My smoke alarms work great. I wish I didn't know that.
February 23, 2010 2:46 PM Subscribe
Will ceramic that melted onto the burner cause my smoke alarm to go off? Will it cause any other problems?
The smoke alarms have been going off like crazy when I use the stove. I've tried cleaning the metal things under the burner and it just hasn't worked. Mostly because we've let stuff build up since it wasn't causing a problem. I know, we were stupid, and I've accepted the fact that I'll probably need to buy some more and just start over.
The problem is that we have some ceramic that melted off of a cast iron skillet and is now on the burner. Would that cause any sort of problem if I left it? Will it set off the smoke alarm if the only problem is the ceramic?
Since I'm in an apartment, is replacing the burner and the metal part under it something that they would take care of or would that be something I should just handle myself (because they wouldn't do it or because they'd over charge)?
The smoke alarms have been going off like crazy when I use the stove. I've tried cleaning the metal things under the burner and it just hasn't worked. Mostly because we've let stuff build up since it wasn't causing a problem. I know, we were stupid, and I've accepted the fact that I'll probably need to buy some more and just start over.
The problem is that we have some ceramic that melted off of a cast iron skillet and is now on the burner. Would that cause any sort of problem if I left it? Will it set off the smoke alarm if the only problem is the ceramic?
Since I'm in an apartment, is replacing the burner and the metal part under it something that they would take care of or would that be something I should just handle myself (because they wouldn't do it or because they'd over charge)?
There are 2 types of smoke detectors - ion detecting and photoelectric detecting.
Ion detecting has fewer false alarms in bathroom areas (steam) and photoelectric have fewer false alarms in kitchens (smoke).
The most common/cheaper smoke detectors are ion detecting, hence most ppl get a lot of false alarms in the kitchen :(
Try swapping your smoke detector in the kitchen to be photoelectric and see if that helps.
posted by jpeacock at 4:47 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ion detecting has fewer false alarms in bathroom areas (steam) and photoelectric have fewer false alarms in kitchens (smoke).
The most common/cheaper smoke detectors are ion detecting, hence most ppl get a lot of false alarms in the kitchen :(
Try swapping your smoke detector in the kitchen to be photoelectric and see if that helps.
posted by jpeacock at 4:47 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
If you don't want to replace them, you can remove the stove burner pans, clean them as best you can with a heavy duty pot scrubber and then cover them with aluminum foil before replacing them. The aluminum foil will reflect most of the heat and reduce the smoking of any burned on crud. The foil is easy to replace if you spill something again.
posted by JackFlash at 5:53 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by JackFlash at 5:53 PM on February 23, 2010
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You can use oven cleaner to clean the pans.
Burners generally just plug in on anything but antique equipment. The pans just lift out. Bring them to an appliance repair store and they should be able to sell you new ones. The pans may end up being a universal type replacement that don't exactly match your current pans in which case you'll need to replace all four if you want them to match.
posted by Mitheral at 3:26 PM on February 23, 2010