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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.

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.

MsPenguinette ,

I think you said elsewhere that they are new and that they are photoelectric rather than the radioactive ones.

I’m purely taking a shot in the dark but I’m wondering if you should try sealing up the hole(s) in the wall that you made to run electric and to mount the detector

My thinking is that dust might be getting caught up in a tiny draft through that hole and it’s so close to the source that it sets it off. Cause like, if wind hits the side of the house, there can be some positive pressure in the crawlspace which often also means inside the walls.

I guess maybe somehow there could be some stream or condensation as well. If it’s right by the front door and the humidity is high, maybe the hot air from outside meets the AC air and causes a tiny amount of condensation. Or if you live in hellscape temperatures, maybe there could be some vapor generated because of the hot air.

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.

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.

pelletbucket OP ,

update - so I’ve got two more diagnostic steps. I have another detector of the exact same brand in another room, I’m going to switch them and see what happens. if the detector from my kitchen starts going off by the front door, then I’m going to try another brand that I have elsewhere in the house and move forward from there.

TheLimiter ,

It could also be an issue with the wiring if they are interconnected

pelletbucket OP ,

they’re connected to the base station wirelessly is all

Bedlore ,

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

aramis87 ,

Since it went off in your hands, have you tried googling the make and model to see if there are any similar complaints or even recalls for them?

pelletbucket OP ,

they’re replacing it one more time

TheDubz87 ,

Does it get hot by your front door or in direct sunlight? We have a few in my house that go off if our kitchen gets too hot. We had to move them down the hall slightly and they stopped. A really old one we have upstairs, hardwired into the house electric (built in 86) trips if too much steam builds up in the bathroom and let’s loose into the hall.

pelletbucket OP ,

it doesn’t, my house is outside Miami so it’s well designed to prevent direct sunlight from any of the windows.

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

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.

pelletbucket OP ,

omg 😭😭😭 The new detector went on off in the living room where the old one did. switched it to the kitchen, put the kitchen detector in the living room, and the new one went off in the kitchen. wtffff

fulcrummed ,

Sorry, trying to follow here. Three locations: front door, kitchen and living room. 4 detectors: original front door, new front door, kitchen and living room?

Original front door went off in situ and in the living room while holding it?

New front door went off at front door. Swapped NFD with living room - NFD went off in living room.

Moved NFD to kitchen and it went off in there too?

Where are the K and LV detectors now? Have any of those gone off anywhere in the house? Are THEY functional? (Sorry if you already said, I’m trying to piece the bits together and mighta missed that)

pelletbucket OP ,

three detectors. front and living room are the same place. but I’m getting one more replacement to check

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.

CaptainBlagbird ,
@CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world avatar

Did you open one up yet? That might give you a clue 🤔

E.g. I don’t know exactly how wide the gaps are, but here it looks like small insects could get in. Maybe you have another problem than smoke 🫣

pelletbucket OP ,

a spider could absolutely crawl through the grading over the detector portion. these are under warranty from my security company, so I’ve held off on disassembling one but I will eventually

SzethFriendOfNimi ,

Depends on what kind of detector it is but alot of them use small amounts of radiation and a detector that triggers when the number of particles detected drops below some level.

How smoke detectors work

That being the case any particulate large enough to interrupt the particles could cause it to go off.

For example high humidity misty water from a shower wafting over a detector placed over the bathroom door, etc.

SteveKLord ,
@SteveKLord@slrpnk.net avatar

Try replacing the batteries. That’s often the reason for this type of thing.

pelletbucket OP ,

as stated, as soon as I replaced the battery it started alarming immediately so I replaced the entire detector and it’s still doing it

qjkxbmwvz , (edited )

AFAIK in the USA you can’t have the main batteries be replaceable (I think an aux battery for wireless functions is allowed…).

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

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