I am living in smoke detector hell this morning. In
the middle of the night, one of the detectors started
chirping. Apparently one of the units has a low battery.

Since I have this hardwired system, if one chirps, they
all chirp. That makes it next to impossible to tell
which one is doing it, and it makes it hard to find a
place in the house where I can go and get back to sleep
(it was 3AM).

Well, when morning rolls around, the house warms up a
bit, so the battery suddenly has a little more life left
in it, so it stop chirping. So, now I don't have a failure
mode to track down.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had only one or two. Here in
Minnesota, you need one on each floor, one inside and
outside of each bedroom, and one at the peak of the
cathedral ceiling. For me, that is 7 units, plus 3
carbon monoxide units. And the tallest one is 18 feet,
which is a non-trival task for someone like me who has
limited mobility.

So, why don't these units have a light on them that tells
when they have generated a chirp? It would have been so
easy to just look for the one that started this mess, and
yank it out until I could deal with it in the morning. But
as it was, I lost half a night's sleep. I also ended up
going to every detector, trying the easier ones first,
replacing batteries.

And guess what--it turns out it was the one at the peak
of the cathedral ceiling. I don't have a clue how I am
going to get up to that sucker. I might just pull that
puppy out and leave it out since there are 4 other
detectors within 10 feet of this one (the peak of the
ceiling drops down 8 feet, and then there is the entry
to two bedrooms, and there are 4 units by the bedrooms).

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

We have the same set up. Ours does have a light that indicates the failing
detector. All of them have a green light on the reset button that green
light turns red when the battery is low. Does yours have the little green
lights on them? Is one red? It would be odd that they wouldn't.

"John A. Weeks III" wrote in message
...
I am living in smoke detector hell this morning. In
the middle of the night, one of the detectors started
chirping. Apparently one of the units has a low battery.

Since I have this hardwired system, if one chirps, they
all chirp. That makes it next to impossible to tell
which one is doing it, and it makes it hard to find a
place in the house where I can go and get back to sleep
(it was 3AM).

Well, when morning rolls around, the house warms up a
bit, so the battery suddenly has a little more life left
in it, so it stop chirping. So, now I don't have a failure
mode to track down.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had only one or two. Here in
Minnesota, you need one on each floor, one inside and
outside of each bedroom, and one at the peak of the
cathedral ceiling. For me, that is 7 units, plus 3
carbon monoxide units. And the tallest one is 18 feet,
which is a non-trival task for someone like me who has
limited mobility.

So, why don't these units have a light on them that tells
when they have generated a chirp? It would have been so
easy to just look for the one that started this mess, and
yank it out until I could deal with it in the morning. But
as it was, I lost half a night's sleep. I also ended up
going to every detector, trying the easier ones first,
replacing batteries.

And guess what--it turns out it was the one at the peak
of the cathedral ceiling. I don't have a clue how I am
going to get up to that sucker. I might just pull that
puppy out and leave it out since there are 4 other
detectors within 10 feet of this one (the peak of the
ceiling drops down 8 feet, and then there is the entry
to two bedrooms, and there are 4 units by the bedrooms).

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

In article , "John A. Weeks III" wrote:

And guess what--it turns out it was the one at the peak
of the cathedral ceiling. I don't have a clue how I am
going to get up to that sucker. I might just pull that
puppy out and leave it out since there are 4 other
detectors within 10 feet of this one (the peak of the
ceiling drops down 8 feet, and then there is the entry
to two bedrooms, and there are 4 units by the bedrooms).

Sounds good to me. It's probably not really doing you much good anyway. If you
ever did have a fire, it's very likely that one of the ones at a lower height
would sound off first.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

John A. Weeks III wrote:
I am living in smoke detector hell this morning. In
the middle of the night, one of the detectors started
chirping. Apparently one of the units has a low battery.

Since I have this hardwired system, if one chirps, they
all chirp. That makes it next to impossible to tell
which one is doing it, and it makes it hard to find a
place in the house where I can go and get back to sleep
(it was 3AM).

Well, when morning rolls around, the house warms up a
bit, so the battery suddenly has a little more life left
in it, so it stop chirping. So, now I don't have a failure
mode to track down.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had only one or two. Here in
Minnesota, you need one on each floor, one inside and
outside of each bedroom, and one at the peak of the
cathedral ceiling. For me, that is 7 units, plus 3
carbon monoxide units. And the tallest one is 18 feet,
which is a non-trival task for someone like me who has
limited mobility.

