Smoke Detector Issues

[Schfifty Five]

The power went out in my area tonight for a few hours. About 20 min after the power came on, all of my smoke detectors in my house went off at the same time (I have a splitting headache from the noise right now).

I tried pushing the "reset" button on each of them but it only silences the beeping for a second and the goes right back to beeping.

Eventually I had to pull all the detectors off to keep my sanity and hearing.

I don't think the batteries are bad as I changed them out less than 1 year ago.

Is it possible that the power coming back on damage one or more of the detectors?

I did notice that after pulling one specific smoke detector, the remaining unpulled ones stopped beeping. Is it possible that if one detector is bad, all of them will start beeping?

Any help is appreciated it. I can't do any further testing now as my baby is asleep and I don't want this noise to startle/wake him.
____________________________________________

Update 5/30/2016:

Firstly, appreciate all the responses so far.

Secondly, I think I have figured out a solution, but don't really fully understand the system. So in my OP, I mentioned that during me pulling all the alarms off, when I got to one specific one (the one in my home office), the remaining unpulled alarms all silenced. I ended up unplugging everything just in case so I could sleep at night.

Today, I started putting smoke alarms back in one at a time. I started with my office and was able to put that back in w/o any issues. I waited about 10 min before putting in the next one. It seemed to work fine as well. On the 3rd one, all smoke alarms went off again (just 3 at this point). I hit the silence button on the 3rd alarm (the one just installed), and it would not silence anything. I then went back to the first one in my office and hit the silence button. It stopped all the alarms.

I've since installed 6 out of 8 without anymore issues so far.

Now, is it possible that one smoke alarm (the one in my office) is kind of the "master" smoke alarm where only that silence button will stop the beeping for everything?

 

[Greenman]

Had the same thing happen, it was a bad detector.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Had the same thing happen, it was a bad detector.

So I have 8 alarms in my house. If one is faulty/bad, it will trip the other 7 and cause them all to beep?

 

[Imp]

Eventually I had to pull all the detectors off to keep my sanity and hearing.

I don't think the batteries are bad as I changed them out less than 1 year ago.

To be clear, they're all hardwired with battery backups?

Good luck with your hearing. My carbon monoxide detector put out over 100 db within a foot of the device.

 

[Schfifty Five]

To be clear, they're all hardwired with battery backups?

Good luck with your hearing. My carbon monoxide detector put out over 100 db within a foot of the device.

Yes, all 8 are hardwired, with a battery backup.

Yeah it's loud as shit. I'm still feeling the ring in my ears right now.

 

[Imp]

^^^Earplugs, dude. And yes, I have a pair close all the time from in, out, to sleeping.

 

[Greenman]

So I have 8 alarms in my house. If one is faulty/bad, it will trip the other 7 and cause them all to beep?

Yes. Hard wired smokes all go off if one does.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Update 5/30/2016:

Firstly, appreciate all the responses so far.

Secondly, I think I have figured out a solution, but don't really fully understand the system. So in my OP, I mentioned that during me pulling all the alarms off, when I got to one specific one (the one in my home office), the remaining unpulled alarms all silenced. I ended up unplugging everything just in case so I could sleep at night.

Today, I started putting smoke alarms back in one at a time. I started with my office and was able to put that back in w/o any issues. I waited about 10 min before putting in the next one. It seemed to work fine as well. On the 3rd one, all smoke alarms went off again (just 3 at this point). I hit the silence button on the 3rd alarm (the one just installed), and it would not silence anything. I then went back to the first one in my office and hit the silence button. It stopped all the alarms.

I've since installed 6 out of 8 without anymore issues so far.

Now, is it possible that one smoke alarm (the one in my office) is kind of the "master" smoke alarm where only that silence button will stop the beeping for everything?

 

[dullard]

I'll start off by saying that I don't know a thing about how they are supposed to work or how they are supposed to be wired.

But, in my house, only one goes off when the batteries are dead and only that particular one is actually reachable without bring a 12+ foot ladder up stairways. I only change the batteries on that particular one regularly (the others have gone years without a battery change). Silencing that one silences all others and keeping the batteries fresh on that one prevents all problems of them going off for no reason.

All that points to me thinking that I have a master smoke alarm too.

Oh, and you need to change the battery every 6 months. The rule of thumb is every time you change the clocks for daylight saving time (or spring and fall if you don't change your clocks). That is probably at least a part of your problem.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I'll start off by saying that I don't know a thing about how they are supposed to work or how they are supposed to be wired.

