Smoke detectors for the elderly

Details on exactly how you did it, what kind of relay (serial number?), etc, crude schematic (via your website), etc?

Thanks!

David

Reply to
David Combs
Loading thread data ...

Sounds REALLY good. (Maybe can also hook the computer UPS's output into it too.)

Specific details?

And maybe even crude (or not so crude) schematic and/or pictures, avail of course not here (ascii!) but via ptr to your website?

Or if no website, then reply to our emails to you with that stuff attached?

THANKS!

David

Reply to
David Combs

For those of us interested in such things (Fourier stuff, filters (at least buying of them, etc)), PLEASE say MUCH more about your setup, how you did it, where you got the parts, etc, etc.

Thanks!

David

Reply to
David Combs

Brand? (Maybe they make a home-model? or a LARGE-HOME model?)

David

Reply to
David Combs

This discussion is about a combined forced air heating and cooling system. In a typical installation the air first passes through a squirrel cage fan, then the heat exchanger, then the cooling coil which is often A-shaped. At the beginning of the heating season there is frequently a burning smell from dust, etc. that have accumulated on the heat exchanger or coil during the off-season.

Reply to
Bob

When a house has central AC, there is typically an evaporator installed over the furnace. Since the tubes and fins are shaped some what like a capital A, they are fondly called A-coils. The term "coil" is because the early evaporators and condensors were coils of copper tubing.

There are also W-coils, though they look more like M-coils.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

It's also against code.

One should NEVER tamper with the insides of a life-safety device. Find the right device for the right purpose.

Reply to
G. Morgan

Unless, of course, there doesn't appear to be a "right purpose" device and the alteration improves the function for the specific purpose.

Which specific Code section are we violating here? Manufacturers' warranties, etc., sure, but I'm not sure Code covers modifications for purpose.

Reply to
dpb

I am

110.3(B)
Reply to
gfretwell

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: ...

If a function can't be achieved w/ off-the-shelf components then that's saying complying w/ Code overrules accomplishing the task. That's an over-application of the Code w/ the letter overruling the intent.

Reply to
dpb

NFPA 72. I don't have the reference in front of me, but it states that no modifications are to be done to life-safety devices.

Smoke detectors and all other parts of a fire alarm go through a rigorous testing by UL to get listed. Once you tamper with one, it's no longer the same device - hence not to code.

I'm not saying a DIY'er with a good handle on electronics can not make it work. But for practical purposes, it's just not a good idea. You may end up with a device that does not do it's job, and when lives are at stake.... Well, you get the picture.

Reply to
G. Morgan

They sell 90db (the point at which hearing is damaged) smoke alarms with a strobe light so you can't say there are no solutions available. If you can't hear a 90db horn in your bedroom 100db probably won't help much.

Reply to
gfretwell

I argued against the "NEVER" under any circumstances not the specific.

Saying there are always solutions available is like the guy arguing that the patent office should have been closed because everything had already been invented.

--

Reply to
dpb

G. Morgan wrote: ...

Yeah, and in specific circumstances one may end up w/ a device that serves the purpose better than the original would have...well, you get the picture... :)

Again, I'm not saying it's a wily-nily sorta' thing and I'd certainly not recommend futzin' around w/ grandpa's auxiliary breathing apparatus... :)

Reply to
dpb

You forgot the slash coils "/". *snicker*

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

That is why we have 90-4, to deal with those cases where there is no other solution ... but this isn't one of them.

Reply to
gfretwell

Didn't forget them. I also didn't forget the | coils, or the - coils. Just figured they weren't relevant at the moment. I also didn't forget the 0 coils.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Ever work on any of those old condensers that looked like tombstones? One motor and a blade on either end which pulled air in from either side and blew it out through the coil which was like an inverted "U". I think they were made by York but I'm not sure.

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

When did this thread get re-ignited, and why is it about furnaces now? (-: Anyway, Dave, Bob has given you the answer. I'll try to explain further, and no doubt get something wrong, but hey, that's how we learn.

The "A coil" is a very much like the fin & tube constructions you see on the back of refrigerators or inside freezers. Because space in furnaces is tight, instead of a large rectangular grid, they fold it over to increase the surface area. Warm air from the house is passed over these finned tubes filled with cold refrigerant, warming the refrigerant and cooling the air. In the process of cooling, the air gives up its moisture, which *should* flow into a drain but in sick refrigerators and air conditioners, it often shows up on the floor and sometimes gets blamed on the dog. (-:

This process causes a number of side effects. Moisture often forms on the heat exchanger helping it corrode. The "A coil" also tends to trap, all the dust, dirt and hair that make it through the filter and clot on the fine fin work. The exchanger forms a skin of dust because it's usually moist from condensation.

The first time the furnace runs in the winter that dust, hair, dirt and mite laden "shell" on the exchanger "burns" off - not actually, but it's heated to the "stinkpoint" pretty nicely though. If you've got a couple of dogs and bad furnace filtration, as in no electronic air filter, the smell can get pretty hideous. That's when people call the FD. We've already had one round of such fire calls here in MD, but the calls will start when the daytime temps fall and the houses don't retain enough warmth to pass the night comfortably as they do now.

The warmed up refrigerant goes outside where it's compressed again and the cycle begins again. My A/C was installed pre-internet days and I never would have done it (retrofitted an old furnace) had I known then what I know now (ducts were too small and in all the wrong places to support efficient air-conditioning. It was a really expensive lesson, not only for the cost of the unit, but for the increase in assessment and the cost of window air conditioners, which turned out to be a much better idea in many dimensions, at least for our teeny house.

Note: I'm just a Joe Homeowner, so don't believe anything I say unless you also hear it from one of the many experts here.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Sorry I didn't see this sooner, and in case someone else hasn't replied.

formatting link
I tend to over-snip stuff sometimes and I hate to keep repeating product URLs lest I be accused of shilling or spamming.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.