Fire Alarm Question - can anyone help?

A few nights ago a fire alarm in our spare bedroom started to beep during the night. It would beep maybe 4-6 times, with a few seconds separating the beeps, and that was that. My husband replaced the 9-volt battery but the problem continued. Figuring it might be an old battery, we put in a new one. Now the beeping is still occurring (intermittently) at all times of the day and night. My husband thinks it is a problem with the fire alarm itself and told me to call our electrician. I love my hubby but Bob Vila he ain't. Is there anything else we can do to fix this? There must be another homeowner who has had a similar problem! Thanks for any help.

 

Are you sure it's that alarm? When the batteries start to go on ours I've learned to take the one I think it is down, pull the battery and wait. More than once I've been sure I have the right one, only to have the chirp continue cause it's another alarm.

 

Thanks for your response! But yup, we're sure we've got the right one.

 

Sorry, can't say I have any other suggestions then.

 

Check and or replace the batteries in all the alarms in your house. Sometimes, they are wired together, and sometimes, one going weak, will make another churp.

 

How do you take out a FireX 1120-1182 Fire Alarm to replace the entire thing?

 

Have you try vacuuming? Sometimes dirt or an insect can get in there causing it go off. Also check to make sure your battery is good. One time I put in a fresh battery only later to find out the "fresh" battery was dead.

Good luck.

 

I had that problem. Sometimes the smoke/Co detector itself is too old. They have a life of 5 or so years. I have taken mine out and replaced the entire unit.

 

Smoke detectors have a life span. We had to replace ours after 7 years which is the normal lifespan. They will not stop beeping with a new battery when they "expire". I just went to Home Depot and bought new ones - same model as the originals and they plugged right in. Google the brand and beeping and you'll get lots of hits. Very easy fix.

 

One other thought. do you have CO2 detectors? Ones you plug into the wall. These also beep on low batteries and can be evasive to locate when warning beeps are occurring.

 

We replaced all of ours about a year ago - house was about 12 years old then. We weren't having any issues, but know that these things go stupid at about 8-10 years.

Bought the same - yet updated model. Bonus: New ones had battery replacement through the front - so no more disconnecting the thing from the ceiling to replace battery.

Also, they fit the mounting plates already installed, so it was a quick update.

We also did the kid's house (same model) and what a difference! Theirs had badly yellowed due to UV light. Looked bright and fresh - and probably work better.


Went through a big run around with the County about disposal. Yep, even tried taking them to household waste monthly event. They wouldn't take them. Everyone said to put them in the trash (landfill). Even the recycle folks wouldn't take them for the plastic. I suppose if you tore them apart and took out the americium they might take the plastic - but I'm not sure you can get them apart for that.

Since we got a bunch (about 15), we got a price break online - about $9 each.

 

All you have to do is look inside your detector. There will be the date it was manufactured. Ours were exactly 7 years old. I googled the model and found all kinds of info about the expiration/required replacement date which for these models was 7 years. People don't realize the sensors go bad after that many years. It's a cheap fix. We had 3 to replace and they were about $35 each.

 

Batteries go bad, too. The start of daylight savings time is a good time to change the batteries in your alarms. Change your clock...change your battery.