Yesterday while cooking I set off the smoke detector, no I did not burn anything. They go off when I cook over a high heat. And yesterday once they started going off they would not stop. I ended up having to disconnect them all (they are hard wired with an interconnect) and I replaced them this morning. Aaaaaaaand let me tell you, I had a sleepless night last night knowing there were no detectors installed.
https://www.southernliving.com/how-often-should-you-replace-smoke-detectors-8774122
If your smoke detectors go off when you are cooking, then the smoke detectors are too close to the kitchen. At least where I live, building code mandates one smoke detector in each bedroom, one in each hallway leading to a bedroom, and at least one smoke detector on each floor of the home. Generally, avoid placing smoke detectors near kitchens or exterior windows which, when open, are right next to a grill or other cooking appliance. Otherwise you’re going to be getting a lot of false positives.
The closest detector to the kitchen was in a bed room.
There had been a different detector in the living room but had gotten knocked down a while ago and broke (and never replaced), it was not on the interlink system, and when the other detectors would go off while cooking the one in the living room would not.
As you can see from my image, the detectors I replaced were from 2005, and needed replacing for quite some time.
I replace 'em every other fire.
Such a waste. Especially when the detector has WiFi in it. Gotta be a better way to do this.
The ones we have installed respond to IR signals from your TV remote. It doesn’t matter what button you use on the remote, just point the remote at the smoke alarm and it will turn off
This is only true for the Americium based smoke detectors. The newer photoelectric cell fire detectors don’t decay like Americium detectors, and as long as you replace the battery it’ll be good for however long it’s internal components (capacitors and whatnot) will last.
Technology Connections has a good video about this subject:
Hehe.
You want to bet your life on that? You want to bet the life of your kids on that?
This is anecdotical but I moved into an apartment with a 30 year old ionizing smoke detector, and the failure was it was too sensitive, I assume because there were less electrons being emitted from the radioactive element, any faint smoke caused it to go off. Eventually it got into a state where it would always be in an alert state, and was beeping 100% of the time, which was when the landlord finally replaced it.
My assumption with the 10 year replacement recommendation for Americium based smoke detectors is to replace it before it becomes too sensitive and annoying, because they were worried some people would remove the battery and just live without an active smoke detector.
There’s no radiation drop after just 30 years from americium 241. It has a 450 year half life. After decades electric components start to fail and\or things get dirty. After 30 years of getting smoke in it, there was probably a layer of dust\smoke over where the radiation is at that were blocking some of the radiation all the time, that made it more sensitive.
Same issues will happen with photoelectric detectors. It’s recommended to replace both types after no longer than 10 years. I have no idea where the person you responded to got the information about them not needing replaced as often as ionization detectors. If anything, it’s actually the opposite.
According to the one i just had to replace, combo carbon monoxide detectors need to be replaced. I don’t know how the carbon monoxide part works, but i wonder if it’s a reagent or something.
This is plain WRONG and DANGEROUS.
The issue is NOT the Americum but the natural degration of the photoelectric cells and the accumulation of dirt within the test chamber.
Even before that time the risk for false alarms is increased substantially by degration before the chances for sucessful alarming decrease rapidly. Due to that they actually withstand aging actually worse than ionisation based devices.
Sientific sources?
here.
(Besides: Americum has a decay time of over 400 years,btw)
Your third source is about the 2020 follow-up study of the 2017 study in your first source. You’ve “only” got three independent sources even though it looks like four (“only” in scare quotes because three is still plenty).
A follow up is a absolutely regular thing and does not diminish neither study.
I didn’t say they were diminished. I said they weren’t independent.
A motion to rename every element that’s named after a place. All in favor updoot, all opposed downdoot
Edit your comment and I’ll maybe come back and bother with voting.
*dooting
No vote. Doot!
Okay, let’s start with Helium (named after the sun)
That’s a celestial object, not a place. The sun is traveling at 230 km/s around the galaxy. It’s not a “place.”
The sun is a place. The moon is a place. Earth is a place. A specific location on the earth is also a place.
Anything you insert into a sentence describing the origin point of something traveling is a place.
I was about to link to the same video. From what I remember though both types have strength and weaknesses in regards to the type of fire.
Edit: watched it again so ionization smoke detectors are better at detecting active fire, although his conclusion is that the benefit is not as big and overall photoelectric ones are better.
The half life for americium 241 is like 450 years. The 10 year replacement has nothing to do with decay. It’s just a non specific safety in case any of the electronics or board etc start to fail. Photoelectric detectors have the same 10 year recommendation as a max.
It’s actually recommend by many organizations (like the NFPA) to replace photoelectric detectors more often than ionization detectors, if anything.
It’s tuned to a specific output and isn’t exactly field adjustable. Certainly it will continue to be radioactive long after you’re dead, but that doesn’t mean it will still be working properly.
I know exactly how they work. I’m a firefighter and a hazmat technician. Plus I work on and repair electronics as a hobby. Your smoke detector failing after 10 or 30 years has zero to do with radioactive decay. It’s from contamination (dust) and sensor degradation. Once the metal plates inside get enough buildup from dust (like smoke dust and regular dust) and contamination from humidity, the charge that’s supposed to be detected between those plates from the ionization stays lower all the time. That means less actual “smoke” is needed to drop it below the threshold. This happens MUCH faster than radioactive decay reducing what it will ionize.
And if you live for rent, at least over here in Germany your landlords are obliged to replace them regularly, but like you say that just means they’ll replace them with previous ones that have been checked and had batteries replaced.
Alec in his own video mentions that the issue isn’t that the Americium decays, but that the electronics themselves age and fail, which applies to both the ionization detectors and photoelectric detectors.
