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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.

pelletbucket OP ,

UPDATE: so they kept sending me the same model of smoke detectors so I didn’t remove the old bracket, I would just mount the new detector in the old one. well, today, I see a moth larvae crawling out from behind it. I take the bracket off, and there we are; two moth nests. I think we’ve discovered the issue

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.

mipadaitu ,

Call the fire department, they have detectors that they can use to look for gas leaks and other things that can set off a detector.

You can also call your gas provider. One of those two should be able to track it down, it could be a lot of things, but two different smoke detectors going off in the same location is a huge red flag.

Best case, you have something kicking up fine dust, worst case, you have a smouldering electric fire in your wall somewhere.

Don’t panic, but also do not ignore this.

pelletbucket OP ,

The weird thing is, it alarmed three times in its current position, but when I changed the battery, it started alarming in my hands in a completely different room, which I already had two other smoke detectors in it that weren’t going off.

and there’s no gas. I live outside Miami

Fosheze ,

This makes it sound like it’s probably just a defective detector. Swap it with one that hasn’t been going off and see if that one starts going off too. If it doesn’t then odds are something just failed in it.

You could also just try blowing some air through it to blow out any dust. But it shouldn’t be that dusty after only a year so I’m still leaning towards defective.

bradorsomething ,

Sounds like a bad unit, try replacing it. The fact it’s going off elsewhere and no other detectors go off says it’s the unit.

I missed that you changed units, check your wires.

If the new unit starts going off, you may have a switched wire between your signal (red) and your hot (black) that fried the unit.

pelletbucket OP ,

it’s not hardwired, my security system is entirely wireless

bradorsomething ,

Then some signal from the base unit alerts all units that one detector has gone off, to alarm the home. Either the base unit is sending a false signal, or some outside signal is mimicking the signal.

Personally I’d install a standalone detector in that spot.

pelletbucket OP ,

I’m slowly concluding this might have something to do with my Ring Doorbell and a new Chime I’ve added to that system, or cobwebs. I’ve thoroughly dusted this corner of the wall and ceiling now, and the chime stopped working anyway so

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

teawrecks ,

I don’t think this is what you’re experiencing, but I had an alarm go off randomly for one beep once. Went and looked at it, and a few seconds later a spider crawled out and away from it.

If it’s photoelectric, anything that could scatter light could cause it to go off. Is your house dusty?

pelletbucket OP ,

not particularly, and this one is the closest to my air filter. they’re replacing it one more time, and I’m going to put a security camera on it this time lol

Longpork3 ,

If you’re going to the expense of putting a camera on it, why not take it a little further and slap together an arduino-based sensor suite with some logging? See if you can find any correlations in temp/humidity/gas conc that might help with diagnosis.

pelletbucket OP ,

expense? I’ve got a half dozen used smartphones and webcams laying around

Longpork3 ,

Fair. No arduino kits though?

pelletbucket OP ,

nah I’m more of an end-user type

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.

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

Kit ,

Spiderwebs or insects can mess with the sensors, likewise with dust. Try spraying some canned air inside. Or if it’s a few years old, you may want to replace it.

nezbyte ,

The instructions for my smoke detector recommend spraying the openings with compressed air regularly.

pelletbucket OP ,

now there’s an idea. I live in south Florida and my house was built in the 1950s. I wonder if some spider has decided that the inside of this detector is a good place to hide. blowing it out isn’t going to help though, because I replaced the entire detector and if there’s a spider going in there, they just went back into the new one immediately. I’m going to have to set up a security camera on this thing

Melatonin ,

I used to live in Miami and I had a detector do that. Maybe it’s pollen? There’s a shit ton of weird-ass pollen in Miami.

Bluetreefrog ,

Firefighter here. Brush and gently vacuum your smoke detector. Insects are attracted to the LED and can set off the alarm. They may be very small. Dust can also set it off.

UnH1ng3d ,

A ghost 👻

pelletbucket OP ,

I wish he’d come over and tickle my balls instead of tickling my smoke detector

rustyfish ,
@rustyfish@lemmy.world avatar

Had to scroll way too long to find the right answer.

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.

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.

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