AboutFred P. Wessells Expertise I can provide advice regarding most aspects of home and personal security & safety, as well as just about anything related to computer security. Lighting to locks to windows and more. I DO NOT WANT QUESTIONS ON ALARM SYSTEMS, other than common smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. This is not my area of expertise. How to keep from needing an alarm system is more in my area!
Experience I have worked in the industry for 18 years as a security officer, feature writer and editor for a national security magazine and as a security consultant.
Publications Security Technology & Design magazine, Access Control magazine, Locksmith Ledger magazine, several community newspapers and legal newsletters.
Question We have BRK 7010B smoke alarms that go off randomly. Las night they went off twice for a period of 15-20 seconds. They seem to go off(more often) when its humid or raining, but not consistently. Is this a common issue. and what can be done about it?? We had them replaced once already as its a problem. please help as its problematic...
Answer First thing to find out is to contact the municipality you live in and determine if code requires you to have hardwired detectors. If it does, then try contacting this company: http://www.electricsuppliesonline.com/brk59phacpos.html
Ask them if they have a clue what's causing this, since they are a major seller of this system. My guess is the typical: power surges, power spikes, brownouts, blackouts, etc. all will set off hardwired alarms randomly. The very dense weather pattern that comes with rain and humidity also can set them off. This is THE reason I do not like hardwired alarms.
If code doesn't require hardwired alarms, consider replacing them with battery-powered detectors. Kidde is my preferred vendor for such things. One yahoo said I must be a shuckster for Kidde. I'm not, but I've worked with their products for more than 20 years, and they are extremely reliable. I have a small home, and at the top of my basement wall between the furnace and the staircase to the kitchen I have a Kidde combo carbon monoxide/smoke detector that runs on two AA batteries. Works wonderfully. Change the batteries yearly. A green light tells you it's working. IF, God forbid, it ever goes off, a voice tells you whether it's CO or smoke. Not sure why. You can see smoke. You cannot see or smell CO, so maybe that part is a very good idea. If CO is present, open windows, get OUT of your house and call 911.
Then I have a regular smoke detector in the hallway outside my two bedrooms, which runs on one 9V battery. Change batteries annually. Don't put detectors near your bathroom (because of steam). The combo detector costs about $50, the regular ones are around $20. But the most important thing is to ensure you meet code.