This is one of the things you just don’t wanna mess with, as such a failure is completely unpredictable, and from what I know some manufacturers are even beginning to make detector units with non-replaceable batteries, intended to be replaced whole when the battery dies after years of runtime, to make it impossible to keep using a detector after its rated lifetime.
I know some manufacturers are even beginning to make detector units with non-replaceable batteries, intended to be replaced whole when the battery dies after years of runtime, to make it impossible to keep using a detector after its rated lifetime.
I’m sure that’s the reason say they do it, but that smells like standard corporate planned obsolescence and profit seeking with a great PR team.
Yes, but no. You really should replace your detectors every decade. They will likely work perfectly for twice that, but is it worth the risk over like $100 in smoke detectors?
So it does sort of force you to replace it after a decade, but you should anyhow.
It’s also well worth it, because getting on a chair or ladder and buying new overpriced 9v batteries every year (if you’re all proper about changing them) is a pain in the ass compared to once a decade. The more of a pain it is to get to your detectors, the more a 10 year one becomes worth it.
You’re supposed to hit your test button once a month to check their functions, but I dont think anyone anywhere actually does that. If they tell me they do I’ll just assume they’re a liar.
And please check them to see if they are safe to throw in the trash before you do. Some of them contain small amounts of really nasty stuff. Even the hazardous waste dropoff on my county was reluctant to take a batch from me. They said “you’re really supposed to send those back to the manufacturer.” But they did eventually take them.
You mean those things that make noise when I don’t want them to?
Yeah, I removed the batteries.
Dying from smoke inhalation in my sleep sounds like one of the easier ways to go.
You’re supposed to test them fairly regularly.
I get that monthly might be a pain, but once or twice a year is probably smart, for safety equipment.
And if you live in a place with a lot of industry or traffic it should be replaced sooner than that.
don’t sweat it. decades ago nobody slept with them and did just fine. you’ll be ok for one night.
Decades ago i survived a house only because I had left an empty aerosol can of mousse in a pile of clothes. That pile started burning and caused the can to explode and wake me. Otherwise the fire would have consumed me as well.
that’s an interesting way to instantaneously combust. did they determine what the source was?
It was a space heater, I had it on a timer (we had no heating in that part of the house) and I thought I had turned it off. My laundry pile was too close to the heater, it ignited the laundry which caused the can to rupture.
The fire was isolated to my room, and my dad and I got it extinguished before the fire department arrived. We lived 20 miles outside town.
I forget what the exact cause was listed as in the report, but it was not the same as the actual cause.
that fire chief did you a solid by not including the ignition source in the official report.
if they had, your insurer would have denied any claims had you made any, and your premiums would have increased since your risk assessments would have changed.
glad to hear nobody was hurt and it wasn’t a total loss.
People die every day in house fires, dumbass.
Don’t they all do that now? Tell you when they’ve expired?
Yes.
Not only that, the current generation of smoke detectors have sealed batteries so you can’t even open them up to change batteries or anything. So once they expire in 10 years they start their incessant “I’m dying” non-stop beeping - that’s when you dispose of the entire smoke detector and buy a new one.
I’ve read that they don’t detect smoke as well after 10 years anyway (e.g. even more false alarms) so it’s probably for the best to get rid of old ones.
Maybe, if it is made past a certain date. Mine in the image, from 2005, did not.
Admittedly I did similar. At one point I had a non-working detector and noticed it was long expired when I tried to replace the battery. I realized I had been in my house more than ten years and the detectors had been installed by a previous owner, probably in the early 2000’s. Those did NOT beep when they expired
When I replaced those, the new ones were all configured to beep when expired and they were starting to push the sealed detectors with ten year non-replaceable battery. Sure enough, ten years later they all started beeping that they were expired.
I guess I assumed that it’s been 20 years and most people will have replaced detectors at least once. In my state, there’s a required inspection that all detectors are up to date before a house can be sold
(Which is really annoying because mine are all battery but the current standard is they must interconnect so I’ll need some electrical work if I want to sell my house)
If you’re not living in USA-land you’re probably fine to simply change the battery every few years because you’ve got a photoelectric smoke detector.
Ionization based smoke detectors (that require changing because radioactive…) are more unsafe and usually only allowed in special cases in non third world countries like the EU.
Oh and you also can’t just throw them into the trash because you know radioactivity… except in USA-land…
Photoelectric smoke detectors also need to be replaced every ten years or so, and the radioactivity of ionization alarms is well within safe levels as long as you aren’t taking them apart to eat the 241Am. They’re sensitive to different things but the photoelectric ones are probably better suited to modern home fires (but they’re more prone to false-positives from kitchen smoke).
Pointless America Bad and radiation fear-mongering.
If you live in a state that observes time changes you should get in the habit of checking them on that day. It means you check them twice a year and you’ll be mindful of the expiration date.
The instructions in the box (who reads those right?) says to test monthly.
Okay do that.
Ours were just replaced in our rental house. They were last replaced in 2004 and our corpo landlord just doesn’t give a fuck.
I don’t think our dryer vent has been cleaned in a decade. This place is a fire trap.
Found out my dryer vent duct was disconnected on both ends. I wouldn’t be surprised 🤷
I’ve warned them about this and our gutters rotting away the wood on our patio and they told me both were tenant’s responsibility, despite a whole section on their website saying otherwise.
I couldn’t give a fuck less about this house. I close on my first HOME next week!
It’s also important to date the new ones when activated, so that they can be replaced at the appropriate time 10yrs from now, even if it’s not you doing it.
Mine expired and decided to sing me the song of their people at 4am.
That was an exciting night, I’ll tell you that…
They always wait until night.
They always wait until nighttime.
