Beeping can't find the reason

[HeyBub]

Maybe he's an engineer; the don't idle well. If engineers look a little blury, that's because they're vibrating.

[N8N]

You say "vibrating," I say "high-RPM camshaft."

Oh, since you're up, can you get me some more coffee please?

nate

[Larry Fishel]

Hmmm... On our microwave, if you let it finish, it will beep every few minutes to remind you there's something in there until you open the door... Of course, in this case, it's the same sound it normally makes when it finishes, which is pretty obvious.

[aemeijers]

Mine gives up after awhile. Figures I died or something.

[Hank]

Awhile back I had problems with beeping in this case it was traced back to the smoke detector and was happening more and more frequently. I tried changing the battery no luck. Then when all else failed I got the detector's specs and found something I never knew in the many years and multiple houses I have had with smoke detectors. It seems that manufacturer calls for you to vaccum the detector every year or so. The reason being that dust will sometimes accumulate on the ion sensor in the detector and it thinks there is smoke. I vaccumed the detector and problem cured. Hey they had been installed for 8 years. I vaccumed them all. email response not expected but to respond remove .uk at end TIA Hank

[hallerb]

Turn MAIN BREAKER OFF, does the beeping stop?

I had FIOS just a few months and came home to beep alarm every 5 minutes.

What a PIA, Verizon wanted to charge me 50 bucks for a replacement battery on a new install only months old.Claimed there was no warranty.

My box beeped for 2 weeks till the replacement finally arrived...

[HeyBub]

Same with computers. After you hoover the innards, turn the hose around an blow.

You'd think the goddamn computer just elected a new Pope!

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

That'd work if EVERY beeping device followed that 2-minute rule.

[snip]

[Robert Green]

I thought what I was describing was obvious, but it's clear I needed to be more specific. You have to time YOUR device first, and not assume they all beep at 2 minutes which is what I think you thought I was saying. That's why I suggested a stop watch. They are used to time things. I assumed people would realize they had to measure the time between the two beeps on their *own* device, and not some guy on the net looking for an as-yet unknown device. You can never be too specific for Usenet, I guess.

Most of the devices I've had to hunt for were *remarkably* punctual. Can you name some devices that are random to the point of not being able to take one "time test" and then use it to predict the next occurrence of a low battery beep? That's NEVER been the case for me. In fact, most are either

30 secs or 1 minute.

Most of these timers depend on an RC circuit charging/discharging. While that sort of timing drifts too much over time to make a reliable clock, the

30 to 120 sec intervals involved with smoke alarms and low battery alerts have been quite repeatable and predictable, at least as far as my locating them is concerned.

But I imagine there could be some exceptions and if you've run across some, I'd like to know about them because they would certainly be the odd stand outs and not what you would expect.

Next time you have a low-battery situation where something's beeping, take out your stop watch and measure the time it takes between two beeps. I'm pretty sure you'll find that the cycle is repeatable enough for the unit to beep within a second or two of its previous chiming (unless the room temperature is changing at something like 10 degrees a minute). Being able to anticipate the next beep precisely makes locating the errant unit far easier than standing around simply waiting for it. Try it. You'll see.

-- Bobby G.

[Kurt Ullman]

FWIW, it must have been a low battery because after about three days, it has stopped completely. Either that or my wife was right and the guy we are renting the condo from got in while we were out and changed the battery on the webcam in our bedroom (grin).

[Steve B]

sigh............

Like others here, I guess I didn't make myself clear, so I will try one more time .............

Take ten minutes ....................

Listen for the beep .................

go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ........................

go closer ..........................

wait for it to beep again ......................

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ............... if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

if you haven't found it, go closer ............................

wait for it to beep again ................................

if you haven't found it, go closer ......................

wait for it to beep again ...............

HTH, but I doubt it.

Steve

wait for it to beep again ...............

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try that next time something starts beeping.