Daisy Chaining Kidde Smoke Detectors Problem
 

Hello:

Boy, I have just finished spending several hours trying to figure out what
is wrong, and am still stumped.
Would really be most appreciative for any thoughts on the following:

My son moved into a 30 year old house a few weeks back.
The house has 3 AC wired-in Rittenhouser smoke alarms. (anyone ever hear of
these, or possibly know what voltage is supposed to appear on the red
interconnect wire when tripped ?)

No real way of knowing, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were originally
put in when the house was built, some 30 years back. But they are possibly
newer ?

The three units apparently are wired to communicate with each other; I guess
that if one goes off, they all are supposed to go off. They have a third,
Red, wire daisy chaining from one to another.

Didn't really think they did this daisy-chaining concept to fairly recently,
so was a bit surprised to see it.

I just put in 3 new Kidde Model PI 2000 (dual, photoelectric/ionization)
alarms. Also AC wired in. The "seem" to work fine.

But, if I hook up the red wires to daisy chain them together, they all keep
going off, sequentially.

Disconnecting the red wires, reverts them back to apparently normal
operation.

The house is a bit far from me, and won't be down there again for a week or
two.
I mention this, because I "now" think that it might have been a good idea to
put a meter on the red wire and check if there is any voltage on it ?

My undertstanding with the Kidde units, although I am not really sure, is
that there should normally not be any voltage on the red wires (relative to
ground) unless one of the units is tripped.
Should have checked.

Guess I assumed that the daisy chaining "concept" would be the same for the
old units as it is for the new ones ?

** Is it possible that these old Rittenhouser units have the red, daisy
link,
wire always hooked up to some voltage, or...? **

Am I possibly missing anything when I wired them in ?

Any thoughts on what might bwe the problem, and how to correct it would be
most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

Have you tried eliminating 1 SD at a time, powering back up, and seeing
if things behave? In other words, Tie the 2 reds together, and then
disconnecting the SD from power?

Trace all the red wires, find out where they go.

Are they just all hooked together or are they going to some other unit or
something with voltage on it.

MC

P.S. Do not interconnect different manufacturer units, use all same when
interconnecting units.


"Matt" wrote in message
oups.com...
Have you tried eliminating 1 SD at a time, powering back up, and seeing
if things behave? In other words, Tie the 2 reds together, and then
disconnecting the SD from power?

Are you sure that you found all of the existing smoke detectors? Check the
attic and the basement. Those Kiddes will go off if there is another brand
connected to them. Try and trace out the wiring. Find out which one is the
first in the chain and then identify the second and third. Then connect the
first and second to see if they go off and go from there.



"Robert11" wrote in message
...
Hello:

Boy, I have just finished spending several hours trying to figure out what
is wrong, and am still stumped.
Would really be most appreciative for any thoughts on the following:

My son moved into a 30 year old house a few weeks back.
The house has 3 AC wired-in Rittenhouser smoke alarms. (anyone ever hear
of
these, or possibly know what voltage is supposed to appear on the red
interconnect wire when tripped ?)

No real way of knowing, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were
originally
put in when the house was built, some 30 years back. But they are
possibly
newer ?

The three units apparently are wired to communicate with each other; I
guess
that if one goes off, they all are supposed to go off. They have a third,
Red, wire daisy chaining from one to another.

Didn't really think they did this daisy-chaining concept to fairly
recently,
so was a bit surprised to see it.

I just put in 3 new Kidde Model PI 2000 (dual, photoelectric/ionization)
alarms. Also AC wired in. The "seem" to work fine.

But, if I hook up the red wires to daisy chain them together, they all
keep
going off, sequentially.

Disconnecting the red wires, reverts them back to apparently normal
operation.

The house is a bit far from me, and won't be down there again for a week
or
two.
I mention this, because I "now" think that it might have been a good idea
to
put a meter on the red wire and check if there is any voltage on it ?

My undertstanding with the Kidde units, although I am not really sure, is
that there should normally not be any voltage on the red wires (relative
to
ground) unless one of the units is tripped.
Should have checked.

Guess I assumed that the daisy chaining "concept" would be the same for
the
old units as it is for the new ones ?

** Is it possible that these old Rittenhouser units have the red, daisy
link,
wire always hooked up to some voltage, or...? **

Am I possibly missing anything when I wired them in ?

Any thoughts on what might bwe the problem, and how to correct it would be
most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

The sensors in smoke detectors are only good for a couple years. So, you're
right to replace them. Wish I was more help.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"Robert11" wrote in message
...
Hello:

Boy, I have just finished spending several hours trying to figure out what
is wrong, and am still stumped.
Would really be most appreciative for any thoughts on the following:

My son moved into a 30 year old house a few weeks back.
The house has 3 AC wired-in Rittenhouser smoke alarms. (anyone ever hear of
these, or possibly know what voltage is supposed to appear on the red
interconnect wire when tripped ?)

No real way of knowing, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were originally
put in when the house was built, some 30 years back. But they are possibly
newer ?

The three units apparently are wired to communicate with each other; I guess
that if one goes off, they all are supposed to go off. They have a third,
Red, wire daisy chaining from one to another.

Didn't really think they did this daisy-chaining concept to fairly recently,
so was a bit surprised to see it.

I just put in 3 new Kidde Model PI 2000 (dual, photoelectric/ionization)
alarms. Also AC wired in. The "seem" to work fine.

But, if I hook up the red wires to daisy chain them together, they all keep
going off, sequentially.

Disconnecting the red wires, reverts them back to apparently normal
operation.

The house is a bit far from me, and won't be down there again for a week or
two.
I mention this, because I "now" think that it might have been a good idea to
put a meter on the red wire and check if there is any voltage on it ?

My undertstanding with the Kidde units, although I am not really sure, is
that there should normally not be any voltage on the red wires (relative to
ground) unless one of the units is tripped.
Should have checked.

Guess I assumed that the daisy chaining "concept" would be the same for the
old units as it is for the new ones ?

** Is it possible that these old Rittenhouser units have the red, daisy
link,
wire always hooked up to some voltage, or...? **

Am I possibly missing anything when I wired them in ?

Any thoughts on what might bwe the problem, and how to correct it would be
most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

Are you sure you found all the old smoke detectors? There could still
be an old one hidden in the attic or basement or some out of the way
location. If there is still an old detector on the line somewhere it
could be incompatabile with the new ones and causing them to go off.

Steve B.