Smoke alarms that go "BIP" in the night

[Janos]

Aaaarrrgh.

I am in A Grumpy Mood today because I haven't got enough sleep.

Don't get me wrong - smoke alarms are very much A Good Thing and a friend of ours reckons he owes her life to one that woke her up when her house was on fire, but last night at three or four am decided to go "BIP" in the night.

Ok. I thought. Battery's low. But no! It's MAINS POWERED! How can it go BIP if there's no battery to go flat.

Tried resetting it, but that didn't work. So in the end I just isolated it at the fuse box.

And then spent the rest of the night trying to get to sleep but couldn't as I was half-expecting it to go BIP again. So what would make a mains powered alarm go BIP? I'll get up on my step ladder and have a look tonight but I can't think what it would be.

Any ideas?

Janos

PS - I keep going BIP inside my head now as well. And that's very annoying too.

[tom]

Are you sure there's no battery? my mains-powered alarms also have batteries in them. I think it's a fail-safe or something. you probably just need to change the batteries.

[Dave_S]

HI Janos,

our does that sometimes, don't even try and source the reason i've wasted hours on it, i've even changed the units. in our case it's the unit in the hall [3 are wired together] and if i swap them around it's still the one in the hall which Bip's occassionally.

Oh and don't bother turning off the mains trip for them they have a battery back-up so it makes no difference

Dave

[ScubaSue]

Originally Posted by tom

Are you sure there's no battery? my mains-powered alarms also have batteries in them. I think it's a fail-safe or something. you probably just need to change the batteries.

Yep, I would say that too.

[Ding Dang Doo]

I too have had this problem... changed the back up battery... problem no more...

[Janos]

Originally Posted by tom

Are you sure there's no battery? my mains-powered alarms also have batteries in them. I think it's a fail-safe or something. you probably just need to change the batteries.

BIP.

I'm not calling you a lier, but why did it stop when I pulled the fuse? I suppose it depends how clever it is.

It's a shame there isn't "a silence until morning as no-way am I climbing up a step ladder on the stairs (it's in the stairwell) at 3am" button.

I'll have a look tonight.

BIP

Janos

[Darren A]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

they have a battery back-up so it makes no difference

Dave

As Tom says, therein probably lies your problem, although they've probably never been used in anger, they will eventually go flat, and that is what your "Bip" is telling you.

[tom]

Originally Posted by Janos

I'm not calling you a lier, but why did it stop when I pulled the fuse? I suppose it depends how clever it is.

Probably trying to trick you.
Then again, the noises may just be in your head. It might be time to try the tinfoil helmet again.


BIP.

[chrisch]

Are you sure the cat wasn't having a crafty fag downstairs??

Chris

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by Janos

BIP.

I'm not calling you a lier, but why did it stop when I pulled the fuse? I suppose it depends how clever it is.

It's a shame there isn't "a silence until morning as no-way am I climbing up a step ladder on the stairs (it's in the stairwell) at 3am" button.

I'll have a look tonight.

BIP

Janos

Hate to be boring here, but on the subject of back-up batteries, (they have a 9v job in them), these should be changed every year, as they can go flat - there's usually enough zap left in themm to use it for siomething eolse, but it's incredibly important that you do this. Often, the first thing that happens in a fire (especially if it's electrical in origin) is that the circuit breakers/fuses/RCD pops. When this happens, your smoke alarm is basically knackered, which is why you have the battery backup, as otherwise, it may not go off.

Down here, the State Fire Service run a campaign when the clocks go back each Autumn, reminding people to change them over, so much so that many households here do it automatically during that week of each year.

The bleep is normally a flat battery warning, if you take the battery out, maybe it will seem even flatter, so it carries on. However, don't ever ever take the batteries out, it's too easy to forget to replace them.

I had a problem at my old house in that these rotten little bastard flies/midges took to flying inside the sensor to investigate the little light, setting off the alarm. Trouble is the little buggers are only ever active between the hours of 2.30 and 4.30AM. It used to happen every couple of weeks each summer.