Smoke Alarm or CO Malfunction
 

I searched TOTV but did not find a similar issue. At 2 am all of our 4 smoke and 2 CO alarms went off simultaneously. Six alarms in the middle of the night is unnerving. There was no fire, and our home is all electric, so no likely source of CO. I went from room to room removing the detectors from the wall. When I removed the last CO detector, it caused the remaining alarms to go silent, so I’ll assume that particular CO detector was the cause of our false alarm. Getting on a ladder in the middle of the night is never fun. I also wonder if we were away would the alarms sound indefinitely.

Our home was built in 2015, which makes our CO detectors likely candidates for replacement. I’m also going to replace the smoke alarms while I have the ladder out.

Anyone else have a similar false alarm experience? I’ve had expired CO detectors beep at the end of their useful life but I’ve never had a false alarm like this in my experience.

The system is designed so that all of the alarms will sound when smoke or CO is detected on any of them. You can silence them by pressing and holding the test button. If the alarm goes off, the system will continue to sound an alarm as long as there is smoke or CO detected. If you just have a weak back up battery, only the unit with the weak battery will beep every 15 seconds or so, until you replace the battery. It will continue the beeping even if you remove the battery, but do not replace it. If a unit is defective, it should give 3 short beeps every 15 seconds until you replace the unit. It sounds like you may have a defective unit, but it may not have signaled as such with the 3 beep notification.

As you seem to know the life of the carbon-monoxide tester is shorter than the smoke detectors. I don't recall but easy to look up. The beep pattern tells you if it is the battery or the device. Ours failed in only two years. I first replaced one and shortly after the other one failed. So you choosing to replace both is smart.

Like most of this stuff, I'm sure the people who design them are sick. They always choose to fail at the most inconvenient time. Sort of like robo calls when you are mixing five minute epoxi.

If, you buy the same one that has failed, in our case First alert, it is a simple plug in and
a twist using the already there screws. Be sure to remove the battery from the old unit.
Ours went off in the trash bag, bothering neighbor.

I agree with replacing all units when the first one fails, these always seem to go at 2 am. As for causing a false alarm that is a new one on me. I would call the manufacturer and complain, who knows they may want the unit for testing.

Not sure why my response was deleted.............will type again.

I have seen the units last 2 to 15 years.
Sometimes it's just a luck of the draw.
Lowe's sells them by the bulk.

Personal choice, replace one at a time for fun.....or replace them all.

(Praying for a non-delete) :shocked:

The combo models in my house only had a 5 year warranty and started failing at 7 years. I replaced the First Alert detectors with FireX ones which I have found more reliable.

I never had problem with them except when batteries get low. None of mine have never when off without detecting kitchen cooking smoke. I would not buy that brand if I replaced them. I replace mine 3 years ago cause they date was outdated and they was turning yellow. Not heard beep or peep out of mine. I check 9V battery one year with multimeter. So I know if batteries are low or still good.

They do have a limited life. You can unplug them from the electrical circuit if you have to to turn them off.
The unwritten rule, at least at my house, is they only go off late at night.

The rule was just broken. Battery needed to be replaced at 8pm.

If you contact the company, some units are being replaced for free, due to issues. Our 2012 home smoke alarms did the same in 2017, our home watch suggested contacting manufacturer. 10 days later all but one smoke alarm was replaced for free. It’s worth a 5 minute call

I have one that is high in my vaulted ceiling. I have replace the battery in it several times and it’s very inconvenient. I went to Lowe’s and they have one that lasts for 10 years with no battery replacement. After that you have to replace it again as the battery is not replaceable. I opted for that, So I have eight more years on that one.

You can use lithium batteries in all of your smoke detectors instead of the alkaline type. The lithium ones are supposed to last 10 years.

If you have all electric utilities there’s no need for CO detectors.Ten years is the life expectancy for smoke detectors and combination CO/smoke detectors Is 5 to 7 years. That does not mean that they can’t malfunction prior to those times.The detectors are interconnected which means if one gets activated they all will go into alarm. Most hard wired ( supplied by house current) will have a battery back in case of a power failure. A good rule of thumb is to change the battery on every daylight savings to ensure a reliable back up. If battery gets low it will been intermittently continuously for approximately 7 days. Detectors powered by lithium batteries are rated for ten years and are usually sealed units with no option to replace.But as stated earlier detectors should be replaced at 10 years regardless.There are also detectors run by battery only that are wirelessly interconnected to avoid having to run wires through walls and ceilings.

Are the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors connected to your security system or stand alone? It sounds like they are stand alone. Are the detectors powered by AC power or batteries, or both? How old are the detectors?

It’s possible that if one detector trips, all detectors will sound. That’s a poor design, since you don’t know which detectors tripped. If the detectors are close to ten years old, they should be replaced. It’s a different type of detector that’s connected to a security system.

A security system detector has a 2 wire, a 4 wire, and wireless types. Within the wireless type, there are several different types of wireless. A detector that’s connected to your security system is a good idea, because you are then alerted about the event when you are not in your home, if the security system is monitored.

But most people have stand alone detectors. If the detectors are close to ten years old, replace all of them with the ten year battery detectors. If you need to replace one battery, then replace all the detector batteries with ten year lithium batteries. Don’t waste your effort using standard batteries or only replacing on detector battery.

Intermittently beeping detectors are annoying. So, it’s better to be aggressive at fixing the problem, and apply the solution to all the detectors, not just the beeping detector. That will reduce the probability of a reoccurrence.

You also have to keep in mind that there could be a legitimate reason for the beeping. Maybe there’s a carbon monoxide problem. It’s also a good idea to have a digital carbon monoxide detector in each sleeping area. Then if there’s a problem, you know the severity of the problem.

The building code requires a CO detector if it has an attached garage. That is why most all electric houses in The Villages have them.

The building code also requires a sealed 10-year detector to be used if you install it as a stand alone unit that is not connected to the house wiring. But, you can use lithium 9 volt batteries in any detector that is hard wired without using a sealed detector.

If you have an issue with a detector nearest the kitchen going into alarm falsely replace it with a photoelectric detector which is less prone to false alarms.There are two types of detectors.Photoelectric types which are better at detecting smoky fires and less prone to false alarms which are recommended outside kitchens and bathrooms with a shower for that reason. Ionization type detectors are better at detecting flaming fires and are more prone to false alarms. In my opinion I would use all photoelectric detectors. Former fire inspector for 31 years.