Smoke alarms beeping

[Dan]

Hi there

I have the following alarms that I purchased from Safelincs 5 months ago.

The alarm models are:

1. Carbon Monoxide Firex  4985

2. Firex Ioisation 4881

3. Firex Ionisation 4870

4. Firex Optical 4985

All has been ok but suddenly the alarm beeps once every 10 minutes.

I have cleaned all the alarms and changed the backup battery on one of them that allows you to replace the battery. All alarms are wired into the electrical circuit.

Does anyone have any advice as to why this is happening and what I can do to stop it.

Thanks in advance.

Dan

[Safelincs]

Hi Dan

 

I was sorry to learn that you experienced issues with our Kidde smoke alarms.

 

The smoke alarms you mention by model numbers are mains power smoke alarms with battery backup. The units interlink by a third conductor which uses a low voltage interlink signal to communicate with the others. The Firex 4985 mentioned is an optical smoke alarm and not a carbon monoxide alarm by the way.

 

A single chirp emitted from a smoke alarm is a safety (trouble) signal. It is normally every minute or so showing an issue with the battery or backup circuit. It indicates that the battery is low and requires replacement or in the case of an optical smoke alarm, such as the 4985, possibly an issue with the sensor. The chirp would normally indicate an issue with only one smoke alarm and not others. You stated that you have replaced the batteries so as an assumption this should not be the cause of the products chirping.

 

From your information given it is not clear if all or just one of the smoke alarms is emitting this signal. If it is just one smoke alarm then I would suggest that you check to see which one is emitting the sound and this is the smoke alarm that may need replacement. The time period between beeps quoted as being once every ten minutes is puzzling as it is very slow when compared to the normal frequency of the trouble signal repetition rate.

If the smoke alarms are fitted interlinked then it could be possible that there is an issue with the wiring and the chirping may be a result of this.

I attended a site and found that the wiring was incorrect. It was pre 17^th edition wiring regulations and the neutral and CPC had been miss wired. The symptom of this fault was a double beep being emitted from the end of line smoke alarm.

 

Could you:

 

1. Please check and establish that a constant green LED is present at each smoke alarm. This shows the mains power is present. If not the chirping could be the start up of a low battery as the unit is not having power and is running on the battery backup.

2. If a check could be made by carefully listening at each smoke alarm to establish which one is emitting the chirping and then remove it. If this does not resolve the beeping take gradually all alarms off the ceiling. (To see how to remove this type of smoke alarm, watch this video). In between each smoke alarm removed, power should be turned on again to establish if any of the remaining alarms is still emitting this chirp every ten minutes. I have experienced previous reports of chirping and the customer has found that it is an old product in the attic chirping or a battery powered product elsewhere.

 

If one smoke alarm is found to be the cause of the beeping, Safelincs will happily replace the alarm. If several alarms are involved or the signal is unusual (as described above) you should have the wiring checked out.

 

See data sheets for the smoke alarm models quoted.

 

I hope this helps

 

Harry

[Guest Louis]

Hi,

I have 3 Firex I240C smoke detectors.

One of then strated chiping once a minute, indicating the backup battery needs replacing.

As all three have been installed for 10 years, so I decided to replace all of them with Firex 4870 model.

I fitted one of them initially and the chirping at one munite intervals has been going on for 4 days now.

I have replaced the other two and they are chirping for a day as well.

This noise is driving my family insane - especially at night.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Safelincs]

Hi Louis

sounds pretty annoying! Have you checked that the power supply has been switched back on again after the replacement of the smoke alarms? Believe it or not, this happens quite often.

Harry

[Guest Louis]

Hi Dan,

The power was on. I switched it off for a minute and back on again. The green lights are on and unfortunately, the all three are STILL chirping every minute. This is like some mental torture. Any other ideas? Should I send them back and go for anothe make?

Thanks in advance.

Louis.

[Safelincs]

Hi Louis

when looking at the official list of replacement smoke alarms for Kidde and Ei, the choice of smoke alarm was correct. I have now contacted Kidde to ask for help. Back in a bit

Harry

[Safelincs]

Hi Louis

You could also try to change the backup batteries. If this does not stop the chirping, you need to try new smoke alarm units. If you bought the alarms from Safelincs, please send us your details and we will swap them out for free.

Harry

[green-foam]

I have to ask, are you sure you haven't got 4? another one in say, the loft?

If not, you could try taking all 3 down at the same time, keep them down for a long while and see which one beeps.

[Guest Louis]

OK - I finaly figured this out.

So I replaced the model that doesn't take rechargebale batteries with one that does. Athough the old connector fits the new detector, the wiring and the number of pins is different.

I wired with the new connector provided (as shown in the manual), fitted the new detector and hey presto everything works!

Thanks for your support.

[Safelincs]

Glad to hear that!

Yes, when changing from alkaline battery backup to rechargeable lithium battery in your smoke alarm, you need to change the cable harness.