# All my smoke alarms went off today!



## DeniseM (May 22, 2007)

I got a call from my neighbor this afternoon saying that they could hear all the smoke alarms in my house going off.      I rushed home, and sure enough, they were all going off - making the alarm sound, not the "replace battery beep."  I did a thorough search, and there was no hot smell, nothing felt hot, and the windows were open with a nice breeze.  However, I had to disconnect the smoke alarms to get them to stop beeping, and when I put the batteries back in, they go off again.  They are just the regular smoke alarms - they don't detect anything else.  

Suggestions????


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## 2hokies (May 22, 2007)

My in-laws had the same problem.  One of their smoke alarms had tiny spiders in it and they blocked one of the sensors and made it go off (they're all connected so if one goes off, they all do).  Hubby says a can of air might help blast off any dust and critters.  Good luck finding the problem!


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## philemer (May 22, 2007)

Denise,
Are you sure you weren't cooking dinner? Burnt offerings?   That's how I know when my dinner is almost ready--the smoke alarms go off. Try some canned air & blow them out.

Phil


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## PigsDad (May 23, 2007)

The good news is that given they all went off, they are all interconnected properly!  

It is probably bugs or dust.  I would suggest just vacuuming them to try to clear it.  (Actually, it is good practice to vacuum them every so often.)  To narrow it down to a specific detector, you will have to unplug each one (they should have a connector) until they turn off.

Good luck!


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## DeniseM (May 23, 2007)

It turns out that one of the batteries was dead, and instead of activating the "dead battery" beep, it activated the smoke alarm blast.  Our smoke alarms (6 of them) are also hardwired, and the defective one set off all 5 of of the other ones!   When my husband got home, he replaced all 6 batteries.  I sure hope this never happens in the middle of the night!    (I did drag in the 6 ft. ladder from the garage and found the bad one and disconnected it, but we have 10 ft. ceilings, so it wasn't easy!)


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## Keitht (May 23, 2007)

DeniseM said:


> I sure hope this never happens in the middle of the night!



I was thinking exactly the same as I was reading through the topic.  If they all kicked off at the same time it would certainly spoil your slumbers.


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## sfwilshire (May 23, 2007)

DeniseM said:


> I sure hope this never happens in the middle of the night!



In the Spring and Fall when the time changes, they always make a big deal on the local news here about changing the batteries in all your smoke detectors. It's a good way to remember, I guess. Not sure how the extended time for DST will come into play.

Sheila


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## 2hokies (May 23, 2007)

It DID happen to my in-laws in the middle of the night.  Not the way you want to wake up!


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## Makai Guy (May 23, 2007)

sfwilshire said:


> In the Spring and Fall when the time changes, they always make a big deal on the local news here about changing the batteries in all your smoke detectors. It's a good way to remember, I guess. Not sure how the extended time for DST will come into play.
> 
> Sheila


We've always changed our batteries annually and found that to be adequate.  We do ours on New Years Day (usually during half time of one football extravaganza or another).


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