Hello,

I presently have two mains interlinked smoke alarms with battery back up. Unfortunately one is faulty and keeps sounding. I have tried cleaning it with a hoover but no luck. I am interested in whether all mains interlinked smoke alarms with batteries are the same. Basically, if I bought another two interlinked alarms that were a different make could I simply replace the current two by copying the connections?

On 19/11/2013 22:28, wrote:
Hello,

I presently have two mains interlinked smoke alarms with battery back
up. Unfortunately one is faulty and keeps sounding. I have tried
cleaning it with a hoover but no luck. I am interested in whether all
mains interlinked smoke alarms with batteries are the same.
Basically, if I bought another two interlinked alarms that were a
different make could I simply replace the current two by copying the
connections?

Alas no... it might work but there is no guarantee. Stick to the same
brand as already fitted.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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\================================================= ================/

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 01:07:03 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

Basically, if I bought another two interlinked alarms that were a
different make could I simply replace the current two by copying
the
connections?

Alas no... it might work but there is no guarantee. Stick to the same
brand as already fitted.

Read what is written. Mixing and matching makes probably won't work
but the OP intends to buy two new alarms and replace the two old
ones.

AFAIK all mains interlinked alarms use 3 core and earth so it would
just be a case of wiring in the new bases as per their instructions.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 20/11/2013 09:28, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 01:07:03 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

Basically, if I bought another two interlinked alarms that were a
different make could I simply replace the current two by copying
the
connections?

Alas no... it might work but there is no guarantee. Stick to the same
brand as already fitted.

Read what is written. Mixing and matching makes probably won't work
but the OP intends to buy two new alarms and replace the two old
ones.

Yup, I see your point, although he did not say how many alarms there are
in total.

If there are only two, and he is replacing both, then I agree that will
be fine.

AFAIK all mains interlinked alarms use 3 core and earth so it would
just be a case of wiring in the new bases as per their instructions.

You may even find if they have a standardised base, you can just swap
the alarms and leave the old bases.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:28:40 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Hello,

I presently have two mains interlinked smoke alarms with battery back up. Unfortunately one is faulty and keeps sounding. I have tried cleaning it with a hoover but no luck. I am interested in whether all mains interlinked smoke alarms with batteries are the same. Basically, if I bought another two interlinked alarms that were a different make could I simply replace the current two by copying the connections?

In my house, when this started happening with one of the alarms, I
could only silence all three by replacing the batteries in all three.
Then, finally, the chirping ceased.

MM

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:13:41 +0000, MM wrote:

On Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:28:40 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Hello,

I presently have two mains interlinked smoke alarms with battery back up. Unfortunately one is faulty and keeps sounding. I have tried cleaning it with a hoover but no luck. I am interested in whether all mains interlinked smoke alarms with batteries are the same. Basically, if I bought another two interlinked alarms that were a different make could I simply replace the current two by copying the connections?

In my house, when this started happening with one of the alarms, I
could only silence all three by replacing the batteries in all three.
Then, finally, the chirping ceased.

Mine chirp every 30s when the battery is low. Typically this happens
in the middle of the night. When it happened last time I had no spare
batteries and discovered that, even when the battery was removed, the
chirping continued.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 13:38:17 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

On 20/11/2013 09:28, Dave Liquorice wrote:
--snip--
AFAIK all mains interlinked alarms use 3 core and earth so it would
just be a case of wiring in the new bases as per their instructions.

You may even find if they have a standardised base, you can just swap
the alarms and leave the old bases.

I did this and even replaced an ionization alarm with an optical one
to reduce false alarms.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

"Mark" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:13:41 +0000, MM wrote:

On Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:28:40 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Hello,

I presently have two mains interlinked smoke alarms with battery back up.
Unfortunately one is faulty and keeps sounding. I have tried cleaning it
with a hoover but no luck. I am interested in whether all mains
interlinked smoke alarms with batteries are the same. Basically, if I
bought another two interlinked alarms that were a different make could I
simply replace the current two by copying the connections?

In my house, when this started happening with one of the alarms, I
could only silence all three by replacing the batteries in all three.
Then, finally, the chirping ceased.



Mine chirp every 30s when the battery is low. Typically this happens
in the middle of the night. When it happened last time I had no spare
batteries and discovered that, even when the battery was removed, the
chirping continued.

Mark

The chirping often happens in the middle of the night as that is when the
temperature of the house drops, that temperatrure drop also drops the
voltage on the battery and the alarm starts to chirp (it detects the low
voltage on the battery).

It goes without saying that removing the battery removes all voltage from
the battery and so the alarm sees the voltage as low regardless of
temperatu-)

Cheers
--
Adam


---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

On Saturday 23 November 2013 14:28 ARW wrote in uk.d-i-y:


The chirping often happens in the middle of the night as that is when the
temperature of the house drops, that temperatrure drop also drops the
voltage on the battery and the alarm starts to chirp (it detects the low
voltage on the battery).

