beeping smoke alarm at nite--why is this?

[Mark]

Every single piece of electronic equipment in your house will wear out or become defective at some point. It's just a matter of when. Could be a month, could be 30+ years.

[Retiredff]

That is for new construction. Right or wrong, doesn't mean a thing is older homes.

[Oscar_Lives]

Your house is on fire, you dumbshit!

[Gel]

Max recommended period is 10 years, & thats on assumption are vacuumed fairly regularly.

The US NFPA published paper on this some years ago.

After that time the MTBF[Engineers speak] ratios will become too high as to be unacceptable; and of course by then they'll be

1/cheaper than before 2/have more features 3/probably be smaller!

Follow maintenance instructions in your alarm manual for a long trouble free life.

[mikehuntII]

I am real irritable when something or someone wakes me up. That thing would have been tossed out on the lawn the first night, if not smashed. Unless there is a dead backup battery, Replace it and get a good nights sleep.

[chuck yerkes]

And if she builds a new house, that will be pertinent.

If indeed, it was taken down and out and inspected and not checked while twisting it and standing tippy toe on a chair.

Mine are hardwired. When they beeped (ALWAYS at 3AM), I learned that there WAS a battery. But I had to pull the wire off first. At 3AM, I moved to the guest room and let it beep. Figured out the wiring when I could focus my eyes.

[George Wenzel]

If you dispose of it correctly, it goes to a hazardous waste disposal facility.

Nope, only ionization-based detectors. Photoelectric detectors don't have any radioactive material in them.

Sounds like paranoia to me. The danger posed by the radiation from a smoke detector is miniscule, even if you take the detector apart and swallow the radioactive material.

Some background:

"As long as the radiation source stays in the detector, exposures would be negligible (less than about 1/100 of a millirem per year), since alpha particles cannot travel very far or penetrate even a single sheet of paper, and the gamma rays emitted by americium are relatively weak."

And from the Aussies

"The radiation dose to the occupants of a house from a domestic smoke detector is essentially zero, and in any case very much less than that from natural background radiation. The small amount of radioactive material that is used in these detectors is not a health hazard. On the other hand, the ability of domestic smoke detectors to save life and property has been demonstrated in many house fires."

What's more likely to be a danger to you - a tiny bit of radioactive material in a smoke detector, or a fire in your house?

I'm sure that people who die in house fires also have that equipment. For some reason, it doesn't seem to work as well as a smoke detector mounted to the wall.

Yup, sounds like paranoia to me.

Unfortunately, the American government hasn't discovered a way to outlaw stupidity.

Regards,

George Wenzel

[Colbyt]

The right to be stupid is guarantied by the Constitution unfortunately the same fools are also allowed to vote.

Colbyt

[George E. Cawthon]

MTBF simply means mean time between failures. What are they saying? the MTBF is 10 years? So what, do you throw away everything that goes past the MTBF?

Anyway, my 120V unit is just f>

[George Wenzel]

No, but given that smoke detectors are safety devices, it's prudent to replace them periodically, to minimize the chance of them not working when they're required.

That may be, but the chances of a 28-year old smoke detector failing to work properly in a fire are greater than the chances of a new detector failing. Smoke detectors are the cheapest form of life insurance.

Regards,

George Wenzel

[Zemedelec]

Unfortunately, the American government hasn't discovered a way to outlaw

The right to be stupid is guarantied by the Constitution unfortunately the same fools are also allowed to vote.

Colbyt

What in hell does this have to do with a malfunctioning smoke alarm?

I had a similar problem except it only whooped when I washed my hair. Turned out this was an outmoded smoke alarm I hadn't noticed when I bought the house, and it read "steam" as "smoke." I had it removed and that was that--the up to date alarms never have given me trouble.

zemedelec

[Gel]

All smoke alarms are dumb & can't differentiate between smoke + steam.

Its why in UK only fixed point Heat Alarms are allowed in Kitchen.

[chuck yerkes]

Well if you guys would stop BOILING everything, it would be less of a problem :)

[#]

Is that how Bush got into office?

[Oscar_Lives]

No, that's how Clinton got to stay in office even though he was impeached.

[Don Klipstein]

[Retiredff]

The problem is that you don't know if they are losing their effectiveness or not. It might look brand-new after 20 years, but when that time comes and it is 'needed', it may not work. That is why there is now a recommended 10-year life span on them. Don't risk it.