(I have carbon monoxide detectors that are not going off)

I have smoke detectors that are incorporated into my home alarm system. The other day, the one by my front door went off for no apparent reason, twice, and when I changed the batteries, it started alarming again immediately.

there was absolutely no reason for it, there were no open windows or doors nearby, it just went off. so, my alarm company replaced it. installed the new smoke detector yesterday and… it just went off again. completely different smoke detector.

there’s absolutely nothing in my house that could produce carbon monoxide, but I have separate CO detectors anyway that aren’t going off. there’s no smell, there’s nothing visible, and these are those electro optical style ones.

  • CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Did you open one up yet? That might give you a clue 🤔

    E.g. I don’t know exactly how wide the gaps are, but here it looks like small insects could get in. Maybe you have another problem than smoke 🫣

  • Fermion@mander.xyz
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    6 months ago

    Look for an expiration date. Radionucleotide style detectors end up failing with false positives when they reach end of life. You might need to have all the old ones replaced.

  • TheDubz87@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Does it get hot by your front door or in direct sunlight? We have a few in my house that go off if our kitchen gets too hot. We had to move them down the hall slightly and they stopped. A really old one we have upstairs, hardwired into the house electric (built in 86) trips if too much steam builds up in the bathroom and let’s loose into the hall.

    • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
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      6 months ago

      it doesn’t, my house is outside Miami so it’s well designed to prevent direct sunlight from any of the windows.

  • Steve@slrpnk.net
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    6 months ago

    Try replacing the batteries. That’s often the reason for this type of thing.

    • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
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      6 months ago

      AFAIK in the USA you can’t have theain batter be replaceable (I think an aux battery for wireless functions is allowed…).

      EDIT: I seem to be thinking of California, maybe not all of US.

    • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
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      6 months ago

      as stated, as soon as I replaced the battery it started alarming immediately so I replaced the entire detector and it’s still doing it

  • mipadaitu@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Call the fire department, they have detectors that they can use to look for gas leaks and other things that can set off a detector.

    You can also call your gas provider. One of those two should be able to track it down, it could be a lot of things, but two different smoke detectors going off in the same location is a huge red flag.

    Best case, you have something kicking up fine dust, worst case, you have a smouldering electric fire in your wall somewhere.

    Don’t panic, but also do not ignore this.

    • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
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      6 months ago

      The weird thing is, it alarmed three times in its current position, but when I changed the battery, it started alarming in my hands in a completely different room, which I already had two other smoke detectors in it that weren’t going off.

      and there’s no gas. I live outside Miami

      • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
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        6 months ago

        Sounds like a bad unit, try replacing it. The fact it’s going off elsewhere and no other detectors go off says it’s the unit.

        I missed that you changed units, check your wires.

        If the new unit starts going off, you may have a switched wire between your signal (red) and your hot (black) that fried the unit.

          • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
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            6 months ago

            Then some signal from the base unit alerts all units that one detector has gone off, to alarm the home. Either the base unit is sending a false signal, or some outside signal is mimicking the signal.

            Personally I’d install a standalone detector in that spot.

      • Fosheze@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        This makes it sound like it’s probably just a defective detector. Swap it with one that hasn’t been going off and see if that one starts going off too. If it doesn’t then odds are something just failed in it.

        You could also just try blowing some air through it to blow out any dust. But it shouldn’t be that dusty after only a year so I’m still leaning towards defective.

    • everett@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      I thought of this one too. “Photoelectric” smoke detectors are a thing, and it’s good to know if that’s the kind you have.

    • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
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      6 months ago

      thing is, it’s the smoke detector farthest from my shower, and only the third time it went off was anywhere near a time that I had showered.

  • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    6 months ago

    Spiderwebs or insects can mess with the sensors, likewise with dust. Try spraying some canned air inside. Or if it’s a few years old, you may want to replace it.

    • Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Firefighter here. Brush and gently vacuum your smoke detector. Insects are attracted to the LED and can set off the alarm. They may be very small. Dust can also set it off.

    • nezbyte@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      The instructions for my smoke detector recommend spraying the openings with compressed air regularly.

    • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
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      6 months ago

      now there’s an idea. I live in south Florida and my house was built in the 1950s. I wonder if some spider has decided that the inside of this detector is a good place to hide. blowing it out isn’t going to help though, because I replaced the entire detector and if there’s a spider going in there, they just went back into the new one immediately. I’m going to have to set up a security camera on this thing

      • Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 months ago

        I used to live in Miami and I had a detector do that. Maybe it’s pollen? There’s a shit ton of weird-ass pollen in Miami.

  • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    6 months ago

    I’d call the fire department to ask them to come out and make sure that there’s not anything slow burning that’s hidden in the walls. Be sure to mention two separate smoke detectors have been going off. Even if that’s not what it is they’ll be fine with coming out to check.

    • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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      6 months ago

      Anecdotally, when I was a kid, we had an electrical issue wherein a short or something was causing wires to slowly melt through their jacket, inside the wall. It was triggering smoke detectors, but we couldn’t see or smell anything. Fire department came out and found it, but if we’d ignored it, it almost definitely would have been a huge house fire eventually. Definitely second this advice. It doesn’t cost anything to have them come look.

      • Max-P@lemmy.max-p.me
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        6 months ago

        In my first apartment, I had a smoke detector that was mains powered. The wire metals weren’t compatible and eventually the wirenuts burned and cut off power to half the room. The smoke detector’s wires were all burnt up. It never alarmed unfortunately so I only learned about it when half the room just went dark. That could absolutely have turned into an electrical fire.

        Definitely worth getting it checked.

  • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Depends on what kind of detector it is but alot of them use small amounts of radiation and a detector that triggers when the number of particles detected drops below some level.

    How smoke detectors work

    That being the case any particulate large enough to interrupt the particles could cause it to go off.

    For example high humidity misty water from a shower wafting over a detector placed over the bathroom door, etc.

  • MsPenguinette@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I think you said elsewhere that they are new and that they are photoelectric rather than the radioactive ones.

    I’m purely taking a shot in the dark but I’m wondering if you should try sealing up the hole(s) in the wall that you made to run electric and to mount the detector

    My thinking is that dust might be getting caught up in a tiny draft through that hole and it’s so close to the source that it sets it off. Cause like, if wind hits the side of the house, there can be some positive pressure in the crawlspace which often also means inside the walls.

    I guess maybe somehow there could be some stream or condensation as well. If it’s right by the front door and the humidity is high, maybe the hot air from outside meets the AC air and causes a tiny amount of condensation. Or if you live in hellscape temperatures, maybe there could be some vapor generated because of the hot air.

  • Hurculina Drubman@lemm.eeOP
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    6 months ago

    update - so I’ve got two more diagnostic steps. I have another detector of the exact same brand in another room, I’m going to switch them and see what happens. if the detector from my kitchen starts going off by the front door, then I’m going to try another brand that I have elsewhere in the house and move forward from there.