Ei141 still beeps after battery replacement

[Guest Thomas NI]

Thankyou for your quick reply.

I feel kind of silly now but I was checking the batteries to make sure they matched the type mentioned in the sheets. The batteries were knockoffs, they said duracell on the battery itself but in unbranded cheap packaging. I bought some real batteries and the alarms are now good again.

[Safelincs]

Hi Thomas

 

That is great news! I am glad you saved yourself the cost of replacing your alarms unnecessarily.

 

Harry

[Guest Dawn]

I have lived in my 7-year-old condo for 1 1/2 years, so had no idea when batteries were last replaced for smoke alarm. In fact I was hoping the alarm was hard-wired only with no battery back-up as I had no ladder. When I got home last night it was beeping loudly. After confirming it took 9V, I drove to Target and bought 2 batteries. When the new battery didn't stop the chirping, I went to bed and listened to chirping all night. Today, I spent ALL DAY reading advice and comments. Finally, I found the correct advice for me. "Make sure the chirping is not coming from another source such as a carbon monoxide detector". BINGO! The two alarms are right next to each other in the hallway, and both have new batteries on the same date which will make changing them easier next time.

 

 

[Guest NickJ]

Hi, 

We've got a fairly new (just over a year old) E1141RC ionisation smoke alarm, replace by date is December 2026. I've done everything suggested here and in the instruction manual. Tried 2 different Duracell batteries and we still get a beep every 40 seconds or so. Any idea or advice would be welcome!

 

Thanks for your time 

[Safelincs]

Hi Nick, can you please double check that no Carbon Monoxide alarm is in the same room with the battery running low. One of the most common causes for what you are observing.

Harry

[Guest B Barton]

i have same problem. have several of these Ei141 units in my house. 1 of them bleeps every 40 seconds. green light is on constant. i have replaced battery. no change. i have tried switching over 2 of the units and that results in 2 bleeping units. when i switch them back only the original unit bleeps. any suggestions please?

[Safelincs]

Hi

A 40 second beep is the low battery signal so it could be that the replacement battery is also depleted as batteries have a limited shelf life. If your alarms are 3 or 4 years old I would recommend replacing the batteries in all of them to eliminate any confusion as to which alarm is beeping.

Harry

[Guest Peter S]

Hi, I have 2 x EI141 alarms and the alarm sounded continuously for 5-10 seconds on 1 occurrence then stopped 2 nights ago. Last night the alarm sounded again continuously for 5-10 second then stopped, however then repeated this on several occasions during the night at 1 hour intervals.

At this point I switched off the mains, detached the head & removed the batteries so we wouldn't be woken anymore during the night.

I noticed that the alarms have replacement dates of Feb 2016 so must be older than the 10 years mentioned in previous posts. I will order replacement heads from the links kindly provided on previous posts, however I am interested to know whether the extreme hot weather we are having at the moment could be the cause of the alarms being activated or do the alarms need to detect smoke? Or does the alarms being activated as described suggest they are faulty?

Peter

[Safelincs]

Hi Peter,

Heat will not set off an Ei141 smoke alarm. The false alarms you experienced are probably caused by dust, fibres, a cobweb or an insect inside the smoke chamber. It is just down to the normal wear and tear of the alarms and contamination of the smoke chambers over the years. This is the reason that we recommend replacing the alarms after ten years in service, in order to avoid false alarms.

Harry

[Guest Mark]

How can I get an easy change screwdriver that features in the you tube videos?

[Safelincs]

Hi Mark

These tools come free with every easichange smoke alarm purchased. You can also use a small flat blade screw driver.

 

Harry

[Guest Darren]

Hi, I have 2 x ei141 alarms that started chirping. I powered off and replaced the batteries. When powered back on chirping has stopped, I have green light on, but red light is blinking constantly on both units. Is this a fault signal?

[green-foam]

Hello Darren you say the red LED is blinking constantly, if the red LED flashes once every 40 seconds (Or close to 40 seconds) this is to indicate that all is well. The green LED is to indicate that mains is present.

As an aside you should also clean your smoke alarms on an as and when basis. A crevice tool (The thin one) on your vacuum cleaner is good for this.

[Safelincs]

Hi Darren,

It sounds like a wiring Issue. If you switch the mains supply off it will probably stop flashing. You will need to check the interlink cable.