So, why don't these units have a light on them that tells
when they have generated a chirp? It would have been so
easy to just look for the one that started this mess, and
yank it out until I could deal with it in the morning. But
as it was, I lost half a night's sleep. I also ended up
going to every detector, trying the easier ones first,
replacing batteries.

And guess what--it turns out it was the one at the peak
of the cathedral ceiling. I don't have a clue how I am
going to get up to that sucker. I might just pull that
puppy out and leave it out since there are 4 other
detectors within 10 feet of this one (the peak of the
ceiling drops down 8 feet, and then there is the entry
to two bedrooms, and there are 4 units by the bedrooms).

-john-


I hear ya. These things always go off at night. But while mine are all
connected, only one chirps when the batter is low. The pitch is so high
its hard to locate. So I have to go by each one, and wait for the chirp
to come. Its funny how hard this is. I should get a dog or somethin...

Mine have lights too. I didnt know red light meant low battery because
most show what seems to be green and red lights. Maybe the light goes
red before the battery starts to chirp.

I dont know how you will ignore the one in the catheral ceiling. IIRC
these things use house wiring for their main power, so its going to keep
chirping.



--
Respectfully,


CL Gilbert

John A. Weeks III wrote:
I am living in smoke detector hell this morning. In
the middle of the night, one of the detectors started
chirping. Apparently one of the units has a low battery.

Since I have this hardwired system, if one chirps, they
all chirp. That makes it next to impossible to tell
which one is doing it, and it makes it hard to find a
place in the house where I can go and get back to sleep
(it was 3AM).

Well, when morning rolls around, the house warms up a
bit, so the battery suddenly has a little more life left
in it, so it stop chirping. So, now I don't have a failure
mode to track down.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had only one or two. Here in
Minnesota, you need one on each floor, one inside and
outside of each bedroom, and one at the peak of the
cathedral ceiling. For me, that is 7 units, plus 3
carbon monoxide units. And the tallest one is 18 feet,
which is a non-trival task for someone like me who has
limited mobility.

So, why don't these units have a light on them that tells
when they have generated a chirp? It would have been so
easy to just look for the one that started this mess, and
yank it out until I could deal with it in the morning. But
as it was, I lost half a night's sleep. I also ended up
going to every detector, trying the easier ones first,
replacing batteries.

And guess what--it turns out it was the one at the peak
of the cathedral ceiling. I don't have a clue how I am
going to get up to that sucker. I might just pull that
puppy out and leave it out since there are 4 other
detectors within 10 feet of this one (the peak of the
ceiling drops down 8 feet, and then there is the entry
to two bedrooms, and there are 4 units by the bedrooms).

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

No help on locating one but a couple comments.

You can cut the number of units by 3. They have combined smoke/co
detectors.

I have never understood the reason for hardwiring. You still have to
maintain/change batteries so just what benefit does hardwiring add??

Harry K

In article .com, "Harry K" wrote:

I have never understood the reason for hardwiring. You still have to
maintain/change batteries so just what benefit does hardwiring add??

When *one* detects smoke, they *all* sound off.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article .com, "Harry
K" wrote:

I have never understood the reason for hardwiring. You still have to
maintain/change batteries so just what benefit does hardwiring add??

When *one* detects smoke, they *all* sound off.

Well the main benefit is (I would think) that people forget to change
batteries. -Dave

"Harry K" wrote in message
oups.com...


John A. Weeks III wrote:
I am living in smoke detector hell this morning. In
the middle of the night, one of the detectors started
chirping. Apparently one of the units has a low battery.

Since I have this hardwired system, if one chirps, they
all chirp. That makes it next to impossible to tell
which one is doing it, and it makes it hard to find a
place in the house where I can go and get back to sleep
(it was 3AM).

Well, when morning rolls around, the house warms up a
bit, so the battery suddenly has a little more life left
in it, so it stop chirping. So, now I don't have a failure
mode to track down.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had only one or two. Here in
Minnesota, you need one on each floor, one inside and
outside of each bedroom, and one at the peak of the
cathedral ceiling. For me, that is 7 units, plus 3
carbon monoxide units. And the tallest one is 18 feet,
which is a non-trival task for someone like me who has
limited mobility.

