Strange Smoke & CO alarm occurence
 

"CD" wrote in message
...
I have a pair of connected EI 151 smoke alarms, must have gone in when
the house went up 10 years ago. They both started doing their low
alarm squeak in the early hours today, there have been no powers cuts
at all. Removing them from the mains & doing a test reveals that the
backup batteries are both flat. I then hear a 3rd low battery squeak
coming from a room where there is no smoke alarm. I trace this to a CO
detector on a cupboard.
Coincidence or cause for concern? The boiler wasn't going & it has no
pilot light, so no gas burning anywhere. All 3 going at once, what are
the chances of that?

Routine maintenance of emergency systems using rechargeable backup batteries
in industrial situations usually involves replacing the batteries every
couple of years.

Colin Bignell

CD wrote;
Coincidence or cause for concern? The boiler wasn't going & it has no
pilot light, so no gas burning anywhere. All 3 going at once, what are
the chances of that?

Assuming all three batteries were installed at the same time and all three
detectors draw similar current, it seems logical to me that they should run
out at the same time.

Dave

I have a pair of connected EI 151 smoke alarms, must have gone in when
the house went up 10 years ago.

Then they should be replaced entirely, not just the batteries. The sensors
degrade over time and should be replaced about every seven years. There is
often an expiry date on the casing. Batteries should be replaced at
manufacturer's recommended intervals, which are usually 1 year for alkaline
and 5 years for lithium cells.

Coincidence or cause for concern? The boiler wasn't going & it has no
pilot light, so no gas burning anywhere. All 3 going at once, what are
the chances of that?

Quite high, actually. What is worrying is that you waited for the low
battery signal. The batteries should be replaced on a schedule and should
never get low.

Christian.

typical problem on the EI151,s had it happen a few times in tenants houses
but are the alarms interconnected because if they are then only one alarm
might be at fault
"David Lang" wrote in message
.uk...
CD wrote;
Coincidence or cause for concern? The boiler wasn't going & it has no
pilot light, so no gas burning anywhere. All 3 going at once, what are
the chances of that?

Assuming all three batteries were installed at the same time and all three
detectors draw similar current, it seems logical to me that they should
run out at the same time.

Dave

i think it is the EI151 that has the built in cells which you cant replace
am i right ???????????
"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
et...
I have a pair of connected EI 151 smoke alarms, must have gone in when
the house went up 10 years ago.

Then they should be replaced entirely, not just the batteries. The sensors
degrade over time and should be replaced about every seven years. There is
often an expiry date on the casing. Batteries should be replaced at
manufacturer's recommended intervals, which are usually 1 year for
alkaline
and 5 years for lithium cells.

Coincidence or cause for concern? The boiler wasn't going & it has no
pilot light, so no gas burning anywhere. All 3 going at once, what are
the chances of that?

Quite high, actually. What is worrying is that you waited for the low
battery signal. The batteries should be replaced on a schedule and should
never get low.

Christian.

In article ,
"Christian McArdle" writes:
I have a pair of connected EI 151 smoke alarms, must have gone in when
the house went up 10 years ago.

Then they should be replaced entirely, not just the batteries. The sensors
degrade over time and should be replaced about every seven years. There is
often an expiry date on the casing. Batteries should be replaced at
manufacturer's recommended intervals, which are usually 1 year for alkaline
and 5 years for lithium cells.

Ionisation alarms are supposed to last at least 10 years in service.
I have some 20 year old ones which still seem to work fine but
aren't any longer in service (actually, the one on my garage is,
but it still seems as sensitive as new ones).

CO detector is another matter though. The detector elements are
quickly wrecked by standard household chemicals, and you shouldn't
assume they'll last more than a year or two. Some have a
plug-replaceable detector.

Quite high, actually. What is worrying is that you waited for the low
battery signal. The batteries should be replaced on a schedule and should
never get low.

Pick a day each year (like your birthday), and your annual present
to yourself is a replacement set of smoke detector batteries.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article , andrew@a17
says...

Pick a day each year (like your birthday), and your annual present
to yourself is a replacement set of smoke detector batteries.



The fire brigade round here reccommend changing them when the clocks
change - new batteries every 6 months sounds overkill, but the old ones
just get used in games, remotes etc, so isn't a problem.

In article ,
Gary Cavie writes:
In article , andrew@a17
says...

Pick a day each year (like your birthday), and your annual present
to yourself is a replacement set of smoke detector batteries.

The fire brigade round here reccommend changing them when the clocks
change - new batteries every 6 months sounds overkill, but the old ones
just get used in games, remotes etc, so isn't a problem.

Even after a year, they are still usable, so I would not normally
throw them out immediately. However, about 5 years ago, I adapted
all my smoke detectors to run from the burglar alarm, so there's
no more battery changing now.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Some facts.
Sealed in rechargeable will last 10 years; some manufacturers actually
Guarantee that eg Kidde Fyrnetics, Aico is 5, Firex 6.

Battery only powered alarms:
Zinc Batteries will need changing annually, possibly even more if
Optical alarm, as they consume at twice the rate of Ion alarms, as DO
CO ALARMS.
Good quality alkaline like Duracell give 3 to 4 years in an Ion Alarm;
halve for CO and Optical.

Other poster is correct in saying that all smoke alarms should be
viewed as having max 10 years life; CO alarms is not 2 years however,
but 6 or 7. Many CO alarms now have firmware that shuts down CO alarm
after set period; will explain in manual, and emit special warning
tones beforehand.

Useful data at www.smoke-larms.co.uk I've found.

Regards garage smokes not recommened there but fixed point Heat Alarms.
CD wrote:
I have a pair of connected EI 151 smoke alarms, must have gone in when
the house went up 10 years ago. They both started doing their low
alarm squeak in the early hours today, there have been no powers cuts
at all. Removing them from the mains & doing a test reveals that the
backup batteries are both flat. I then hear a 3rd low battery squeak
coming from a room where there is no smoke alarm. I trace this to a CO
detector on a cupboard.
Coincidence or cause for concern? The boiler wasn't going & it has no
pilot light, so no gas burning anywhere. All 3 going at once, what are
the chances of that?

CD