Smoke Detector Chirping

[IT Guy]

I need some help here. The smoke detector in our bedroom started chirping two days ago due to a low battery. I changed out the battery and it still chirped all night. I took the battery out last night and it still chirps with no battery. Short of cutting the wires - any ideas?

Thanks!

[dfv87]

Go to office supply store and get Can of Air, Spray the intake as you must have dust build up in there I had similar problem and this cleared it up.

[PierBridge]

I'd reinstall Windows....

[Giant_Jackpot]

I would replace it. They are so cheap now why take the chance on your family’s safety?

[Whoaru99]

Quote:

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I would replace it. They are so cheap now why take the chance on your family’s safety?

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+1

Smoke detectors generally do have a finite life span indicated somewhere on them. I think replacing at least every 10 years is the recommendation I've seen.

Also, I prefer to get the dual sensor kind (has both photocell and ionization sensors) even thought they cost a bit more. Added peace of mind, if nothing else.

[IT Guy]

It's a 4 year old house so all the detectors are the same age so it's not like they are worn out. I have had this issue with 4 or 5 of the others as well. It's really great when they wait until dark to chirp... all night.

[LMITOUT]

Are all the detectors in the house wired in series so that if one goes off they all go off? I thought they had to be installed that way in new houses now. Maybe an issue with a detector in another area of the house?

[Deitz Dittrich]

We had one do this, we took a vacume to them all.. problem solved... it was a dust issue I guess... the air can would work too I bet.. may even work better than the vacume.

[IT Guy]

I have a can of Air and will try that tonight. They are all wired together so that when one goes they all go. Made that mistake when I did a test a couple years ago. I held the button down on 1 a little too long and they all started to go. The chirping is just with one - they last one to have the battery die.

[Shane683]

Just a reminder to everybody that since it's Fire Prevention Week now's a good time to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors.

[Barony]

You can also go online and look for the manual for the units to find how to reset them. That had to have been a long night.

[IT Guy]

It was a long night. Finally slept with my head under the pillow and didn't hear the alarm go off until an hour later.

On the upside - very little traffic at 9:00 am.

[lawman]

Same thing happened to me when my house got 4 yrs old. I was surprised that my smoke dets, which, are wired in, had batteries in them. Changed the batts in all 5 of them and the problem was over. Now I change them all once a year.

[Wade Joseph]

Or just call the company I work for and get a real security/fire system that reports to the fire dept/police and let us worry about these things.