Harry

[Guest Glenda]

We had our loft converted in the Spring of 2017 and had 12 Ei140RC alarms installed as part of this work. Over the last 24hours several of them have started beeping every couple of seconds with the red light flashing frequently. This was not preceded by a less frequent bleep so we were not aware the batteries were running low. The alarms are all fitted with Duracell batteries which surely should have lasted longer than 8months? We have high ceilings and it is very difficult to access the alarms making it even less fun in the middle of the night. My husband never wants a repeat of last night and is reluctant to put batteries back in/the alarms back up for this to happen again in another 8months.... Is there an alarm model where the battery doesn’t run down so quickly or where the low battery warning isn’t so aggressive so you can at least sleep and do it in the morning?

[Safelincs]

Hi Glenda, is the green light on all the time?

[AnthonyB]

They could have installed this manufacturers detectors with a 10 year rechargable lithium batteries.

You've checked the circuit breaker for these in your consumer unit? Sound like they have been running on battery only recently

[Guest Sarah]

Hi there

I am also being plagued by bleeping of my Ei141RC! I have replaced the battery in my alarm but the bleeping noise still continues. I have also checked that it is NOT my CO2 alarm. It is definitely coming from the smoke alarm. But since changing the battery, the green light does not show. Please can you tell me what this means and what I should do? I don't think I can live with the night time bleeping for much longer!

Thank you!

Sarah

[Safelincs]

Hi Sarah

With the green light off, it is likely that the power supply is interrupted. Have you put the fuse back on after replacing the battery? If yes, you will need to get an electrician out to check the power supply.

Harry

[Guest Ian]

I have 4 x Ei141's and two decided to go off for no reason.

Wasn't the normal alarm, it was a 2-3sec continous chirp then went into alarm mode, after about 10secs stopped.
As the units were old replaced 3 with the ionisation type and the 4th with an optical type.

I bought and fitted the optical type which is nearest the kitchen (the original ionisation type just kept giving false alarms) on the same day of purchase.
FIrstly I removed all the other 3 heads and removed the batteries and pressed the TEST/HUSH button so I knew there was no way they could sound.

I then fitted the new Optical head smoke detector Ei146 and the new baseplate making sure all the wiring was correct.
I tested the unit all OK, put the mains power back on, green LED on red LED flashing every 40secs so all OK.
After random amounts of time this detector would just go off no reason to it,  just started alarming.
Any ideas why it would start alarming when its a brand new head with brand new battery and no cooking or anything going on to cause it to alarm.

I have a nasty feeling that its a brand new faulty unit, just wondered if anybody else had witnessed this

 

[Guest Bleeps]

On 19/08/2014 at 08:49, Safelincs said:

Hi Mark

Are you sure there is not another alarm in the room, eg a CO alarm placed in a cupboard with low batteries?

 

Do you have a radio-interlinked base plate on the ceiling? The normal base plates do not have a battery or a sounder

 

Harry

I too am getting the beep from the unit attached to the ceiling when the other part is slid off. I've replaced battery given a quick dust and seemed fine for an hour then started the bleeps again 

[Tom Sutton]

Have try substitution, try using the ionisation in place of the optical and see if that is ok. If it is ok then it looks like you have a faulty detector, if not then there may be a fault on the installation? To be certain you need to do more than one substitution.

[Guest Guest Tired]

We have these alarms, they seem to go off in summer in the middle of the night. 

They were due replacing so we replaced the units onto the easifit bases and last night they went off for about 30 seconds then stopped, not good at 4am!

One is in the hall and one on the landing, I've dusted all around them so it's not dusty up there. 

Does anyone have any advice because I'm thinking of putting up the old fashioned battery powered ones and disconnecting these. 

[Safelincs]

Hi, I assume you used the new batteries that come with the alarms. If it was the optical version of the alarm try to vacuum out the chamber in case any dust from your dusting action got into the alarm. Once done, if you still get alarms you might have to claim on the warranty of the product and ask for replacements.

Harry

[Guest Guest]

I have this alarm. I replaced the battery 9 months ago and then yesterday it went off again. Not beeping, the alarm sounded for 1- 2 seconds then stopped. This happened 3 times in one hour and then did not happen again for 12 hours. I have again today replaced the batteries. Surely I shouldn't have to replace these more than once a year.