On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 17:03:14 -0000, "RichardS" noaccess@invalid
wrote:

A few months ago I decided that it was prudent to fit a smoke alarm, much
against the wishes of SWMBO (it's ugly, if it goes off, I'll hit it with a
brush, etc etc).

Hi.

I'm new to the group but I happen to be a Firefighter. May I take a
moment to say to SWAMBO that this could be one of the most important
gadgets you ever install? If she cares about her family that is.

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN...n_id=2003_0161

"The total number of fires attended increased by 3% to 529,400." It
*can* happen to you.

What I _wanted_ was to get 2 mains interlinked ones with battery backup, and
a "shut up" button in case of nuisance tripping due to smoke from grill
pans, etc. Ideally, it shoudl have also had a 15 second or so warning that
it was about to go off so that it could be overridden before incurring the
wrath of SWMBO who might have been asleep in bed whilst I was burning
toast...

I have a 'hush' detector downstairs. It sometimes goes off when
cooking and I press a button on the alarm to silence it. It beeps
once a minute or so for 15 minutes to warn me it is in hush mode, then
resets to normal.

However, enquiries here, online, in electrical wholesalers, etc, indicated
that such a beast did not exist, and for interlinked ones once one had gone
off then the other would operate independently and need resetting
independently if indeed I could find one with "shut up" button.

I don't know individual brands. Just ensure it has a British standard
Kite mark. Got mine from B&Q, about 7 quid, a year or so ago.

So, as a stop gap measure I fitted a cheap battery operated one.

Better than none, believe me.

Now, this doesn;'t have an override, so the only way to shut it up is to
remove the battery.

When the smoke has cleared, the battery has to be replaced, in which case it
will sound for up to 60 seconds. So, replacing the battery late at night
isn't an option.

This shouldn't happen. Putting a battery in makes it beep once at the
most. I fit loads of detectors for free due to a local fire safety
scheme and never has one activated for 60 seconds on fitting a
battery.

Of course this one now will not shut up at all - have left it for 5 mins and
it still continues sounding.

Sounds like a defective unit.

The result? The battery is sitting on the stairs...

Completely useless. In fact, worse than useless - it's modus operandi means
that it's more likely to be left disabled than not.

This one's going back, if I can find the invoice.

They're so cheap you shouldn't wait. But invoice or not if you
demonstrat instore they should be happy (!) to take it back.

So, does my ideal out there exist? if not, why the hell not? A product
that works in a conceptually perfect way but is impractical or irritating
beyond belief in practise is no good whatsoever - surely a pragmatic product
that encourages it's proper use rather than complete disablement isn't too
much to ask?

As I say, grrrr.....

Also, ask your local fire station for the number of your fire safety
department. They'll be happy to help.