Ei141 still beeps after battery replacement

[Safelincs]

Hi, best to take the alarm off the ceiling and find out if it is a different alarm that beeps (eg a carbon monoxide alarm). This is really quite common, as it is very difficult to detect the direction of an alarm beep. Failing that, make sure that the green power light is on.

See also a help guide http://www.safelincs.co.uk/help-to-resolve-beeping-ei-aico-alarms/ and the removal video http://www.safelincs.co.uk/video_player.php?vid=10

Harry

[Guest Vicki]

Hi. Got a 3 storey house with 3 ei414 units, past 2 nights they have beeped for a few seconds every couple of hours (only in the bloody early hours!) Changed batteries in all 3, they are linked so not sure if 1 has a problem or all of them. How do we stop it squawking until we can get new units? They are 12 years old 

[Safelincs]

An unusual beeping pattern. Most likely the alarms need replacing. Easiest option are the easichange alarm replacements that can be fitted without electrician.

Harry

[Guest Jeremy]

 I have the same problem referred to by a lot of people. I have replaced the battery in my Ei141 re fitted it and it still continues to beeb - it is driving me mad. It is still within it operational life - it says replace by Sept 2020.  I will return it to Aico I guess but it's very inconvenient.....

[Safelincs]

Hi Jeremy, you have probably done so already but please make sure you check the following options first: Is the green light on (showing power supply) and is there no other alarm in the room beeping (eg a CO alarm). If the battery is definitely healthy then it is time to speak with Ei about a return.

Harry

[Guest Redders]

Hi, I have the same problem with Ei141. I have replaced with a healthy battery and it continues to beep. The alarm is only 3 years old.

I have tried disconnecting the unit from the mains by removed from the ceiling, then inserting a new battery. The alarm does not work when test button pushed. Is this correct or does it point to some fault in the unit?

[Safelincs]

Hi Redders

Is the green light on when the alarm is on the ceiling?

Harry

[Guest Redders]

Hi Harry,

Yes the green light is on when on the ceiling and it beeps periodically. When I remove it from the ceiling the test button doesn't work even with a new battery.

[Safelincs]

Hi Redders

If you press the test button when you have the alarm down from the ceiling it will not test the alarm/s.

What it will do is get rid of any small charges that may be left within the unit. You may find that when pressing the test button it may give off a strange sound as the charge is being released, however, it will not go into a full alarm state.

 

Harry

[Guest No green light]

Hi. My alarm sounded at 4.30 this morning. After running round the house checking all was ok, removed the alarm from base. Replaced the battery today, but there is no green light on the alarm. Does it need replacing?

[Safelincs]

Hi, I assume you placed it back on the base. If no green light shows the fuse for the power supply might still be switched off or tripped. If that is not the case you sadly need to replace the smoke alarm.

 

Harry

[Guest Theresa]

Hi, I have 2 E141i smoke alarms - I need to send one back as it is faulty - is it safe to turn the power back on to the second if there is no alarm connected to the base unit of the first?

thanks 

[Safelincs]

Hi Theresa

It is indeed safe to put the power back on. The base will be fine without the alarm on the base.

Harry

[Guest Alarmed at my stupidity]

On 19/08/2014 at 10:31 PM, Guest Mark said:

It seems as though Harry was right - not in the same room (the one I'd thought it was from was in the corridor), but there was another one in the spare room just the other side of the wall, so that managed to make it so that it seemed to be from the baseplate. Thanks for the help - both must have run out of battery power almost at the same time, which probably means the third one will run out soon...I'd better get some more batteries soon.

This had me fooled and apologising to the family that it would be a few days to get a new head. Took the head off, disconnected the battery and for good measure put it outside. And there was the carbon monoxide alarm beeping on the wall behind the Aga flue. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread!

[Guest Ian]

Hi I have two ei141 alarms 14 years old the one up stairs randomly alarms as If it detects smoke, why does this happen?

