Ei 151 Beeping

[Safelincs]

We did create a little guide about how smoke alarms work a while ago. Maybe this might be helpful for readers of this forum

[Guest Tony from Dorset]

I had very similar symptoms to my 6 detector EI151TL system this morning. I was in the shower when all of the alarms sounded for about 3 seconds each. I can't be certain, as the shower-room door was shut and there is no detector in there, but it seemed that they bleeped more or less sequentially rather than all together. The detector in the adjacent room stopped after a couple of seconds, but I heard some of the others sounding in other rooms. All had stopped after a total time of around 10 secs. When I eventually inspected the detectors, all were showing green lights and the mains CB was fine. A reset of the CB had no effect.

The system was professionally installed in 2009, has been remarkably trouble free and I cannot see any debris, cobwebs etc around the detectors.

Have had no further triggers/incidents and am assuming that it was caused by a spike. UNLESS ANYONE KNOWS BETTER!!????

[Tom Sutton]

Tony as I have said isolating cause of false alarms is notorious difficult exercise and unless you can create the same situation again it is impossible to be sure of the cause. Is your fire alarm system interconnect and if so how, because if they are not interconnect the only common connection is the mains supply then a spike or mains ripple is a possibility?

[Safelincs]

Hi Tony,

I would have thought that the false alarms was linked to the shower. The slightly phased alarm start and finish are normal, especially with RF smoke alarms (is your system hardwired or radio-interlinked?).

Anyway, I ran your case past our contacts at Aico who stated:

It sounds very much like a contamination issue like some insect or dust getting inside the alarm, and when there is a draft that can move the contamination, causing the alarm to beep or false alarm.

It would be worth cleaning the alarms by blowing through the grill parts of the cover with an air line, or can of compressed air (a hairdryer on cold setting on full power is OK), then vacuum around these parts.

It would be unlikely (although not unheard of) that a spike would originate now, as this would generally be a continuing theme.

Harry

[Guest Richard]

Hi

My el 151 tl beeped this morning and now has stopped it appears from reading the lithium battery is low and needs recharging? Does this happen automatically or do I need a new unit probably over 10 years old.

Thanks

[Safelincs]

Hi Richard

It could be that the cooler night reduced the voltage of the backup battery and temporarily dropped it below the warning level.

If it is older than 10 years you will sadly need to replace the smoke alarm. Luckily there is a simply DIY smoke alarm head replacement possible that does not require an electrician.

[Guest Harry is THE man!]

Thanks Harry

Googled and ended up here and holding the button for 10 seconds stopped the chirps.

Cheers mate

[Guest Ivor]

Thanks also Harry, tip also worked for me. AICO helpline number very useful. (01691 664100), to save scrolling back. Instant response, knowledgeable advice.

[Guest Kez]

Alarm went off for about 10 seconds at 3.30 this morning, sent the other half down to check it and no smoke or any reason it went off. Just getting back to sleep, when lo and behold at 4.10am it went off again for about 3 seconds. A couple of minutes later it went off again for a second or two, then a couple of minutes after that, then it started going off (just three beeps, more than it does in hush mode) every ten seconds. Definitely no smoke, the only thing out of the ordinary is how cold it is. It's 4.40am now and appears to have stopped, but if it goes off again I'll be frustrated. Could it just be an insect? The green light is on, there was no power cut, and we couldn't see if it had a back up battery or not.

[Safelincs]

Hi Kez

The low temperature will most likely have affected the backup battery's voltage and triggered some sort of low battery warning. If it's a unit with alkaline backup battery you need to change the battery, alternatively, the alarm might be older than ten years and needs replacing.

Harry

[Guest Roy]

Which alarm is now compatible with the old EI151? as I need to change it. Regards Roy

[Safelincs]

Hi Roy

You can replace with Ei141 or Ei161, however, you will need to change the baseplate. The Ei141 and Ei161 will work with the existing system.

Harry

[Guest Lee]

Hi 

I have got a EI 151 it keeps on beep every 10 seconds there is a green light. How can I fix this.

Thanks Lee

[Safelincs]

Hi Lee

This sounds like a fault. You will need to check how old your Ei151 alarm is. If it is older than 10 years it will sadly need replacing.

Here the latest list of replacement models for Ei150 series.

Harry

[Guest Dave]

3:30AM heart attack here after alarm going off. Alarm didn't last long (10 seconds?) then there was a minute or so break and then went off again for a few seconds. Hit silent button and it did the intermittent blip noise every minute or so. No trigger found so removed unit and date reads Sept 2019. Does this mean the battery should be good until then? Or might the unit already need replacing? 

I have two units and remember replacing both at the same time but can't remember how long ago. How do I know if the units are linked? We bought the house with the units already installed. And I see these are now discontinued (Ei151TL) and replacements require an electrician. Why is this exactly? What needs doing that I couldn't do myself? Or is this a safety requirement? Not against getting an electrician in, am just curious. Thanks for your help. 

[Safelincs]

Hi Dave,

the date shown is the replacement date. If you have several alarms in your house but not all have been replaced yet, the oldest alarm might be developing a fault and is setting all alarms off that are connected to it.

How can you know that the existing alarms are correctly connected: if all alarms went off during the night this would evidence that they are wire linked (the EI150 series did not have RF connection option).

The replacement smoke alarms for the Ei150 series are using the same cable system and will interact with all other Ei alarms in the network, however, the connector blocks between the alarms and the wiring in the ceiling are different, so have to be replaced. All mains powered work these days has to be carried out by an electrician, I am afraid.

Harry

[Guest Margaret]

Hi

We have two Ei1140RC detectors, fitted in May of this year (3 months ago).  All well until a few days ago when the upstairs one started chirping .  By the time I found the installation booklet it had stopped.  Then came home after a night away and found the lights fused but everything else working ok.  Same detector showing red.  Turned fuse lever back on.  Alarm chirped and then stopped.  Light went green.

Could it be the very hot weather??  Upstairs alarm is in ceiling about 1-2 metres from very large velux window.  We have had this open to try to let air circulate although it was closed when we were away overnight.

Any help appreciated. 

[Tom Sutton]

It sounds like the the detector is wired into the lighting circuit and it could have been the electric installation is at fault, I would suggest you have it checked out by a qualified electrician.