But, in my house, only one goes off when the batteries are dead and only that particular one is actually reachable without bring a 12+ foot ladder up stairways. I only change the batteries on that particular one regularly (the others have gone years without a battery change). Silencing that one silences all others and keeping the batteries fresh on that one prevents all problems of them going off for no reason.

All that points to me thinking that I have a master smoke alarm too.

Oh, and you need to change the battery every 6 months. The rule of thumb is every time you change the clocks for daylight saving time (or spring and fall if you don't change your clocks). That is probably at least a part of your problem.

Appreciate the response.

I'll disagree with you though about the 6 month rule. Everything I've read points to changing batteries every year, and the smoke alarms themselves every 10 years.

I probably will change out the batteries soon, but in my case, it was the power outage that triggered something with the smoke alarms, and apparently I have one master alarm that will silence everything.

Had I known this, I think all I had to do was push the silence button on that one particular smoke alarm and the rest would have gone quiet as well. I'm glad I know now but I still had to go through and pull each one and just kind of randomly stumbled upon that knowledge.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Appreciate the response.

I'll disagree with you though about the 6 month rule. Everything I've read points to changing batteries every year, and the smoke alarms themselves every 10 years.

I probably will change out the batteries soon, but in my case, it was the power outage that triggered something with the smoke alarms, and apparently I have one master alarm that will silence everything.

Had I known this, I think all I had to do was push the silence button on that one particular smoke alarm and the rest would have gone quiet as well. I'm glad I know now but I still had to go through and pull each one and just kind of randomly stumbled upon that knowledge.

Yeah this, smoke detectors are very effective for 5 years, then gradually become less sensitive. Its recommended to replace them every 5-10 years.
Growing up we had smoke detectors that were hard wired and had a battery backup. They occasionally did something similar if they were shut off in the fuse box. I think the fix was disconnect them, take the battery out, let it sit for a bit then reinstall them.

 

[MustISO]

Ours are hardwired (with battery) and they do the same thing. 30 minutes after the power goes out they all beep for about 15 seconds and then stop for another 30 minutes. Cycle continues until the power is restored. Doesn't do it all the time but often enough.

I'm looking to replace all of ours since they're over 10 years old with newer models with the 10 year battery. Just need to find one that can use the same wiring harness.

 

[dullard]

I'll disagree with you though about the 6 month rule. Everything I've read points to changing batteries every year, and the smoke alarms themselves every 10 years.

I used to do the once a year thing. Then after being awoken at 2 am a couple of times and once coming home from a vacation at 1 am to a bunch of smoke detectors going off (and sometimes with no good replacement batteries in my house), I decided to change my ways.

Change Your Clock Change Your Battery:
http://www.iafc.org/Operations/LegacyArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=4135

http://www.energizer.com/responsibility/change-your-clock-change-your-battery

 

[JulesMaximus]

How old are they? I replaced all our smoke detectors a couple years ago as they were about 15 years old at that point. We have 6 in our house and I made two of them combination smoke/CO detectors (one upstairs and one downstairs). If you don't have a CO detector I highly recommend getting one for each level of your house.

 

[FirNaTine]

OK Basic run down of residential smoke detectors:

Most are ionizing, using a very small amount of an isotope of americium that is radioactive. That is what I am focusing on here. There are other types available, eg photo detector, but are relatively rare compared to ionizing.

In all of the below the source and sensor has a 7 to 10 year expected service life and the detector itself needs replaced regardless of power source.

Battery powered/standalone powered by regular 9V battery, change every six months is strongly recommended as these detectors are solely powered by their batteries.

Battery powered/standalone powered by 10 year lithium battery, clock starts on install and they are basically maintenance free over their life. Required by law in several states to be the only battery powered type sold.

Hardwired only (no longer acceptable in any codes I am familiar with) they receive AC from house, but will not function in power outage.

Hardwired with battery backup non-interconnected (also outdated compared to newest but still encountered) These are house powered but have a backup up battery. It's still a good idea to change every six months, but longer intervals may work as the battery is not used to power it in normal usage.

All of the above setups are standalone, and a head only alarms if it actually is detecting the smoke itself.

Hardwired, battery backup (alkaline or sealed lithium depending on age/location), Interconnected which it sounds like what you are describing . In this setup there are three wires to the heads. Two are power and one is signal. The heads in this system all alarm if one goes into alarm. This can be very beneficial in larger houses/multiple stories.

For example a fire starting in a basement utility room would activate a head there. In the older systems, sleeping occupants may not hear the alarm. In an interconnected system the head closest to the fire would detect the problem, and then heads nearest the bedrooms would alert the occupants without having to wait for smoke to travel to the heads closest to the bedrooms potentially blocking your escape route That is why one bad/failed head can set off the entire system.

