"Jim Beaver" wrote in message
. net...
I've got hard-wired smoke alarms in my house, installed by my building
contractor when the house was built four years ago. For reasons I'm not
certain of, there are two different type/brand alarms in place.

The alarms have started beeping, presumably because the back-up batteries
need changing. Problems, however:

1. Two of the alarms (of the same type/brand) beep three times in
succession, a couple of times a day. But I can't get them off the
ceiling! I've tried everything I've ever known or could learn about smoke
alarms to get them to unlatch, so I could change the batteries, but to no
avail. There is no marking anywhere I can find on the outside of the alarm
to give me either instruction for opening or even the brand name. I've
twisted, turned, pried, and prodded them and cannot get them loose from
the ceiling without pulling down the drywall.

2. Another of the alarms (different type/brand) comes off the ceiling
easily using standard techniques. However, as it turns out, this one
doesn't need to come off the ceiling for battery changes, as the battery
compartment opens from the accessible bottom/down side. I changed the
battery with ease. Several times. It won't stop giving me the
weak-battery warning, no matter how carefully or how many times I replace
the battery. If there's something I'm doing wrong, short of replacing the
whole alarm, I'd like to know what it is.

I've put pictures of both type alarms (from various angles) on the
following binary newsgroups on Usenet, under the same subject line as this
message: alt.binaries.pictures.misc and free.binaries.misc. The beige-ish
photos are of the alarm in example number 2 above, and the grey-ish photos
are of the unremovable alarms in example number 1 above. Can anyone
identify these (especially the grey-ish photos) or tell me how they are
supposed to be opened or removed from the ceiling? And can anyone suggest
why changing the batteries in the alarm in the beige-ish photos doesn't
stop the beeping? (And yes, I'm certain of the polarity. It's clearly
marked on the alarm.)


I found the solution to the one where I changed the battery but the beeping
wouldn't stop. I took the battery out, disconnected the wiring from the
ceiling, and was about to heave it out the window when the beeping
continued, despite the fact that there was now no power of any kind
available to the alarm. But when I carried the alarm outside the room, the
beeping stayed inside. The solution to my problem arose when I discovered a
C02 alarm plugged into the wall behind the bed. I changed ITS battery and
the beeping stopped.

Two weeks I've lived with that beeping. Some days I suspect I may NOT be
smarter than everybody else.