a nice piercing shriek that goes right through the brain. :bang: I hate this thing.

so that if you house electrics go out and there is a fire, it'll still wake you up!

[FryingPantheist]

Nope, no way to adjust it. The only thing inside of it is the battery.

No, I mean take the head off, not the battery cover. There should be a screwdriver slot on one side. Push a screwdriver in and most of the body should slide off the base.


Just WHY it needs a battery, when it is direct wired into the house, I will never understand.

Because fires can start in or near cables. If the lighting circuit (say) that it is powered from catches fire and melts the supply cable, it still needs to work, so the battery is backup.



and the damn thing beeps when you just open it up, too, a nice piercing shriek that goes right through the brain. :bang: I hate this thing.

Yes, that's to tell you that there is a problem with one or more of the power supplies.

[Master Taran]

Josie the best thing to do is get a qualified electrician/ technician in to check and or replace it.

It is against NFPA* rules and regulations to 'tamper' or 'adjust' any fire alarm signaling device. And if found to be 'tampered' or 'adjusted' your home owners insurance will be voided.

* National Fire Protection Association (http://www.nfpa.org/index.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1)

[borealis]

Useful article, I think:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/smoke-detectors.html

[Matty]

okay, it would seem i have one of those photoelectric jobbies.
interesting that, thanks Borealis.

[Daynna]

I wish they had like a "snooze" that would make it no longer respond for the duration of your smokey kitchen incident.

I recently read about one for blind people that puts out a smell of wasabi.

[Josie]

yeah, a photoelectric one is probably what I need there.

[FryingPantheist]

I wish they had like a "snooze" that would make it no longer respond for the duration of your smokey kitchen incident.

I recently read about one for blind people that puts out a smell of wasabi.

Yes, blind people have a hell of a time hearing smoke alarms. True story.

[Loren Pechtel]

Nope, no way to adjust it. The only thing inside of it is the battery. Just WHY it needs a battery, when it is direct wired into the house, I will never understand.

and the damn thing beeps when you just open it up, too, a nice piercing shriek that goes right through the brain. :bang: I hate this thing.

It sounds older. I've had to replace a few of the ones in this house when they wouldn't stop beeping even with good batteries and one that just liked to go off for no reason at all.

The new ones all have the battery in a little drawer and it does *NOT* go off when you play with the battery as it's wired to recognize that power transients when the drawer is opening/opened don't mean there is a problem.

(Fundamentally, such smoke detectors are an extremely sensitive measure of electric current across a gap that's made conductive by being irradiated with alpha particles from a little bit of Americum-241. Anything that messes with that current sets them off.)

[Josie]

the house, and everything in it, is only 5 yrs old. Maybe that one is just a lemon. It started beeping when I twisted the detector off of the base, before I even opened the little door the battery sits in.

[RBH]

The basic principles of smoke detector placement:

1. Where smoke is likely to flow and collect. Think of your house as being upside down and figure out where water would run if it were poured in the basement. That's where smoke will go. Typically at the top of staircases and the like.

2. Where there's high hazard, like cooking areas, utility areas, storage (fuel, stuff like that) and heating systems. To avoid false alarms from stoves have it outside the actual kitchen area, again where smoke is likely to flow from a fire in the hazard area.

3. Covering the exit(s) from sleeping areas -- hallways outside bedrooms and the like.

RBH, retired Assistant Fire Chief of a volunteer fire department.

[Monad]

If you want to monitor fire risk in the kitchen area a smoke detector is not a good idea as there are too many normal sources of smoke or steam. Better to use a heat extremes sensor like this:

http://www.atdementia.org.uk/productDetails.asp?searchmethod=cats&cat_id=9&subcat_id=10&product_id=102&page=1&referer=productSearch[d]asp[q]search[e]go[a]searchmethod[e]cats[a]cat_id[e]9[a]subcat_id[e]10[a]page[e]1

[Matty]

I wish they had like a "snooze" that would make it no longer respond for the duration of your smokey kitchen incident.

I recently read about one for blind people that puts out a smell of wasabi.

Yes, blind people have a hell of a time hearing smoke alarms. True story.

:D :cool:

[Josie]

The basic principles of smoke detector placement:

1. Where smoke is likely to flow and collect. Think of your house as being upside down and figure out where water would run if it were poured in the basement. That's where smoke will go. Typically at the top of staircases and the like.

2. Where there's high hazard, like cooking areas, utility areas, storage (fuel, stuff like that) and heating systems. To avoid false alarms from stoves have it outside the actual kitchen area, again where smoke is likely to flow from a fire in the hazard area.

3. Covering the exit(s) from sleeping areas -- hallways outside bedrooms and the like.

RBH, retired Assistant Fire Chief of a volunteer fire department.

well no wonder this one is so finicky. It is at the top of the steps to the basement, just outside a bedroom, and only 10 ft from the stove.

[Matty]

those combo ones with the Co detector can be petty cost effective compared to buying 2 too.
and yeah ours was indeed a Home Depot generic PE one. It seems pretty good so far certainly an improvement.

this was a very useful thread, thanks.

[Daynna]

DEAF! I meant DEAF! :D

[Josie]

this was a very useful thread, thanks.

Wait, you mean I contributed something useful? I must be slipping. :)

[Loren Pechtel]

The basic principles of smoke detector placement:

1. Where smoke is likely to flow and collect. Think of your house as being upside down and figure out where water would run if it were poured in the basement. That's where smoke will go. Typically at the top of staircases and the like.

2. Where there's high hazard, like cooking areas, utility areas, storage (fuel, stuff like that) and heating systems. To avoid false alarms from stoves have it outside the actual kitchen area, again where smoke is likely to flow from a fire in the hazard area.

3. Covering the exit(s) from sleeping areas -- hallways outside bedrooms and the like.

RBH, retired Assistant Fire Chief of a volunteer fire department.

-1: Watch out for areas that will be prone to false alarms. In our old house there was one placed in a position due to your #3 rule that repeatedly went off without any cause. I finally identified the culprit--too much airflow from a nearby air intake. I took a piece of cardboard and bent it over so I could wedge part of it under the detector to make it stay, the rest hung down to about 1" below the detector to deflect the airflow. The cardboard would have had no effect on hot air (smoke) rising and thus would have had no effect on the function of the detector, it just kept it from being set off due to airflow.

[BioBeing]

If it is wired into a monitored system, maybe the installation company could/should come out and check it?

[RBH]

-1: Watch out for areas that will be prone to false alarms. In our old house there was one placed in a position due to your #3 rule that repeatedly went off without any cause. I finally identified the culprit--too much airflow from a nearby air intake. I took a piece of cardboard and bent it over so I could wedge part of it under the detector to make it stay, the rest hung down to about 1" below the detector to deflect the airflow. The cardboard would have had no effect on hot air (smoke) rising and thus would have had no effect on the function of the detector, it just kept it from being set off due to airflow.Yeah, once in a while there are artifacts like that.

[kraut]

Maybe someone else hinted at it, but browsing through I did not find any mention:
RANGE HOOD FAN with exterior exhaust.
This is part of the Building Code where I happen to live for any new house.

I have a commercial kitchen stove with griddle in my house, a 800cfm kitchen fan and a heat sensor close to the range hood.
The heat sensor is connected to a fire-alarm control panel together with smoke detectors for each room.