In compliance with code, our electrical sub-contractor installed smoke
detectors throughout this new house. He also installed in a central
hall as part of the system a "Firex Smoke/CO Alarm Smoke Carbon
Monoxide Alarm Model FADCQ." This device is causing a lot of
confusion and grief here, going off randomly with false positives at
any time night or day. It is making the house practically
uninhabitable.

The Firex manual is confusing to me, describing 26 different
conditions that the unit communicates by means of three different
colored lights that flash in combination with a "horn" that sounds in
various patterns in various numbers of times. None of these seem to
describe what the unit is doing and the manual's Troubleshooting Tips
don't apply.

The unit is wired into the AC and has a 9v battery backup. I would
shut it off at the box and remove the battery, but it is on the same
circuit with the lights in one area of the house.

I have called the Firex company and they would not talk about the
problem; they just said very quickly that they would send me another
unit. The electrician has installed the new unit and it malfunctions
the same way.

The electrician answers our requests to uninstall the unit with a
standard CYA warning speech about the dangers of CO and the virtues of
detectors.

Is there anyone knowledgeable out there who can suggest how we can
shut this thing down ourselves?

Thanks for any help.

Al B.