[BobnBev]

Had a smoke detector activate this afternoon. Fire Dept responded and determined they were all out of date, no shelf life left. Went to ACE hardware to get new ones, they closed early for the holiday. Time to replace them all. Guess 6 years is the oldest they should be.

[zcaveman]

I replaced all of mine a few years ago for that reason. I thought it would be a one-two-three job but NO! They changed the size of all of the back plates so I had to replace all of the back plates so the new smoke alarms and CO detector would fit.

PITA.

Z

[annaconner]

Fire Dept will fit new ones if supplied

[rubicon]

The fire alarms are suppose to have a life span of 11 years but they do not i replaced them all with the recent time change.

The CO detectors have a five year span and I have replaced them twice.

My house is 8 years old.

The alarms I purchased at ACE were identical so that i did not have to detach the ring just click the new alarms to the old rings

[capecoralbill]

Same here,
Bought all new Kidde brand, said on the box it included adapters to retrofit all kidde and Firex smoke alarms The adaptors did not work, and even the color code of the wiring was different (yellow interconnect is now red). I ended up having to change out all the wiring AND the mounting plates. I'm still annoyed that the box said they would retrofit, I would have chosen a different one if I had known.
Does anyone know if the new 10 year Lithium style smoke alarms can legally replace hard wired alarms?

[villagetinker]

I cannot respond to the legality of changing fire alarm types, but the advantage of the wired units is that when one alarm goes off they all do, and it gets your attention no matter where you are in the house. I want to extend this to the garage soon.

[mfp509]

Just replaced mine after 11 yrs - one smoke alarm for each bedroom and a combo smoke/CO alarm in the hall. Bought them at the electrical store on Rolling Acres Rd and had them installed.

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by rubicon

The fire alarms are suppose to have a life span of 11 years but they do not i replaced them all with the recent time change.

The CO detectors have a five year span and I have replaced them twice.

My house is 8 years old.

The alarms I purchased at ACE were identical so that i did not have to detach the ring just click the new alarms to the old rings

The ones I bought at ACE were there same make and picture so I thought they were identical but the back plates/attachments were different. I should have bought one in with me.

Z

[keithwand]

Mine beeped yesterday and I replaced the battery. I've never heard of changing the whole unit. This is the first one to start beeping since they were installed in 2012.
Not aware of a shelf life before replacing a unit.

[golf2140]

Go to Amazon, they have the exact replacement.

[mfp509]

I was told they last about 8 - 10 yrs. Apparently they just start beeping and won't stop even with new batteries and cleaning. That's what happened to people I know who have replaced them.

[villagetinker]

FireGuy, Thank you for clarifying the requirements. I could never understand why these are not installed in garages.

[golf2140]

$10.00 at Ace then hang it in the garage. It gives you a warning

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by mfp509

I was told they last about 8 - 10 yrs. Apparently they just start beeping and won't stop even with new batteries and cleaning. That's what happened to people I know who have replaced them.

This happened to 2 of my detectors which were also carbon monoxide detectors and gave a false alarm according to the fire dept which responded. The alarm indicated carbon monoxide. After the 2nd time I replaced them with smoke only and did away with the carbon monoxide. My house is all electric and there is no why I could have carbon monoxide unless I left my car running in the garage which never happens nor do I use my BBQ grill in the house. The carbon monoxide detectors seem to be a problem.

[cologal]

I changed all of mine to Apple Connect 50% wired and 50% battery. They look nicer.....