Help: smoke detector chirps every 4 minutes

[James]

Hello,

I have a smoke detector that's connected to the central alarm system
(DSC PC2550, currently unmonitored). It came with the house and I am
not very familiar with it and have nobody to ask.

We had a power outage and it started screaming. I unscrewed it and
tried to find how to turn it off, didn't find any switch but it
stopped when the power came back on.

However, now it gives a loud "chirp" about every 4 minutes.

Maybe it's connected with the outage, maybe it's something I did when
trying to "fix" it but it's been going on for almost a day now with no
sign of stopping and is very annoying.

Do you have any ideas how can I stop it?

Thank you,
James.

 

[I-zheet M'drurz]

I have a smoke detector that's connected to the central alarm system ...
However, now it gives a loud "chirp" about every 4 minutes. ...
Do you have any ideas how can I stop it?

Change the battery. Even though it's part of the alarm system,
it probably still uses a battery to operate.

That's what it's trying to tell you it needs.

 

[Thund3rstruck]

I-zheet M'drurz Spilled my beer when they jumped on the table and

Change the battery. Even though it's part of the alarm system,
it probably still uses a battery to operate.

That's what it's trying to tell you it needs.

Not completely true. Most that are part of an intrusion/fire alarm
system will not have a battery in them. (They run off the one in the
alarm panel box)

If the OP is talking about one of these, the detector might be
bad...

NOI

 

[Don Phillipson]

I have a smoke detector that's connected to the central alarm system
(DSC PC2550, currently unmonitored). It came with the house and I am
not very familiar with it and have nobody to ask. . . .
However, now it gives a loud "chirp" about every 4 minutes.

Smoke detectors do not last for ever.
Many of them use a tiny amount of
radioactive material and chirp when
this is becoming too weak to be
effective.

 

[Frank Olson]

How do you know it's part of your security system?? Does it set off the
siren when you test it? Hold the button for several seconds as it often
takes the relay a while to actuate. If it doesn't set of the siren in about
15 seconds of continuous alarm, then it's *not* part of your system... It's
more than likely battery operated. Get yourself a new 9 volt "Energizer"...
Replace it every time it's your birthday from here on in. That way it's got
a new battery once a year... unless your birtday's February 29...

 

[John R Weiss]

I have a smoke detector that's connected to the central alarm system
(DSC PC2550, currently unmonitored). It came with the house and I am
not very familiar with it and have nobody to ask. . . .
However, now it gives a loud "chirp" about every 4 minutes.

Is it battery powered? Maybe the battery is low.

 

[Paul Layman]

Am-241 (Americium), use in most smoke detectors, has a half-life
of 432 years. I doubt the decay experienced over evan a 40 year
interval would result in a reduced effectiveness of the detector.

Paul

 

[Guest]

Reminds me of a job I had to go back to after the system was up and running
for a couple months. They complained of a chirping noise from the smoke
detector I just installed. I told them ours don't chirp! But I went over
there anyways. Fact is when I replaced theirs with my smoke I set it in a
towel shelf so I didn't have to set it down. Well months later the battery
died right there. WHOOPS!

How do you know it's part of your security system?? Does it set off the
siren when you test it? Hold the button for several seconds as it often
takes the relay a while to actuate. If it doesn't set of the siren in about
15 seconds of continuous alarm, then it's *not* part of your system... It's
more than likely battery operated. Get yourself a new 9 volt "Energizer"...
Replace it every time it's your birthday from here on in. That way it's got
a new battery once a year... unless your birtday's February 29...

 

[Frank Olson]

Lot's of stories out there like that...

Reminds me of a job I had to go back to after the system was up and running
for a couple months. They complained of a chirping noise from the smoke
detector I just installed. I told them ours don't chirp! But I went over
there anyways. Fact is when I replaced theirs with my smoke I set it in a
towel shelf so I didn't have to set it down. Well months later the battery
died right there. WHOOPS!

 

[George]

Smoke detectors do not last for ever.
Many of them use a tiny amount of
radioactive material and chirp when
this is becoming too weak to be
effective.