 

[Schfifty Five]

OK Basic run down of residential smoke detectors:

Most are ionizing, using a very small amount of an isotope of americium that is radioactive. That is what I am focusing on here. There are other types available, eg photo detector, but are relatively rare compared to ionizing.

In all of the below the source and sensor has a 7 to 10 year expected service life and the detector itself needs replaced regardless of power source.

Battery powered/standalone powered by regular 9V battery, change every six months is strongly recommended as these detectors are solely powered by their batteries.

Battery powered/standalone powered by 10 year lithium battery, clock starts on install and they are basically maintenance free over their life. Required by law in several states to be the only battery powered type sold.

Hardwired only (no longer acceptable in any codes I am familiar with) they receive AC from house, but will not function in power outage.

Hardwired with battery backup non-interconnected (also outdated compared to newest but still encountered) These are house powered but have a backup up battery. It's still a good idea to change every six months, but longer intervals may work as the battery is not used to power it in normal usage.

All of the above setups are standalone, and a head only alarms if it actually is detecting the smoke itself.

Hardwired, battery backup (alkaline or sealed lithium depending on age/location), Interconnected which it sounds like what you are describing . In this setup there are three wires to the heads. Two are power and one is signal. The heads in this system all alarm if one goes into alarm. This can be very beneficial in larger houses/multiple stories.

For example a fire starting in a basement utility room would activate a head there. In the older systems, sleeping occupants may not hear the alarm. In an interconnected system the head closest to the fire would detect the problem, and then heads nearest the bedrooms would alert the occupants without having to wait for smoke to travel to the heads closest to the bedrooms potentially blocking your escape route That is why one bad/failed head can set off the entire system.

:thumbsup: Brilliant!

Thanks for this write up, very helpful indeed. My alarms are definitely interconnected hardwired with 9V battery backup. Everything you described about it sounded like mine.

I guess what I'm just curious about is how the system determines which smoke alarm is the "master" one, meaning that if they are all going off, you just push the silence button on the one master smoke alarm and they all stop going off.

The one in my house that I believe is the master smoke alarm is in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Can't really figure out a rhyme or reason why that room's smoke alarm is the "master" one.

 

[FirNaTine]

:thumbsup: Brilliant!

Thanks for this write up, very helpful indeed. My alarms are definitely interconnected hardwired with 9V battery backup. Everything you described about it sounded like mine.

I guess what I'm just curious about is how the system determines which smoke alarm is the "master" one, meaning that if they are all going off, you just push the silence button on the one master smoke alarm and they all stop going off.

The one in my house that I believe is the master smoke alarm is in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Can't really figure out a rhyme or reason why that room's smoke alarm is the "master" one.

Not entirely sure about the master with the way you are describing it.

From re-reading your update, it looks like the one that worked the first alarm you re-installed? Not familiar with what network protocols they all use for communications, but it's possible the first installed ended up in that role.

What I would expect, is that you may need to silence the actual head that is (correctly or otherwise) detecting an issue, as that would be the alarm signalling the rest that there is a problem.

In a common sense way, that would mean you have checked the area reporting the problem and have determined it to be a false alarm.

In commercial setting, I can often figure out which head was initially in alarm by the LED pattern on the heads (if its not obvious from the panel itself on newer systems.)

 

[feralkid]

Just need to find one that can use the same wiring harness.

Good luck.

 

[MWink]

:thumbsup: Brilliant!

Thanks for this write up, very helpful indeed. My alarms are definitely interconnected hardwired with 9V battery backup. Everything you described about it sounded like mine.

I guess what I'm just curious about is how the system determines which smoke alarm is the "master" one, meaning that if they are all going off, you just push the silence button on the one master smoke alarm and they all stop going off.

The one in my house that I believe is the master smoke alarm is in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Can't really figure out a rhyme or reason why that room's smoke alarm is the "master" one.

There is no "master". When any unit thinks it detects smoke it will send a signal to all the other connected units, setting off their alarms as well. The "initiating" unit can be any one (or multiple) of the connected smoke detectors. You usually have to silence the "initiating" unit to quite them all. Often, the only way to determine which one is the "initiating" unit (besides trial and error) is to look for a rapidly blinking red LED on the unit itself. At least that's the way all the ones I've encountered work.

I've had a lot of experience with this as we've had lots of issues with smoke detectors going bad and/or randomly going off. I sometimes swear these things are intelligent/conscious and know just when it would be most annoying to have a false alarm.