Another smoke alarm beeping thread

Discussion:

Another smoke alarm beeping thread - sorry

(too old to reply)

Russell Patterson

2006-11-05 02:51:21 UTC

We bought the house about 4-5 years ago and have not had a problem
until now. The house is about 15 years old.

We have three smoke alarms seemingly wired together and powered by
120VAC. If there is a backup battery, I have no idea where it is. It
states that it is Model IL-930 from Ten-Tek Electronics. the
connector has three contacts on the back. When one beeps they all
beep. One is still connected and it does not beep, so I don't believe
it is a bad battery, if one exists.

I tried and failed to find any info on the web to get replacements.
I'm not sure I want to if there is no battery backup for when the
power goes out.

Would I just be better off replacing all of them with battery only
models?

Dale Farmer

2006-11-05 15:20:06 UTC

Permalink

Post by Russell Patterson
We bought the house about 4-5 years ago and have not had a problem
until now. The house is about 15 years old.
We have three smoke alarms seemingly wired together and powered by
120VAC. If there is a backup battery, I have no idea where it is. It
states that it is Model IL-930 from Ten-Tek Electronics. the
connector has three contacts on the back. When one beeps they all
beep. One is still connected and it does not beep, so I don't believe
it is a bad battery, if one exists.
I tried and failed to find any info on the web to get replacements.
I'm not sure I want to if there is no battery backup for when the
power goes out.
Would I just be better off replacing all of them with battery only
models?

The ones that I have seen used three or four wires. Hot, neutral
and the signal wire. (double insulated ones don't need the ground)
When one detector activates, it applies voltage to the signal wire,
which causes the other detectors to sound their alarms. Larger
commercial installations tend to have a central battery that runs the
system. Homeowner ones, if they have a local battery, have one in each
detector. Not all of them have batteries.

If they have internal batteries, install fresh ones according to a
regular schedule. You can buy canisters of 'smoke' at larger home
repair stores, so you can test them out for proper operation. Get a
local expert who knows your local fire code to advise you.

--Dale

Russell Patterson

2006-11-06 02:00:52 UTC

Permalink

Post by Dale Farmer

The ones that I have seen used three or four wires. Hot, neutral
and the signal wire. (double insulated ones don't need the ground)
When one detector activates, it applies voltage to the signal wire,
which causes the other detectors to sound their alarms. Larger
commercial installations tend to have a central battery that runs the
system. Homeowner ones, if they have a local battery, have one in each
detector. Not all of them have batteries.
If they have internal batteries, install fresh ones according to a
regular schedule. You can buy canisters of 'smoke' at larger home
repair stores, so you can test them out for proper operation. Get a
local expert who knows your local fire code to advise you.
--Dale

I ordered three replacements over the net. the new ones will have
battery backup in each unit, and they can be networked. Now I just
have to figure out which wire in the current plug is the signal, etc.
Shouldn't be too much trouble unless the potential between the signal
wire and hot AC read the same as Neutral to hot AC. Hopefully with
all the current units disconnected the signal wire won't be connected
to anything and will read open.

Russ