So, why don't these units have a light on them that tells
when they have generated a chirp? It would have been so
easy to just look for the one that started this mess, and
yank it out until I could deal with it in the morning. But
as it was, I lost half a night's sleep. I also ended up
going to every detector, trying the easier ones first,
replacing batteries.

And guess what--it turns out it was the one at the peak
of the cathedral ceiling. I don't have a clue how I am
going to get up to that sucker. I might just pull that
puppy out and leave it out since there are 4 other
detectors within 10 feet of this one (the peak of the
ceiling drops down 8 feet, and then there is the entry
to two bedrooms, and there are 4 units by the bedrooms).

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

No help on locating one but a couple comments.

You can cut the number of units by 3. They have combined smoke/co
detectors.

I have never understood the reason for hardwiring. You still have to
maintain/change batteries so just what benefit does hardwiring add??

I have 4 hardwired together, none take batteries, so I never have to replace
them or have them wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me the
battery is low.

IMO, the AC powered units are the best, so that you don't have to deal
with changing batteries. There is a very small chance that the power
could go off as part of a fire before the smoke detectors are
activated, but I think this is very remote. On the other hand, people
die every year in homes with smoke detectors where the batteries were
dead. And unless the code required it, I'd get rid of the one on the
cathedral ceiling and just make sure there is one in a suitable nearby
location.

wrote:
IMO, the AC powered units are the best, so that you don't have to deal
with changing batteries. There is a very small chance that the power
could go off as part of a fire before the smoke detectors are
activated, but I think this is very remote. On the other hand, people
die every year in homes with smoke detectors where the batteries were
dead. And unless the code required it, I'd get rid of the one on the
cathedral ceiling and just make sure there is one in a suitable nearby
location.


Well mine have 3 wires but I am not convinced that they are powered by
house power. I think though they connect, they are actually all battery
powered. They certainly need a lot of batteries. I think I followed
the wire in the basement once too.

--
Respectfully,


CL Gilbert

On Sun, 12 Jun 2005 20:57:43 GMT, someone wrote:

.....If you
ever did have a fire, it's very likely that one of the ones at a lower height
would sound off first.

No, that's not right. If there is a small fire just starting to put
out a little bit of smoke, that smoke will tend to rise. It would
collect significantly at the highest spot it can reach, first. Thus
code calls for installation there.

What amazes me, is that people routinely buy/build homes with features
that they then cannot deal with servicing. If OP has limited
mobility, then he will need to hire somebody who has both mobility and
the right ladders or staging. Otherwise if he expects to do this
himself, he should not have a room with an 18 foot high ceiling.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

"No, that's not right. If there is a small fire just starting to put
out a little bit of smoke, that smoke will tend to rise. It would
collect significantly at the highest spot it can reach, first. Thus
code calls for installation there. "

I don't believe code requires that a smoke detector be installed at the
highest spot, only that there is at least one for each level of the
house, including basement. I've lived in a couple of homes that were
new construction and while both had smoke detectors wired together and
on each level, there were clearly higher areas in both where the smoke
detectors could have been installed, but weren't. In my current home,
there is a cathedral ceiling and the smoke detector isn't there.

In article ,
(v) wrote:

What amazes me, is that people routinely buy/build homes with features
that they then cannot deal with servicing. If OP has limited
mobility, then he will need to hire somebody who has both mobility and
the right ladders or staging. Otherwise if he expects to do this
himself, he should not have a room with an 18 foot high ceiling.

Where were you when I needed you when I was looking at
townhouses. I don't even like the cathedral ceiling--it
makes it so I can hear noises all the way across the room,
but I cannot hear the person sitting next to me talk.

I guess your point is just human nature. Same thing goes
for people who buy cars without doing a test drive, and then
they hate the car when they get it home.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

wrote:
IMO, the AC powered units are the best, so that you don't have to deal
with changing batteries. There is a very small chance that the power
could go off as part of a fire before the smoke detectors are
activated, but I think this is very remote. On the other hand, people
die every year in homes with smoke detectors where the batteries were
dead.

It's estimated that something like 50% of all battery smoke detectors
don't work because their batteries are dead/removed.

In the UK, mains powered interlinked smoke detectors are required by
Building Regulations, and if they're run off the lighting circuit they
have to have battery/capacitor backup as well.

Owain