OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. It makes my little dog shake like crazy. So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Thanks.

On Jan 17, 8:32*pm, Kate wrote:
OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. *It makes my little dog shake like crazy. *So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Thanks.

Even smoke alarms need good old fashioned power to chirp and peace on
earth and goodwill to all Men is not enough.

On Jan 18, 4:32*am, Kate wrote:
OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. *It makes my little dog shake like crazy. *So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Thanks.

There are two sorts of smoke detector. Some just have batteries. When
the voltage falls they chirp to let your know you need a new battery.
One some the chirp can be temporarily cancelled by pushing the button
on the detector.

Some are mains operated/battery backup in case of mains failure. So
turning the mains off makes no difference, the battery takes over .
They may chirp if the battery is down as well as the mains. But
turning the mains off makes no difference. To stop it you will need
to push the button or remove the battery.

On Jan 17, 11:32*pm, Kate wrote:
OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. *It makes my little dog shake like crazy. *So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Thanks.

As you already realize, you cannot depend on that friend's advice.

OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. It makes my little dog shake like crazy. So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will take
care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?


*Shutting off the power can make the smoke alarm chirp because of that.
I've replaced a few smoke alarms for customers that even when the battery is
removed they continue to chirp because they store a small amount of
electricity. Pressing the test button drains any remaining power.

On 1/18/2011 4:53 AM John Grabowski spake thus:

OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your
feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and
started chirping. It makes my little dog shake like crazy. So, I
had to go to the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the
battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that
will take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new
battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power
outage, why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the
battery from chirping?

*Shutting off the power can make the smoke alarm chirp because of that.
I've replaced a few smoke alarms for customers that even when the battery is
removed they continue to chirp because they store a small amount of
electricity. Pressing the test button drains any remaining power.

Sounds like two levels of backup power: battery, and a supercap for
if/when the battery fails. (Or maybe just a good-size electrolytic cap?)


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 1/18/2011 4:53 AM John Grabowski spake thus:

OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and
started chirping. It makes my little dog shake like crazy. So, I had
to go to the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new
battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power
outage, why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the
battery from chirping?

*Shutting off the power can make the smoke alarm chirp because of
that. I've replaced a few smoke alarms for customers that even when
the battery is removed they continue to chirp because they store a
small amount of electricity. Pressing the test button drains any
remaining power.

Sounds like two levels of backup power: battery, and a supercap for
if/when the battery fails. (Or maybe just a good-size electrolytic cap?)


H,
First of all if the alarm unit is more than 7 years old, replacing it is
better idea. I just did that, all our units are replaced with dual
sensing ones(smoke, flame=temp.) and they are all hard wired in daisy
chain with back up batteries. If it is chirping better find out why ASAP.

On Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:06:02 -0700, Tony Hwang
wrote:

First of all if the alarm unit is more than 7 years old, replacing it is
better idea. I just did that, all our units are replaced with dual
sensing ones(smoke, flame=temp.) and they are all hard wired in daisy
chain with back up batteries. If it is chirping better find out why ASAP.

It chirps because the battery is going weak. Replace the battery, test
the alarm and put the ladder away.

My system is interconnected wiring. They don't chirp because of the
power wire.

Yeah, but with no internal clock how do they know to always start
chirping at 3 AM?

On Jan 17, 10:32*pm, Kate wrote:
OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. *It makes my little dog shake like crazy. *So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Thanks.

Good to hear from you again, how is all your remodeling coming?

"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
...
Yeah, but with no internal clock how do they know to always start
chirping at 3 AM?

It just seems that way because that's usually the coldest time of the day.
While the battery may have enough "oomph" to keep from chirping during the
day, when it gets "cold soaked" at night the voltage drops enough to let the
chirping begin. That's why I try to replace detector batteries when DST
begins because that's the beginning of winter weather and smoke detector
"chirping" season. I can get up to three years on a single 9V battery, but
I usually replace them after a year and move the batteries to other devices
like remote controls, meters, etc. that wouldn't be life threatening if the
battery suddenly dies.

I even keep those batteries if they show more than 7 volts because I snap
all the almost dead ones together to make dog trainers. (-: I connect a
piece of zip cord to 6 or 7 batteries and leave it where the dogs can chew
on the wire. Once they get a mouth zap of 50 volts or so from chewing on
the "trainer" they rarely show any interest in any other wires afterwards.
There's never enough current flow to do permanent harm, but enough to make
sure that they don't go chewing on wires again. It worked on all the dogs
we've rescued except for one that liked to chew on AAA batteries, even with
the wire trainer experience under her belt.

--
Bobby G.

On 1/18/2011 3:20 AM, harry wrote:
On Jan 18, 4:32 am, wrote:
OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. It makes my little dog shake like crazy. So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Thanks.

There are two sorts of smoke detector. Some just have batteries. When
the voltage falls they chirp to let your know you need a new battery.
One some the chirp can be temporarily cancelled by pushing the button
on the detector.

Some are mains operated/battery backup in case of mains failure. So
turning the mains off makes no difference, the battery takes over .
They may chirp if the battery is down as well as the mains. But
turning the mains off makes no difference. To stop it you will need
to push the button or remove the battery.
This is exactly what I thought. Many thanks.

On 1/18/2011 4:53 AM, John Grabowski wrote:
OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and
started chirping. It makes my little dog shake like crazy. So, I had
to go to the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery
from chirping?


*Shutting off the power can make the smoke alarm chirp because of that.
I've replaced a few smoke alarms for customers that even when the
battery is removed they continue to chirp because they store a small
amount of electricity. Pressing the test button drains any remaining power.
Thanks. So good to know about the test button.

On 1/18/2011 6:58 PM, hr(bob) wrote:
On Jan 17, 10:32 pm, wrote:
OK, I am in disagreement with a friend and would like your feedback.

At 3:00 this morning, a battery was dying in my smoke alarm and started
chirping. It makes my little dog shake like crazy. So, I had to go to
the garage, get the tall ladder, and remove the battery.

My friend said to just flip the switch at the fuse box and that will
take care of the chirping noise until I get up to put in a new battery.

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Thanks.

Good to hear from you again, how is all your remodeling coming?
Hey, hi. My remodeling has all gone as planned, and I am super pleased
with it.

I have one inside project left, and I really need to do my homework on
that. I have Silestone quartz countertops, and I want to change my
kitchen cabinets from bleached oak to a cinnamon oak. Therefore, the
only thing I can do due to the type of counter top I have is to get
them refaced. I know three families, in towns far away from me,
who had this done and they are beautiful.

I live in a small area, so I need to find a quality business who can do
this for me.

I hope all is well in your little corner of the world.

And, thanks for asking.

"Kate" wrote in message ...

If the battery is there to backup the smoke alarm during a power outage,
why would shutting off the switch in the fuse box keep the battery from
chirping?

Having dragged a ladder in, I would have thought the thing to do was change
the battery....

Oddly enough, when one of the wireless devices in our alarm system
experiences a low battery and makes the alarm panel beep it's usually around
three in the morning. Maybe that's built into safety electronics like smoke
detectors and alarm systems, they want to make sure you're home to hear the
low battery alert.