The half life of Americium 241 (the radioisotope used in smoke detectors) is
458 years so usually that would not be the issue. Typically smoke detectors
act up because they are dirty and if battery powered the battery is low.

 

[George]

Reminds me of a job I had to go back to after the system was up and running
for a couple months. They complained of a chirping noise from the smoke
detector I just installed. I told them ours don't chirp! But I went over
there anyways. Fact is when I replaced theirs with my smoke I set it in a
towel shelf so I didn't have to set it down. Well months later the battery
died right there. WHOOPS!

When I was remodeling the house I installed a couple cheepo battery powered
smoke detectors with the ultimate plan of doing a central panel. When I took
the battery powered one in the kitchen down I apparantly got distracted and
put it on top of a kitchen cabinet (no soffit). A good 2 years later it took
a few days to figure out where the chirp was coming from because the central
station smokes I installed don't chirp.

 

[Nathaniel Lind \(New\)]

It would help if you supplied us with a make and model# for the smoke
detector.

 

[Nathaniel Lind \(New\)]

Some older Ion detectors used Radium 226 instead of Am-241.

 

[Bill Seurer]

You're lucky it was visible. Try finding one of those suckers stored in a
box somewhere.

Or the middle of the night in a home with a couple dozen of them. Ok,
so I'm exaggerating. But it sure does seem that the number of detectors
has gotten excessive in new homes.

And actually, the time one went off in our house it was some kind of
gnats that were attracted by the little light. I vacuumed it out and
dabbed some insect repellent on it and it was OK.

Back when detectors were new I had just gotten home from a vacation with
my parents when their (one and only!) detector chirped just as I walked
under it carrying a big load from the car. It scared the heck out of me
and I jumped and dropped stuff all over the hall...

 

[mike gratton]

Hello,

I have a smoke detector that's connected to the central alarm system
(DSC PC2550, currently unmonitored). It came with the house and I am
not very familiar with it and have nobody to ask.

We had a power outage and it started screaming. I unscrewed it and
tried to find how to turn it off, didn't find any switch but it
stopped when the power came back on.

However, now it gives a loud "chirp" about every 4 minutes.

Maybe it's connected with the outage, maybe it's something I did when
trying to "fix" it but it's been going on for almost a day now with no
sign of stopping and is very annoying.

Do you have any ideas how can I stop it?

Thank you,
James.

Do you have a manual for your system?

http://www.securityonealarm.com/pdf/0180r3.pdf

May help

 

[JayPeeEye]

On 2 Sep 2003 02:49:46 -0700 I replied to [email protected]
(James) on a piece of toilet paper while scribbling their name and
phone number on the bathroom wall in alt.security.alarms

Hello,

I have a smoke detector that's connected to the central alarm system
(DSC PC2550, currently unmonitored). It came with the house and I am
not very familiar with it and have nobody to ask.

We had a power outage and it started screaming. I unscrewed it and
tried to find how to turn it off, didn't find any switch but it
stopped when the power came back on.

However, now it gives a loud "chirp" about every 4 minutes.

Maybe it's connected with the outage, maybe it's something I did when
trying to "fix" it but it's been going on for almost a day now with no
sign of stopping and is very annoying.

Do you have any ideas how can I stop it?

Thank you,
James.

The outage may have sent the detector into a test mode. Check your
manual to be sure or contact the installer.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you think you know me, you don't.
.........Satirically yours
**
Worst feeling in the world? Sliding down
a 51 foot razorblade into a pool of Gin.

Best feeling in the world? Watching your nemesis Sliding
down a 51 foot razorblade into a pool of Gin.--GroveGnome
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Mad Mac]

Is there a back-up battery in it? Some of these do that "chirp" when the
battery is low, suggest you look at that.

 

[Nathaniel Lind \(New\)]

Also could be a system error beep code. Again if you can supply the
make/model# we could use our "knowledge base" to help.

 

[Nathaniel Lind \(New\)]

Detector error, not system error. For example, sensitivity may be out of
range, circuit failure (from the outage/power-up), transmit error...