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Last winter while using my fireplace, the smoke alarm and CM detector would randomly activate for a few seconds. Changed batteries in SA but it continued to randomly sound even if nothing in fireplace. I purchased a new SA and it too randomly activated. I searched the house looking for the cause but can't find anything. Research showed that a SA can randomly be activated by dust particles created by air movement. Finding no source, I disabled the SM. The CM however continued to randomly activate for only a few seconds. Now its summer and the CM is continuing to activate at random. I purchased a new one. It too is randomly activating. I have propane heat but haven't used it in months. Obliviosly no fireplace in this heat. The kitchen stove is propane with an electronic ignition and it used very little anyway. The hot water is electric. The dryer is propane with electronics. Have a garage but the car is in fact shut off. I don’t use a grill in the house. No burning of anything in the house, yet both the old and new CM are randomly activating. Both are battery operated. Neither the wife or I are suffering any of the symptoms of CO poisoning.
I have tried all the Internet ideas to include replacement. I live in the country with no close neighbors. The house is clearly not on fire. There are three potential sources of combustion, kitchen stove, dryer and furnace. All with electronic starters. Would it be possible that the jeep in the garage could be releasing residual CO? The old CO alarm has sounded twice while typing this. Anyone have any ideas of what to do next?
Since you now have two battery operated ones, try moving them around (especially on or close to the floor) to pinpoint any area that is more affected. I'd suspect a propane leak somewhere. The odorant can settle out in the tank and not be noticeable in a leak.
Keep buying new ones. Most of those things are terribly made and a 33% or higher defective rate seems common.
I bought several of them and tested them by doing such things as sticking them int he exhaust from a car. Only one alarmed. We installed 13 or 14 smoke detectors and had to buy more than twice that many to get enough that actually worked when tested with smoke. save your reciepts and keep returning them until you get one that actually alarms when there is CM and does nto alarm when there is not.
Sewer gas is another potential source. In any event you'll want to find the source of this. I've read some papers suggesting long term exposure to CO (months,years) well below the levels that are lethal can be detrimental to your health.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens
I bought several of them and tested them by doing such things as sticking them int he exhaust from a car.
I may be wrong here but I think I remember reading the concentrations directly from an automobile exhaust are not enough to set it off, it's the accumulative effect that will eventually set it off. Also keep in mind different brands may be set to go off at different readings. I believe there is a standard but some may be set to be more sensitive.
I tried holding it in the smoke from the fireplace as well. Nothing. I turned on our gas stove without lighting it and held the detectors over the gas. . . nothing. I threw some kerosene on a some cardboard and wood in our firepit and lit it. I held the detectors int he thick balck smoke coming off of it. Nothing. I really wanted to make the things go off becuase they are expensive. Unfortunately, most of them did nto work. I could not make them alarm no matter what I did.
With the smoke detectors we lit a piece of paper on fire and then blew it out and let it smolder and smoke. We caused the smoke to go up into the smoke detector in cloouds. Certainly an amount of smoke that i owuld want the things to go off. Some of the smoke dectectors went off right away, others would not alarm no matter what. Some would not stop alarming once they went off. Some would nto communicate wihtthe other smoke detectors like they are supposed to. Some go off at random (usually at 3 a.m.) with no rason, no frech paint or fumes, no humidity changes, nothing. These things are badly made. Most are made in china. Like so many cheaply made things, a large number of them are defective. Do NOT trust them. Test them and return them if they do not work. Your life may depend on it.
I worry about our fire extinguishers. You cannot test them. Are we going to ull them out in an emeergency only to find out that some guy in China had a bad day on the day that they were made, and they do not work?
Sorry this is a bit of a rant, but I am fed up with defective products which seem to consistently say "Made in China" on them. With a lot of things, I would pay more for better quality, but it just is nto out there.
I worry about our fire extinguishers. You cannot test them. Are we going to ull them out in an emeergency only to find out that some guy in China had a bad day on the day that they were made, and they do not work?
Sorry this is a bit of a rant, but I am fed up with defective products which seem to consistently say "Made in China" on them. With a lot of things, I would pay more for better quality, but it just is nto out there.
Fire Extinguisher's.... I have mine tested and re-certified every December.
After 12 years either have to have them hydro-tested or replaced... can't re-certify without the hydro...
Just bought, new, made in USA extinguishers... only a dollar twenty more than the imported... cost $37 each.
Go to a Fire Extinguisher Company and they will have what you are looking for.
I bought USA Buckeye Extinguishers... Model 5 HI SA40 ABC
Baking soda. It is what fills most of the ABC fire extinguishers. We buy boxes and don't worry about pressure testing them, just sling it at the base of the fire. Common sense is the code I follow.
Baking soda. It is what fills most of the ABC fire extinguishers. We buy boxes and don't worry about pressure testing them, just sling it at the base of the fire. Common sense is the code I follow.
No choice here... annual fire inspections every July... start of the Fire Season...
I tried holding it in the smoke from the fireplace as well. Nothing. I turned on our gas stove without lighting it and held the detectors over the gas. . . nothing. I threw some kerosene on a some cardboard and wood in our firepit and lit it. I held the detectors int he thick balck smoke coming off of it. Nothing. I really wanted to make the things go off becuase they are expensive. Unfortunately, most of them did nto work. I could not make them alarm no matter what I did.
As far as the gas stoves goes I'm pretty sure it shouldn't set off a CO detector. If your gas stove does set one off it's time to get it looked at. Malfunctioning or defective products that use combustion like gas ranges or furnaces is where most CO deaths occur.
Perhaps this might shed some light on your other situations and the OP's. UL has a list here of what they must do. They don't go off immediately unless the concentrations are very high. Instead they have thresholds, for each threshold it must be sustained for certain amount of time. For exmple you would need a concentration of 30ppm for 30 days, at 70ppm it will not sound until after 1 hour.
Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of incomplete combustion. Turning on the gas stove without lighting it isn't going to create any CO, since it's not burning.
Alas, it is tough to say what really is happening without another detector or meter for reference on why you're having so many alarms ...
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