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what invisible thing could set off my smoke detector?

(I have carbon monoxide detectors that are not going off)

I have smoke detectors that are incorporated into my home alarm system. The other day, the one by my front door went off for no apparent reason, twice, and when I changed the batteries, it started alarming again immediately.

there was absolutely no reason for it, there were no open windows or doors nearby, it just went off. so, my alarm company replaced it. installed the new smoke detector yesterday and… it just went off again. completely different smoke detector.

there’s absolutely nothing in my house that could produce carbon monoxide, but I have separate CO detectors anyway that aren’t going off. there’s no smell, there’s nothing visible, and these are those electro optical photoelectric style ones.

10_0 ,

Heat or carbon monoxide. Check what type of detector you have, it could save your life

Bedlore ,

I had trouble with them going off in humidity, they were past their expiry date so replacing them fixed the issue.

grasshopper_mouse ,
@grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve set one off while dying my hair.

wuphysics87 ,

I have set off smoke detectors with a power washer and with saw dust

Septimaeus ,

Does anyone in your house vape?

bokherif ,

Vapes don’t trigger traditional alarms

intensely_human ,

They also don’t produce invisible results

skulblaka ,
@skulblaka@startrek.website avatar

They will trigger a laser alarm though. Depends what type of fire alarm you have. I have a laser alarm in my house and if I open the bathroom door too quick after a shower the steam can even trigger it.

Septimaeus ,

My partner’s vape triggers ours www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us/…/KN-COSM-IBA/

Septimaeus ,

I resolved it by installing an air purifier in the bedroom where she vapes. But agreed, her vape isn’t invisible (though I think some e-liquids are) and OP didn’t mention so it’s low probability in this case.

Etterra ,

They are probably both about the same age and need replacing. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have a finite lifespan, no matter how often you change the batteries. Fortunately they’re not all that expensive, just get new ones. I had the same problem in my apartment last year, and the carbon monoxide detector was over 10 years old. So they just replaced it, problem solved.

todd_bonzalez ,

Interestingly enough, smoke detectors get more sensitive as they get older, but eventually they just stop working.

If your smoke detectors go off every time you cook, it’s time to replace them.

Kazumara ,

so, my alarm company replaced it. installed the new smoke detector yesterday and… it just went off again.

Nice theory but it’s disproven by OP’s initial text

pelletbucket OP ,

I think he’s trying to say that maybe they sent me a new detector that was just as old as the old one, but they didn’t

pelletbucket OP ,

I’ve had the first detector for like 5 years and the second had a manufacture date from about a year ago

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit ,

I need to replace a set of expired smoke detector at my elderly parents’ house. They’re too old to have alarms going off in the middle of the night just because the wind blows.

Yet, Amazon only seem to sell ones with photo-electric sensors, and many reviews complain about over-sensitivity with dust, and under-sensitivity when the room is clearly full of smoke.

Additionally, the ones with sealed 10 year batteries - many reviews report a battery life of 2 years or so in practice, with increased false positives as battery life runs down. So now, they have to replace whole units rather than just batteries.

What happened to good old ionizing smoke detectors with 9v batteries that needed replacing every 2 years or so?!

Pacattack57 ,

Have you tried driving to the store?

Shard ,

Spend a bit more on UL approved brands, those tend to be more resilient to dust.

Photoelectric type is better for home use as your typical fires are smouldering, which photoelectrics are better at catching.

Here’s a deep dive if you’re interested youtu.be/DuAeaIcAXtg

pelletbucket OP ,

so the other brand I have in my house, I’ve been very happy with. First Alert combination smoke and carbon monoxide. The only improvement they’ve made is that it runs on AA instead of 9V (I’m pretty sure my smoke detectors were the only reason I was keeping 9 volt around the house anymore), and you can slide the battery tray out without removing the detector so you can disable the alarm and replace the batteries without even having to take it down

Bertuccio ,

Are they networked? Mine are somehow connected and the one that beeps doesn’t always seem to be the one that detected the issue.

pelletbucket OP ,

they are networked, wirelessly, but one won’t set another off. they will set the base station off, as if my burglar alarm has been tripped. also, my system will tell me exactly which smoke detector went off

Jimmyeatsausage ,

High humidity can cause them to go off as well. Used to use a cool air humidifier in our kids’ room at night and had to stop because it would eventually set the alarm off.

Timecircleline ,

Are they Kidde? I’ve had 3 photoelectric Kiddes that started failing and going off randomly. I’ve been slowly replacing all of mine.

The builder installed them. Occasionally walking through our neighbourhood we hear other people’s going off too.

IHawkMike ,

I found it amusing that these posts were adjacent.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/43f70e3b-36e1-427c-b025-1183b404d255.jpeg

fulcrummed ,

Have you ruled out other types of fumes? Eg fresh paint, perfume, scented oil diffusers etc.

pelletbucket OP ,

yeah I’m autistic so i can smell that shit a mile away

Hikermick ,

Might be worth buying an infrared thermometer to see if there is wiring overheating in your walls. I’m not an electrician but i wonder if it’s something then can happen sporadically such as if there is something drawing a lot of power that turns on/off. There are inexpensive ones out there and they can be handy to have around.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA ,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

I’ma show this to my wife the next time the smoke thing beeps as an excuse to get a fancy new thermometer.

Bytemeister ,

Some newer (in the last 10 years) smoke detectors use an infrared sensor to detect fire as well as smoke, and it may be going haywire off a reflection of the sun, or intense heating of a spot within its detection area.

If you can, borrow a FLIR or infrared camera and check the area when the detector goes off.

If you post your model of smoke detector, it would be easier to tell if it has this feature.

qjkxbmwvz ,

What country? AFAIK in the US you can’t make the batteries replaceable. If they are wirelessly linked they can have auxiliary batteries for that, but (I believe) that’s different than the main battery…

EDIT: I seem to be thinking of California, maybe not all of US.

otherbarry ,

It’s the same here in New Jersey, or at least the city I’m in. Recently a fire inspector came by the condo building I was living in & failed ~ 60% of the units because they still had the old style replaceable battery smoke detectors. Apparently going forward we are/were supposed to be using sealed battery smoke detectors & replace them entirely every ~10 years when they stop working.

EDIT: Not sure if that’s OP’s problem unless their alarm company is so cheap that they keep giving OP really old detectors to replace with.

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