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Electrical Wiring

Smoke detector chirping problem even with no power

Billy Harris Jr

8 years ago

two smoke detectors in and near the bedroom each one taking turns chirping every thirty seconds. We removed the detectors (which were not wired to any CO2 system or security system), pulled out the batteries, flipped all the power breakers to the house. Now we're sitting in the dark with a flashlight under the wiring box for the smoke detectors and they are still chirping. Not the detectors, which are in the basement two floors away sitting there without batteries. The wiring boxes are chirping. Any ideas?

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geoffrey_b

8 years ago

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Comments (10)

Ron Natalie
8 years ago
They will chirp for a while after the battery is gone. Think about it. What's the difference between a dead battery and a gone battery?

Try putting fresh batteries (and don't use the Lowe's Utilitech batteries, I got a brick of those for my smoke detectors and half were already dead) in.
greg_2015
8 years ago
The wiring boxes are chirping.

The boxes with just the wire termination in it? Or is there a base for the detectors to connect to that contains some electrical components?

If it's just the former, then I'd say your beeping is coming from somewhere else.

A picture might help.
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Hmmm I can't remember where I read it - originally I thought it was in the BC electrical code (I'm in Canada but the regs are mostly the same) but a quick glance there says "may be supplied with any general lighting circuit or plug outlet (except those circuits which are GFI protected or which supply kitchen plug outlets, laundry or outdoor plug outlets." It also says they must not be switchable apart from the breaker itself, of course. So I'm not sure where I heard of it, sorry (although it makes sense to me) - I may have even heard it from an electrician on a jobsite, but I don't recall. It could be part of an overall Canadian code, they are moving towards a single unified code and my BC book is a year or two old now - I'll try and find more. What I've read so far seems evenly divided by opinion but nothing by regulation. Some argue dedicated so nothing accidentally trips the breaker, others say shared so you know if the circuit is out. Of course the ones sold now tend (if not all?) to have battery backup, right?
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Sounds like a plausible explanation, Steve. I finally got hold of the manufacturer but they told me to call the local contractor (not sure they're even still in business). I can't live with the chirping since in my small house that chirping echoes from stem to stern upstairs and down. I have it plugged in, so it's working - just not if there's a power failure. (PS I only bought one set of batteries - the others I had - which is why I was thinking they might not be up to snuff!) Thanks for the input!
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bossyvossy
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Agree about chirping coming from elsewhere, maybe detector in a nearby room?

ETA. We used to have the same happen to us until DH decided to change ALL batteries at the same time, once any detector starts chirping--he just changed them all right then.
Ron Natalie
8 years ago
I agree with Bossy. Once one starts, you might as well just do them all. It will save the time finding which one it is and the others will start going in a week anyhow.

The one time I had a hell of a time finding the thing that was chirping was that there was on the floor a "water detector" and that thing had a battery that was going as well.
kudzu9
8 years ago
geoffrey

That was cruel...
Vith
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Smoke detectors typically have a small control board with some capacitors. There is enough leftover power in the capacitors once you take the battery out for it to chirp a few times. It will stop eventually. Or just replace the battery and it will stop also...
geoffrey_b
8 years ago
Vith: You can usually discharge those capacitors (even big ones) buy putting your tongue across the terminals.
Vith
8 years ago
True, very effective way. :)
geoffrey_b
8 years ago
Chirping - I would get some bird seed - possibility a mixture - so it will work on a wide variety of chirping detectors.

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