Where there isn't smoke there isn't fire

June 7, 2017 6:07 PM

What is up with my smoke alarm? It chirps once every 12 hours or so; upon hushing it it's fine. Just the one smoke alarm and I did change the battery.

My boyfriend recently set off a smoke alarm and dismantled it (or something, I didn't watch him do it). Since then, it's been chirping every 12 hours or so - I did change the battery already. The green light is on with a red light blinking simultaneously (not replacing the green one) every 5 seconds or so.

I just removed the (fresh) battery and hit the test button to see if that would reset it. Then replaced the battery. The annoying thing is that every night I keep thinking I've fixed it, and every night it wakes me up at 4am with the maddening chirp.

I rent, and contacted my property company yesterday morning. No response yet.

Oh, and I have a separate carbon monoxide detector that's fine - so it's not that. The four other smoke alarms in the apartment are fine and silent.

Any ideas?

posted by chestnut-haired-sunfish to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Is it old? It might be generally expired and continuing to chirp because of that. There may be a date of production or expiration from the manufacturer somewhere on the back or inside the battery compartment.
posted by cobaltnine at 6:22 PM on June 7, 2017 [6 favorites]

We had a similar issue in our last appt. too and it was that the detector was just "old" and needed to be replaced. Most of them have a 10 year or so "active life" but in reality it can be less. Try and get the property company to replace it.
posted by Captain_Science at 6:25 PM on June 7, 2017

Sounds like an expiration notification chirp. The newer detectors that I've seen (in Canada, YMMV) have a "REPLACE BY [YEAR]" sticker on the side, as well as a manufacture date on the back. If you're checking the back, there may also be a legend that tells you what the chirp and light blink pattern means.
posted by CKmtl at 6:42 PM on June 7, 2017

So this is horrifying, but... this kept happening in the middle of the night to us, and The Internet said it could be bugs. And it WAS. Little roaches or spiders or something (it's been a few years, I only remember the vague horrific nature of the problem, not the details). So you might want to have your boyfriend dismantle again and check for creepy crawlies. A quick google confirms that this is definitely a thing.
posted by raspberrE at 7:01 PM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

Spiders kept setting my smoke detector to full alarm mode at random maddening times, I vote old and expiring if just chirping, but you could check for cobwebs inside and such. Detectors are cheaper than your peace of mind, replace it either way.
posted by TheAdamist at 7:13 PM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

Just an aside, if one is going bad, the others were more than likely installed at the same time. I'd have property management replace ALL of them and hopefully they'll snag the ones with the 10 year battery.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:27 PM on June 7, 2017

Apparently malfunctioning electronic safety device, one that costs about $20-50 retail and could save your life? I like troubleshooting things, but safety gear should not get the benefit of the doubt. Replace it with prejudice.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:20 PM on June 7, 2017

Mine did this and it was not bugs, it was just old and singing itself to sleep. I got a new one.
posted by sockermom at 1:28 AM on June 8, 2017

Ours did that and it was dust from a construction project. Vacuumed them out and all was silent.
posted by sarajane at 3:46 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

N'thing that it's time to replace the smoke detector. We've had ones go bad because we painted. Certainly if they're old and have legitimately been set off, it's best to just replace it.

Perhaps you can salvage it by vacuuming it, but smoke alarms are in the perfect spot of the venn intersection between annoying, critical to have in known good working condition, and cheap that I would definitely buy a new one. Hey, you can get a cheap 2-4 pack and replace all your smoke detectors and maybe sleep a bit better.
posted by nobeagle at 7:37 AM on June 8, 2017

The smoke detector at home was doing that last year. Acccording to the manual for mine, the sensor area can cause periodic beeping due to dust and needs to be cleaned out every year or two with compressed air.
posted by Radiophonic Oddity at 8:36 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]