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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.

IHawkMike ,

I found it amusing that these posts were adjacent.

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

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

Fermion , (edited )

Look for an expiration date. Radionucleotide style detectors end up failing with false positives when they reach end of life. You might need to have all the old ones replaced.

pelletbucket OP ,

I used the wrong word, but this is a photoelectric detector. The manufacturer date is less than one year ago

Fermion ,

Sorry, I must have skimmed too quickly and missed that.

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

scrubbles ,
@scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech avatar

Mine went off in high humidity when I showered and forgot to turn on the fan

everett ,

I thought of this one too. “Photoelectric” smoke detectors are a thing, and it’s good to know if that’s the kind you have.

pelletbucket OP ,

thing is, it’s the smoke detector farthest from my shower, and only the third time it went off was anywhere near a time that I had showered.

Catoblepas ,

I’d call the fire department to ask them to come out and make sure that there’s not anything slow burning that’s hidden in the walls. Be sure to mention two separate smoke detectors have been going off. Even if that’s not what it is they’ll be fine with coming out to check.

KoboldCoterie ,
@KoboldCoterie@pawb.social avatar

Anecdotally, when I was a kid, we had an electrical issue wherein a short or something was causing wires to slowly melt through their jacket, inside the wall. It was triggering smoke detectors, but we couldn’t see or smell anything. Fire department came out and found it, but if we’d ignored it, it almost definitely would have been a huge house fire eventually. Definitely second this advice. It doesn’t cost anything to have them come look.

Max_P ,
@Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me avatar

In my first apartment, I had a smoke detector that was mains powered. The wire metals weren’t compatible and eventually the wirenuts burned and cut off power to half the room. The smoke detector’s wires were all burnt up. It never alarmed unfortunately so I only learned about it when half the room just went dark. That could absolutely have turned into an electrical fire.

Definitely worth getting it checked.

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.

spittingimage ,
@spittingimage@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve had a photoelectric alarm set off by steam from a dryer in the next room, through a closed door.

pearsaltchocolatebar ,

That’s why I don’t understand why a ton of hotels have no bathroom vent fan, and photoelectric detectors within feet of the bathroom door.

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

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.

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

Dust maybe? Dust can have the same particles as smoke.

Philote ,

I second the dust. Dust can collect on the sensor and trigger the alarm. You can try vacuuming or using a compressed air cleaner, or just replace.

pelletbucket OP ,

this is a brand new smoke detector. it’s all up in the original post

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

That itself could be its own reason. Manufacturing isn’t 100% perfect.

grasshopper_mouse ,
@grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve set one off while dying my hair.

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.

wuphysics87 ,

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

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

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