Meltdown because of a smoke detector

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Nyssarbor
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04 Oct 2021, 10:48 am

The smoke detector is old and replacing the batteries didn't work. I tried everything that a regular person could do to fix the smoke detector including shutting down the power in my entire house. (Using the master breaker) none of it worked so I started screaming. Usually I'm a shutdown type of person so now I feel kind of tired and sick and I'm still stuck in the house with the smoke detector. I don't know what I'm trying to accomplish writing this post. Maybe just want to share my experience. I dont know what to do. Also I'm sure my neighbors think I'm nuts now lol theres no way they didnt hear that scream.


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Blue_Star
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04 Oct 2021, 10:56 am

Iirc, I bashed the last one off the wall when it went bad & wouldn't turn off. I don't need anything near that loud to get me moving. The vol makes it almost impossible to do anything, let alone think enough to leave the house. If I had the skill, I'd mess with it to lower the vol (which I looked up was illegal to do here). Instead, we've always just maintained the one in the bedroom hallway. F having them in the bedrooms or kitchen.



Nyssarbor
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04 Oct 2021, 11:14 am

Yeah I agree with that, I'd smash mine but when I took it off the ceiling the sound started coming out of the wires, crazy.
I agree how loud it is makes it impossible to deal with the problem
Thanks for sharing your smoke detector hatred with me I feel a teeny bit better


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Double Retired
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04 Oct 2021, 11:26 am

You didn't mention how the smoke detector was misbehaving. Is it trying to tell you there is a fire when you know there isn't? Or, is it begging for a new battery and then not happy when it gets one?

First, and perhaps most important: It might be time to replace the thing. If you're not the owner then it might be something you ask the landlord about. If it is wired into the house wiring, proceed with extreme caution, maybe get an electrician--you don't want to cause a real fire.

If it is not wired into the house wiring, and it is sounding the alarm for a fire, and you know--really know--it is wrong, you can silence it by removing the battery. (But then you don't have any smoke detector! That is not good...see "replacing", above! Quickly.)

If it is just crying for a new battery. (Periodic annoying chirp.) Then, try a new battery? If replacing the battery didn't help are you sure the replacement battery was OK?

One thing to check first, though, open it up and see if there is dust or something in there. I once "fixed" a smoke detector by evicting a spider that had taken up residence in it.

Oh. If, by coincidence, this happened when you overcooked something...open a window.


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Nyssarbor
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04 Oct 2021, 11:42 am

It was doing the regular battery chirp, so I replaced the battery and it didnt do anything so I took it out of the ceiling, its plugged into the electrical system, and the wired coming out of the ceiling continued to chirp, I considered just ripping all the wires out of the wall (because of the meltdown not because I actually think that would be a good idea) but I decided against it because it is a rental. I think I need a new decector because the date on mine is 2011. The landlord is coming by later today to fix it. I was just worried I'd have to wait days and completely lost it on the spot at the thought.


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Double Retired
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04 Oct 2021, 12:49 pm

Hooked to the home wiring + battery! :thumright: When it's working OK that's a good combination.


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lostonearth35
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10 Oct 2021, 11:47 pm

When I was in my early 20s and undiagnosed I once had to live in a home where the smoke detector went off constantly whenever someone was cooking. It was the heat and not actual smoke that set it off. We were constantly trying to make it stop by fanning it with a towel only for it to go off again. It drove us all crazy, but we all had to put up with it and the home had strict rules about fire safety, always reminding us how to use an extinguisher or showing us creepy fire safety psfs. It's really no wonder I turned into a psychopathic misanthrope.



Misslizard
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11 Oct 2021, 12:15 pm

Hit one with a broom once.


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