[Safelincs]

Hi Ian, the alarms should be replaced after 10 years, as they start to become less reliable after that period.

Replacement heads are available (no electrician needed)

 

Harry

[Neil G]

We have a number of the Ei141 alarms around the house. All are interconnected. All seem to need replacement batteries at least as often as our old battery only units. What does the mains actually do? I has assumed that the battery was only to cover a power outage, but with most lasting less than a year, that is clearly not the case. The units are probably about 4 years old, so still relatively new.

Currently, one of the units is causing similar problems to everyone else... it is complaining of an expired battery but is continuing even after a new one is installed. I have tried several new batteries with no success. The mains light is fine so I do not think there is a problem with the wiring.

If (as this forums posts suggest) the batteries are so unreliable, is it possible to replace the 141 model with the 161 model which has a built in battery? Is it more reliable? Safety equipment which is not reliable is clearly an anachronism... and it worries me!

Thanks.

[Safelincs]

Hi Neil

I am a bit stumped by your issues. The back-up batteries should last longer, although the recommendation is to change annually to avoid the annoying beeps in the middle of the night in the first place. An upgrade to the Ei160 series would certainly fix the issue for good. Ei140 and Ei160 series can be mixed in a system, although you will lose some of the advanced communication features of the Ei160 series.

There are two reasons for mains-powered smoke alarms:

a) Many battery powered smoke alarms are left disabled after the battery has been removed to silence, for example, a low battery warning. The owner might simply have forgotten to replace the battery. Mains power obviously overcomes the issue.

b) Mains powered smoke alarms are usually interconnected. If one alarm detects fire, the entire alarm network goes off. This helps to notify you of a fire should, for example, you be in bed and a fire is starting in your kitchen.

Harry

[Neil G]

Thanks for your reply.... sorry to be slow, I have been away! I think that if it is possible to replace the unit without any issues with the self charging version, that would be sensible. The item which is causing problems at present is over a stair well and tis not the easiest unit to access, so that would kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

[Guest g.l]

I have an ei141 unit.

Why is my ceiling unit still beeping when the battery and the head are removed and the power is disconnected??

It's fine all day and starts at night

Driving me mad!

[Safelincs]

Hi

I have good news  :-) It is definitely not the smoke alarm that is beeping. The ceiling base of an Ei141 does not contain a sounder! Please have a look around the room. There will be another device with low batteries, eg a carbon monoxide alarm. It is very difficult to locate the source of a beeping alarm, though.

Harry

[Guest Likelo10]

Why did my Ei141 smoke alarm beep twice after changing (5-10 mins after re-installing).

[Safelincs]

This double beep just means that the alarm is coming out of the hush mode 10 minutes after the test/hush button is pressed. All is fine.

Harry

[Guest Thomas NI]

I have 3 of the E141 smoke alarms and one E144 heat alarms. In the middle of the night we heard the chirp starting but managed to sleep through it. at breakfast we could hear the heat alarm in the kitchen chirping. Got home from work and now 3 alarms were chirping. replaced the three batteries with brand new Duracell batteries and still chirping. took them down to get some quiet time while reading up on here about the alarms (this also confirmed that we weren't hearing a CO alarm going off).

vacuumed them, blew away dust and put them back up one at a time to test them and they start chirping. took them down tried them again and one of them started working without chirping.

The other two (1x heat and 1x smoke). have green power lights, no red flash and a single chirp that goes off roughly every 40 seconds. they have a replace date of july 2018.

[Safelincs]

Hi Thomas

I contacted Aico, as I could not think of any solution for you. They came back with:

'As the customer has done everything we would suggest and the Alarm is outside the 5 year guarantee he would need to get the Alarm s replaced. The new Alarms he would need is the Ei141RC & Ei144RC. They will still fit the same bases that are already there. I have attached the Data Sheets'

Not good news but at least you have an authoritative answer.

There are dedicated replacement heads available for the Ei140 smoke alarm family

Harry