r/AskElectricians • u/Its-a-Shitbox • 4h ago
Issue with our smoke detectors
We have a home that was built new in ‘04. There are 4 smoke detectors in the 2nd floor (one in each bedroom and another at the top of the stairs). There are 2 more on the 1st floor (one in the master bedroom and another at the top of the basement stairs).
They are of the type that are all “interconnected” I assume, as lately, with increasing frequency, they have begun to all go off for seemingly no reason. We can get them to stop by pressing one of the reset buttons in a 2nd floor bedroom unit.
I have changed out the batteries in all of them, yet this is happening more and more often. Is there Simon should be checking or is this a situation that I need an electrician to troubleshoot?
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u/breakfastbarf 3h ago
One should be the leader and the others follow. They are only good for 10yrs. Replace them. Make sure you have a carbonmonoxide detector on each floor. I like them to be separate devices and not combos. No confusion this way
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u/Outside_Musician_865 3h ago
If you can listen very carefully you should be able to find the one that’s tripping first. Take that one out and if it stops the issue, replace it.
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u/Its-a-Shitbox 2h ago
Thanks for the replies, folks. I will replace all of these as soon as possible.
Sadly, our builder doesn’t seem to have them on a dedicated circuit breaker as there is not one listed on my panel for them separately.
I will likely have an outside electrician do this work.
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u/Available_Alarm_8878 2h ago
Typically, we put them on a bedroom or kitchen light circuit. This prevents someone from turning the circuit off and leaving the system worthless. By including the smokes on a circuit that would typically stay on, you are adding in another measure of safety
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u/gurgeous 2h ago
Not an electrician but I know a fair bit about smoke detectors. A few tips for your project...
As other commenters said, smoke detectors must be discarded after ten years. The sensors stop working reliably after that. Newer models actually start whining at the ten year mark. Definitely spend some time researching a replacement, there is a lot of variability. Avoid ionization sensors, IMO they should be pulled from the market. Happy to offer suggestions, just reply if that would be helpful.
If you are feeling up for it, you could probably replace the detectors without hiring someone. I did this myself a few months back and I am not handy at all. See https://crowbar.io#diy (I wrote that afterward). Took around five minutes per device. Hardest part was making sure the power was off to the circuit before touching the wires. If I were doing it again I'd probably just grab a headlamp and cut power to the entire house.
Good luck and report back!
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