The fire alarm and the office chair

We have three mains powered, battery backed, linked fire sensors. Last week - beep, beep, beep - then silence for several minutes. Usually the sign that a battery needs replacement. None of the three are flashing, so difficult to work out which one is complaining and the complaint is irregular anyway.

So I decided they had been in a while, get three new batteries, so a special trip to a local centre to get them, plus a spare. This after checking the alarm's leaflet and seeing alkaline PP3.

Got back, more reading of the leaflet, to see how to remove head to replace the batteries, then steps and remove an head. Remove head and search inside in vain, to find a replaceable battery. Reread leaflet and only the none mains version uses a PP3. Mains version uses a none replaceable lithium. Admit defeat, put it all back and decide to ring supplier, because it suggests it has a 10 year guarantee.

I delayed making the call until yesterday morning, sat down in my office chair, in the small bedroom where I have a bit of office like space to make the call.

Chair mechanism for the nth time slipped, so chair tries to deposit me on the floor. Its a hydraulic up/down, with a lockable sprung lean forward/ back. Lean lock keeps slipping.

It is a chair I was given 20 years ago from an office which was closing down. I had a quick look at the locking system before, but ran out of time before any progress.

Yesterday, I looked at buying replacement - around £70 plus the council disposal cost another £20 and decided to have another go at fixing it. Four hours later, I was still at it lean springs had both broken, locking system worn out from slipping, hydraulic up/down fine, so I decided to simply permanently fix the lean system, so it would no longer move. Weld up a tubular T bracket, between under seat bracket and hydraulic stem. That took the remainder of the day and too late to ring about the fire alarm problem.

6am this morning, the beep-beep-beep starts again. Just a short series, still not long enough to be certain where it is coming from, but....This time I think I know where it is actually coming from. A battery powered fire alarm in my loft workshop/radio shack.
Reply to
Harry Bloomfield
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in most cases the alarm itself is supposed to be replaced after 10 years, so if they can make the lithium cell last that long, there is not much point in making it replaceable - it might only encourage people to carry on using an alarm that has lost sensitivity.

Reply to
John Rumm

Alexa, which is the broken fire alarm. Sorry I don't know that... Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

I've got a fire alarm older than that and it still goes off when you do toast in the kitchen downstairs. it alls bleeps when its battery is going down, usually in the middle of the night.. Its only those with radioactive sources that wear out I think. How do the others work? Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

Harry Bloomfield explained :

Nope, still wrong. The one in the loft doesn't have a replaceable battery at all. It says it is good to 2024. So now I am completely stumped as to what is giving out three beeps at very irregular times. If only it would repeat its beep long enough to track it down.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Most are the ionisation type...

Optical detection or heat detection.

(the optical ones also "age" due to dust etc, and the heat detectors are not effective as general purpose early warning alarms)

Reply to
John Rumm

Just telling my wife about your problem when I saw this and read it out.

She says is it possible thar you have thin walls and its coming from your neighbour's house?

Thought I'd pass it on - you never know, she could be right.

Reply to
Terry Casey

Not thin at all, definitely in the house.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

That's not true of the photoelectric alarms.

Reply to
Jock Green

In our case, after days of looking, it turned out to be the electronic catflap complaining of a low battery.

SteveW

Reply to
Steve Walker

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