Stupid smoke detectors...

[JulesMaximus]

Our house has 6 smoke detectors in it and a couple of them have failed so I decided to finally replace those.

Now, these are the kind that are hard wired into the electricity of the house with battery backup so I have my wife tell me when I hit the breaker that turns off the lights in the room I'm working in. I get up on the ladder and start removing the old dead smoke detector only to find that the power isn't off to this one (got a mild shock).

Apparently, the smoke detectors are wired into the main breaker and not on any single breaker so now I have to shut the power off to the entire house.

So, I shut off the power and disconnected the one detector and suddenly all the remaining detectors are blaring loudly and continue to go off until I get the new detector wired up. Then, after I turned the power back on, I had to go around and set all the clocks and wait 20 minutes for my DVR to run through its start-up procedure.

Who the hell thought this setup was a good idea?

What a pain in the ass...:roll:

Cliffs:
-Got shocked
-Had to turn off power to entire house
-Was annoyed by blaring smoke detectors
-Only replaced one smoke detector
-No pics of wife

 

[PlasmaBomb]

So the smoke detectors go off when the power is out? As if you wouldn't notice otherwise...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
So the smoke detectors go off when the power is out? As if you wouldn't notice otherwise...

Sorry, I left something out of my original post. They started blaring after I disconnected the one smoke detector.

 

[Unheard]

They are wired together to set them all off at once. When you broke the circuit, it told the other alarms one was going off, and they start blaring. Would you rather the fire be in another part of the house, and you not know because you can't hear the alarm? THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
So the smoke detectors go off when the power is out? As if you wouldn't notice otherwise...

I think the others were blaring because the circuitry wasn't complete with one or more disconnected. I ran into that when replacing one of mine.

Do these have a replaceable backup battery? I think removing the batteries would have silenced them.

Edit: Everyone posting the same thing at the same time.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
So the smoke detectors go off when the power is out? As if you wouldn't notice otherwise...

I think the others were blaring because the circuitry wasn't complete with one or more disconnected. I ran into that when replacing one of mine.

Do these have a replaceable backup battery? I think removing the batteries would have silenced them.

Edit: Everyone posting the same thing at the same time.

Yes, they do. And that probably would have silenced them but then I'd have to go pull the batteries out of 5 detectors and then replace them all when I'm finished. More hassle...

One of the detectors is in my master bedroom and it is about 12' off the floor, we have vaulted ceilings in the master bedroom.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
So the smoke detectors go off when the power is out? As if you wouldn't notice otherwise...

I think the others were blaring because the circuitry wasn't complete with one or more disconnected. I ran into that when replacing one of mine.

Do these have a replaceable backup battery? I think removing the batteries would have silenced them.

Edit: Everyone posting the same thing at the same time.

Yes, they do. And that probably would have silenced them but then I'd have to go pull the batteries out of 5 detectors and then replace them all when I'm finished. More hassle...

One of the detectors is in my master bedroom and it is about 12' off the floor, we have vaulted ceilings in the master bedroom.

I hear ya. The whole process is a PITA. I had to replace one and discovered that it wouldn't play nice with the other. Two round trips to Home Depot at 36 miles each. The configuration of the ones in my home were no longer available. Fortunately, the wiring was common. So, my ordeal consisted of disconnecting the first one with the other one blaring, then hook up the replacement trying to figure out why they're both blaring. Disconnect the replacement, reconnect the bad one. Jump on line to research the problem, go back to Home Depot for a second one and then replace them both. Listening to them going off again, etc. Yaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

Been there done that. I didn't turn off the power though. :toughguy; (Which translates to I did them while it was dark outside and needed light to see)

 

[Jeff7]

So what's the benefit of having hard-wired smoke alarms anyway? It's not like the battery-operated ones tear through 9V's at a frightening pace.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
So what's the benefit of having hard-wired smoke alarms anyway? It's not like the battery-operated ones tear through 9V's at a frightening pace.

If one goes off, they all go off -- important in some houses. They also make some with strobe lights, so that hearing impaired people are notified.

 

[Unheard]

"I got a smoke alarm at home, but really it's more like a 9-volt-battery-slowly-drainer." -- Mitch Headberg, RIP

 

[fatpat268]

I bought one of those smoke detectors with the 10 year battery inside. I won't have to worry about it for another 8 years.

 

[Baked]

Somebody tell me the point of having smoke detectors in the house. Is it for people with no sense of smell?

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Baked
Somebody tell me the point of having smoke detectors in the house. Is it for people with no sense of smell?

Or if you're sleeping, or in another room, or have a cold, or many other reasons. They're a pretty good idea to have around. Speaking of which, I need to get some for my new house.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Apparently, the smoke detectors are wired into the main breaker and not on any single breaker so now I have to shut the power off to the entire house.

Not likely.

Pics of 14 or 12 ga. wrapped around the hot bus bar.