AboutDave Neuweiler Expertise The design and application of burglary and fire systems for homes and businesses. Helping alarm owners understand how their system works. Helping to troubleshoot false alarm problems. Questions about monitoring issues.
Experience Over a quarter century in the industry. Experience in installation, service, and monitoring centers. Training manager for a national protective services company; director of education and training for a national trade organization for for alarm dealers.
Question The troubleshooting section says nothing about this condition. The new models I installed are Firex Model AD. The previous smoke alarms were Kidde 1275.
My wife is ready to leave since we aren't getting any sleep. Please help.
Thanks.
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Followup To
Question -
I've noticed several inquiries in this forum about smoke alarms that chirp at night for no apparent reason. Most state that they have replaced the battery, but the night chirps continue. You have suggested that the smoke alarms need cleaning, which is a good suggestion. However, I have a new challenge:
I have eight interconnected smoke alarms with battery backup. Chirping has occurred for the last week anywhere from midnight through 8:00 am. Each time, one of the alarms chirps about once every 10-15 seconds three or four times, then stops. An hour or two later, an alarm chirps again. I cleaned all of the alarms and replaced all batteries. At least one of them still chirps at night. I disconnected AC and the batteries of some that I thought were guilty, at least one of the remaining live ones still chirped. There is no indication as to which alarm is chirping. The green light stays constant and the red light flashes every minute (indicating AC power is connected).
Next, I replaced ALL eight smoke alarms with brand new, still sealed in their box smoke alarms and used new batteries. This eliminates the question of whether or not dust is the culprit. Guess what? The new smoke alarms are chirping just like the old ones!
Please help! This is a nightmare...several nights of lost sleep. I do not want to disconnect every single smoke detector for fear of my family's safety, but I don't know what else to do!
Answer -
Hello Matthew, and welcome to the growing number of folks reporting similar issues with their smoke detectors.
I am at a loss to explain why the detectors chirp on a schedule -- from midnight to 8 am, or why it's happening with new ones.
Since you have just replaced all of your detectors, you should have the manufacturer's paperwork that came with them. Is there a troubleshooting section there? Could you tell me the make and model of the detectors?
I'll try to figure this out, but for now, I am as baffled as you.
Best Regards,
Dave
Answer Thanks for the additional information.
The green LED indicates AC power, and the red LED blinks about once a minute -- indicating normal operation.
I'm guessing that something other than the smoke detectors is disturbing your sleep.
Do you have a carbon monoxide detector in the house? If so, it could have a low battery, and can chirp away.