Makes sense and a most useful snippet - ta!

And not hugely obvious - I've seen batteries drop voltage badly outdoors in
winter, but would not have assumped that a cool night indoors could make
enough difference.

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://squiddy.blog.dionic.net/

http://www.sensorly.com/ Crowd mapping of 2G/3G/4G mobile signal coverage

On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 22:22:29 +0000, Tim Watts
wrote:

On Saturday 23 November 2013 14:28 ARW wrote in uk.d-i-y:


The chirping often happens in the middle of the night as that is when the
temperature of the house drops, that temperatrure drop also drops the
voltage on the battery and the alarm starts to chirp (it detects the low
voltage on the battery).

Makes sense and a most useful snippet - ta!

And not hugely obvious - I've seen batteries drop voltage badly outdoors in
winter, but would not have assumped that a cool night indoors could make
enough difference.

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

"Mark" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 22:22:29 +0000, Tim Watts
wrote:

On Saturday 23 November 2013 14:28 ARW wrote in uk.d-i-y:


The chirping often happens in the middle of the night as that is when
the
temperature of the house drops, that temperatrure drop also drops the
voltage on the battery and the alarm starts to chirp (it detects the low
voltage on the battery).

Makes sense and a most useful snippet - ta!

And not hugely obvious - I've seen batteries drop voltage badly outdoors
in
winter, but would not have assumped that a cool night indoors could make
enough difference.

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.


5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

--
Adam

On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:15:31 +0000, ARW wrote:

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

shrug
Just buy rechargables.

On Tuesday 26 November 2013 17:21 Adrian wrote in uk.d-i-y:

On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:15:31 +0000, ARW wrote:

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

shrug
Just buy rechargables.

Which are almost completely useless for this type of application, with a
nominal cell voltage of 1.2V and lower when it's cold.

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://squiddy.blog.dionic.net/

http://www.sensorly.com/ Crowd mapping of 2G/3G/4G mobile signal coverage

On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:29:25 +0000, Tim Watts wrote:

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

shrug
Just buy rechargables.

Which are almost completely useless for this type of application, with a
nominal cell voltage of 1.2V and lower when it's cold.

And have a nasty habit of retaining a decent voltage that disappears
rapidly when you put a load on, like the trying to sound the alarm...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Tuesday 26 November 2013 17:52 Dave Liquorice wrote in uk.d-i-y:

On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:29:25 +0000, Tim Watts wrote:

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

shrug
Just buy rechargables.

Which are almost completely useless for this type of application, with a
nominal cell voltage of 1.2V and lower when it's cold.

And have a nasty habit of retaining a decent voltage that disappears
rapidly when you put a load on, like the trying to sound the alarm...


Yep - I went through a phase once of NiCds in lots of things.

TV remotes seemed to last a week between charges.

Torches were useless - could never find a bulb with a voltage that worked
"right" - either too dim or blew in a few days.

Rechargeables are great for things designed to use them, but until someone
gets a cell chemistry that can get near to 1.5V, they will never be much
good as a swap in for primary cells.

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://squiddy.blog.dionic.net/

http://www.sensorly.com/ Crowd mapping of 2G/3G/4G mobile signal coverage

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:15:31 +0000, ARW wrote:

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

shrug
Just buy rechargables.


The worst choice for this job. The rechargable battery will lose it's
voltage faster than a cheap alkaline battery.

--
Adam

On 26/11/2013 17:21, Adrian wrote:
On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:15:31 +0000, ARW wrote:

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

shrug
Just buy rechargables.

Very poor choice for a smoke alarm. Their high auto discharge rate manes
they don't last well in low current draw applications. Their low voltage
if more likely to trigger a low batter alarm in the first place.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:15:31 -0000, "ARW"
wrote:

"Mark" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 22:22:29 +0000, Tim Watts
wrote:

On Saturday 23 November 2013 14:28 ARW wrote in uk.d-i-y:


The chirping often happens in the middle of the night as that is when
the
temperature of the house drops, that temperatrure drop also drops the
voltage on the battery and the alarm starts to chirp (it detects the low
voltage on the battery).

Makes sense and a most useful snippet - ta!

And not hugely obvious - I've seen batteries drop voltage badly outdoors
in
winter, but would not have assumped that a cool night indoors could make
enough difference.

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

That would last longer than the alarm itself. However the
instructions say to use only high quality alkali batteries, but that
may be rubbish. IIRC it says only Duracell and one other brand.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

In article , ARW
o.uk scribeth thus
"Adrian" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 17:15:31 +0000, ARW wrote:

Note to self - remember to change the batteries more often.

5 or 6 quid will buy you a 10 year lithium battery.

shrug
Just buy rechargables.


The worst choice for this job. The rechargable battery will lose it's
voltage faster than a cheap alkaline battery.


Unless its a type of alarm that can keep the batteries charged up?...
--
Tony Sayer