Why is it?

[ronk]

Why do the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors always seem to fail in the middle of the night?
0400 this morning and every 30 seconds I got the ear piercing beep beep beep - I couldn't ignore it and to get out of bed and removed the unit - I stuffed it into a coat pocket then rolled the coat around it and put the bundle as far away as possible!

 

[Jollyjoiner]

Would it not have been easier to just flip out the battery to shut it up :wink:

 

[ronk]

Would it not have been easier to just flip out the battery to shut it up :wink:

Unfortunately not!

The unit is fastened together with 4 screws and I was half asleep and didn’t have my specs on.
The battery isn’t a replaceable item - I’ve bought a new one today- It seems they all have integrated / non replaceable batteries.

 

[Jollyjoiner]

Would it not have been easier to just flip out the battery to shut it up :wink:

Unfortunately not!

The unit is fastened together with 4 screws and I was half asleep and didn’t have my specs on.
The battery isn’t a replaceable item - I’ve bought a new one today- It seems they all have integrated / non replaceable batteries.

Arrrr I see you dilemma lol.
Mine are the old 9v battery type so easy to shut them up

 

[buzyg]

Would it not have been easier to just flip out the battery to shut it up :wink:

One of ours started tweeting yesterday. I disconnected it from the mains, removed it from the ceiling, took out the 9v battery and it was still tweeting at me, until I replaced the battery. :? I guess it has a watch battery in there some place as well. :roll:

 

[Mr Tidy]

I had the same problem a couple of years ago with a Carbon Monoxide one - the battery wasn't replaceable.

No idea who thought that was a good idea.

So I replaced it with one that had the normal 9V battery in it!

 

[ronk]

I had the same problem a couple of years ago with a Carbon Monoxide one - the battery wasn't replaceable.

No idea who thought that was a good idea.

So I replaced it with one that had the normal 9V battery in it!

I bought a replacement carbon monoxide detector from screwfix today - It said 2 x 1.5v batteries in the blurb. so I bought it!
Yes when I got it home - it's got them fitted for life 7 years :thumbsdown:

 

[Crazy Harry]

Had one of mine go in the night - which set off all the rest which are mains and iinter-linked. when I found the one with the fault after a couple of hours and no sleep I removed it but the little bastard still kept going off. Buzyg you're right would have thought they had their own inbuilt battery?

The faulty one was a way out of its operating date and all the rest were just in date by a couple of months - nobody said anything about a ten year life span when I bought them

 

[ronk]

Had one of mine go in the night - which set off all the rest which are mains and iinter-linked. when I found the one with the fault after a couple of hours and no sleep I removed it but the little bastard still kept going off. Buzyg you're right would have thought they had their own inbuilt battery?

The faulty one was a way out of its operating date and all the rest were just in date by a couple of months - nobody said anything about a ten year life span when I bought them

Yes - it always seems to be the night!
Prancing about in your pjs or bollock naked and half asleep up step ladders is no fun!

 

[buzyg]

Well taking of things that go bang in the night. Think my new PC just blew something. Lying in bed and the lights went out. Then noticed the internet was dead. Took a wander down stairs and clearly something in lounge has gone pop you could smell it. Unplugged every thing and resset the trip. Never known both upstairs and down to go off together before. Will investigate after work tomorrow but pretty sure it was my new PC.

 

[Smartbear]

Our burglar alarm went off around 2am the other week, silenced only by the security code (which we didn’t have)
I’m not proud of the words I used during the ensuing struggle :lol:
Rob

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Well taking of things that go bang in the night. Think my new PC just blew something. Lying in bed and the lights went out. Then noticed the internet was dead. Took a wander down stairs and clearly something in lounge has gone pop you could smell it. Unplugged every thing and resset the trip. Never known both upstairs and down to go off together before. Will investigate after work tomorrow but pretty sure it was my new PC.

Something similar happened to a PC of mine during a storm/power outage. Thankfully only the power supply was toast and after a 5min DIY the computer was running again.

 

[TitanTim]

Apart from the fridge I never have anything left on standby. I have a trickle charger in the garage connected which makes me nervous as it is. Its never bothered me until I saw the results of a near neighbours TV bursting into flames in the night that was left on standby. Gutted the kitchen and smoke damage to the rest of the house, neighbour was lucky to get out.

Tim.

 

[Crazy Harry]

Apart from the fridge I never have anything left on standby. I have a trickle charger in the garage connected which makes me nervous as it is. Its never bothered me until I saw the results of a near neighbours TV bursting into flames in the night that was left on standby. Gutted the kitchen and smoke damage to the rest of the house, neighbour was lucky to get out.

Tim.

Did their smoke alarms work? :lol:

 

[TitanTim]

Apart from the fridge I never have anything left on standby. I have a trickle charger in the garage connected which makes me nervous as it is. Its never bothered me until I saw the results of a near neighbours TV bursting into flames in the night that was left on standby. Gutted the kitchen and smoke damage to the rest of the house, neighbour was lucky to get out.

Tim.

Did their smoke alarms work? :lol:

They didn't have one

Tim.

 

[Crazy Harry]

Apart from the fridge I never have anything left on standby. I have a trickle charger in the garage connected which makes me nervous as it is. Its never bothered me until I saw the results of a near neighbours TV bursting into flames in the night that was left on standby. Gutted the kitchen and smoke damage to the rest of the house, neighbour was lucky to get out.

Tim.

Did their smoke alarms work? :lol:

They didn't have one

Tim.

That makes getting up at stupid o'clock in the night to a faulty unit all the more bearable! - can't imagine not having any at all.

 

[ronk]

That makes getting up at stupid o'clock in the night to a faulty unit all the more bearable! - can't imagine not having any at all.

That puts it into context

Inconvenience v death - I’ll go the inconvenience route

 

[GAZA62]

Have two fitted one on the landing just outside my bedroom easy to reach so no probs shutting it up in the night and one in the hall which I need step ladders from the garage to reach guess which one always starts beeping in the early hours :evil: .

What shocked me one time was when the fire brigade were knocking on doors in our street offering advice on smoke alarms and offering to fit them free of charge and people who never had them were saying no thanks WTF its FREE and it could save your life the fire officer said a he was surprised how many people did not have them and did not want them

 

[ronk]

My smoke alarms were a standard fit. Im told that these were a building regs requirement ?
They are mains powered from the burglar alarm system with a 9v battery back up.

My carbon monoxide detector is a self powered stand alone. That's fitted in the hallway.

 

[buzyg]

Well taking of things that go bang in the night. Think my new PC just blew something. Lying in bed and the lights went out. Then noticed the internet was dead. Took a wander down stairs and clearly something in lounge has gone pop you could smell it. Unplugged every thing and resset the trip. Never known both upstairs and down to go off together before. Will investigate after work tomorrow but pretty sure it was my new PC.

Something similar happened to a PC of mine during a storm/power outage. Thankfully only the power supply was toast and after a 5min DIY the computer was running again.

Well the computer is still running, however no doubt that the PS is toasted, you can smell it. I would guess the IP thyristor has shorted out, meaning the rest of the pc is now at risk. Booked into Curry's for a new PS.