Anyone Familiar with Hard Wired Smoke Detectors?

[RNajarian]

When I built my house 6 years ago I had hard wired smoke detectors installed. A smart idea to have these, they get their power from the house electrical system and have a battery backup for when the power is out.

OCCASIONALLY the entire system goes off. All the units are wired together so when one unit is triggered the rest all go off, it sounds like an air raid siren. I will find the unit that triggered the alarm, blow compressed air in the system then the alarm will shut off.

Last night the one of the units tripped the entire system. I was able to locate the unit which went off and tried to stop the alarm by blowing compressed air into the unit. No luck. I finally had to physically remove the unit, at that point the alarm shut down BUT the individual unit now operating on battery was still activated.

When I removed the battery it got quiet, I replaced the battery with a new one and it went off again.

QUESTION:
Is it common for a 6 year old smoke alarm to go bad? What could set it off (other than an actual fire)?

I've ordered a new unit, assuming this one is bad.

[carambola]

is it a smoke detector or a combo smoke/CO detector.
and yes, they are often bad right out of the box
this was happening so bad with a certain brand, BRK that we stopped carrying them and switched to all firex.
hope that helps

[Tobra]

they don't last forever, speak to local fire guys, at fire station or fire marshall, and they should be able to tellyou how often they typically need to be replaced.

[MT930]

I have had the exact problem, a blast of air works most of the time, I have had units that have gone bad and were replaced they are also 6 years old.

This started when the units were 4 years old and only went off only in the middle of the night. Can really piss you off.

If the sensors become to dirty they will go off randomly.

Blast them with air if they continue to go off replace them.

[Jagshund]

Our house is 5 years old- same problem. I removed one from upstairs and it hasn't misbehaved since . . . that was a year ago, and just yesterday I started considering putting one back up. There are two within 20 ft. of one another, so it's not too much of a hazard and it has kept me from getting up at 0200 to unplug it.

[Joeaksa]

Mine are same age as the house, just over 10 years old.

Any upgraded versions of these available? I want to be able to plug into the same 110v power source but would like to get something newer tech if I am going to spend the money.

Joe A

[968rz]

They may have dust build up, construction dust floats around for a while after the building is done.
Mine did that about a year or two after building my house and I cleaned them with some low pressure air, never had another issue (been 3 years now).

[RNajarian]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. My unit that was acting up was a Kidde Smoke Detector Model 1275. I saw an active auction on ebay. Current price $19.99 with $9.95 shipping.

I then checked Amazon.com. they had a Kidde Smoke Detector with Memory model 2025. The hard wire plug looked the same as the old model. The unit was $14.95 with free shipping so I bought 2 for less than $30 delivered.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

[MT930]

Subscribed

I am very interested in learning what happens.

Mine are Kidde Smoke Detectors also (Not impressed)

I thought they were Mattel Brand

[notmytarga]

I've had to replace a few of our ten detectors over 7 years. They have a limited life.

You are lucky - yours seem to be ganged correctly. In my last house they were wired but not getting 110V - I pulled them down and checked voltage and resistance and eventually found that the first in the series had a wirenut on the incoming romex and the wire hadn't been stripped - they were never connected! Great inspection by the permit inspector and my prepurchase inspector. In my current home the detectors are getting 110V but they are not connected with three conductor wire so they DO NOT go off together. The house is 10 years old and I suppose that it was a code violation not picked up.

This house also has a too complex security system with intercom and porch cameras etc - but there was no smoke detection on the security system until I added it. Really brainless!!

Someday I want to oversee the construction of my own home - I had fun helping the subs on our pool - and they added spigots, outlets, decking, features to compensate my interest.

[cbush]

Hmmm-I have always had the battery powerd ones. I replace the battery once a year and have no problem. From all these stories, I see no reason to "upgrade"!

[crb07]

Mine are hard wired in as well, about 10-12 years old and I just replaced them both. They all seem to be made in China which really pisses me off but I will save that rant for another day.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I have Firex hard-wired in our place (came with the house) - they're about 7 years old and still test okay but do give annoying false alarms once every couple of months or so. I haven't bothered to replace them yet because I'm still not sure we're staying there and I can deal with an occasional false positive, a failure to test would warrant immediate replacement.

In my experiences, residential-grade smoke/CO detectors aren't all that good and you'll be lucky to get five years out of them reliably. You really should test them every half year when you change the batteries (yes, this goes for hard-wired devices too - I normally do it when you change the clocks for Daylight time - obviously don't rely on this in AZ, but I digress...)

Anyway test them by getting a can of test spray (most better contractor's supply stores have it).

Commercial grade detectors (EST, Simplex, etc.) are far better in terms of their construction and reliability, but most residential owners don't want to invest $5,000 in the associated panels and other hardware. Unfortunately residential-grade stuff is pretty poor these days - and that's not just limited to smoke/CO detectors, it's a function of demand created during the bubble days ("give me the cheapest one you've got!"). I would suspect this will change as market pressures shift in the coming months/years, but it hasn't happened yet that I can see.

[RNajarian]

UPDATE as promised

I ordered 2 Kidde 2040 units ($30 delivered) from Amazon.com. I replaced the defective Kidde 1275 unit with the newer model. Many of the Kidde units can be mixed and matched . I tested the system and all worked well.

I subsequently found an oversupply liquidator of the original Kidde model 1275 units on Ebay. I won a lot of FIVE for $30 delivered.

I noticed some unusual discoloration on the alarms mounting plate, it was yellow as if a hot/warm component of the original smoke detector was in contact on the mounting plate and discolored it.

So with my extra six units I will be replacing the original 7 year old units with the new ones.

I will compare the technical specifics of the two different models. I think the new unit isn't as loud. . .

Stand by for additional updates

[John Rogers]

I am not sure what hardwired units we have (3) in out alarm system but they have all been replaced once in 26 years. They detect everything and once we had a gas fitting under our old cook top crack and the gas build up tripped the one near the kitchen and by the time we got home the fire dept had the front door open, gas shut off and the house ventilating. Our neighbor has the combination to our front door and opened it so they would not have to break in. Once a year we get the house fumigated and we seal the units up very well with large zip bags and have never had that affect them.

[fintstone]

Yes, I had the 1275s as well. They are really quite old for a six year old house. ..Mine were installed when I bought the house over 10 years ago...And I suspect they were put in when the house was built. Over time, they all go bad. I replaced all of mine as they failed with the current version Kidde i2040. They cost me $19.99 each on the internet in 2008, but are less than $10 each now. They replace models 1275, 1275k, and 1275h...as well as some earlier models. They are compatible with the old wiring and mounting...and plug right in. They have additional features (smart hush...which allows you to temporarily desensitize the alarm for up to 8 minutes)...if cooking smoke is setting it off, etc)

[RNajarian]

The National Fire Protection Agency recommends replacing smoke alarms ten years from the date code on the back of the smoke alarm.

My bad unit was manufactured 2002 July 25.

It looks like it died a little early