# CO Alarm Questions



## Uncle (Feb 3, 2012)

I was doing some drywall work and while sanding my CO alarm's went off. The alarm is on the second floor and it iis connected to the one on the first floor and basement. The alarm that went off on the second floor where I was doing the work I took out of service becase it would not stop alarming. Now the two downstairs are going through batterys in a week. 

Should I replace all three alarms? If so do I need to replace just the alarm or do I have to replace the hard wiring also?

Should I just replace the one on the second floor? Any suggestions?


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## Viggyowner (Feb 3, 2012)

I hesitated a long time before posting this reply as this might be a matter of life and death. However this is what I would consider if this was my problem. You should take expert advice on this.
1/ A CO alarm went off. The very first thing I would consider is:- I have an urgent deadly gas problem. CO is colourless and odourless, how do you know that you do not have a CO problem? The area should be thoroughly ventilated immediately and not used until you have resolved the problem. ( It is conceivable that your stack is leaking into the second floor).
2/I would swop one of the other alarms onto the 2nd floor socket and check that it too does not go off. 
3/ If and when you are entirely satisfied that you have a detector problem and not a real CO problem then the immediate thing to do is replace the alarm. Do this asap as you need the protection. You are presumably using a stove so there is a real need for a working alarm system. 
4/ Check the discard date on the detectors as they do have a lifetime. Hopefully you can still get the same sort.
5/ In my previous existence as a service technician I usually found that faults were caused by a single failure. The trick was to find the failed component before you added new defects looking for the original fault. Double faults are rare but possible. Therefore since you have a possibly failed detector, change it and see if the system recovers. You say you were doing drystone work so there is a possibility that you were creating vibration, definitely creating dust and if you were using power tools then trace quantities of exotic gases like ozone and nitrogen oxides possibly even CO although I am not competent to say that. All or any of those could have damaged the detector. The vibration might have disturbed the wiring although I doubt it. So since you say that the detector will not reset then you have what you think is a solid fault. Fix that and hopefully the system will revert to normal.
6/ If the system does come normal then test it. In fact, test it frequently, Ensure that any detector triggers all the alarms.  
7/ If changing the detector does not fix the problem then I would get an expert to help since this subject is too important to get wrong. CO is a nasty insidious gas that creeps up stealthily on you and silently kills you. 
 Lastly I repeat that the above is what I would do! What you do is entirely your business and your risk. I am not an expert in this area and am not qualified to advise you.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 3, 2012)

Odd . . . smoke detectors often go off in the presence of drywall dust . . . but this is the first time I have heard of a CO detector going off . . . assuming here this is not a combination smoke/CO detector.

I guess I would replace the one upstairs and see if it activates again . . . and if it does it may be worth calling in the FD to do a simple CO check.

What brand is this CO detector if I might ask . . . just recently I've run into a few folks who have had problems with one particular brand of detector.


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## PNWBurner (Feb 3, 2012)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> What brand is this CO detector if I might ask . . . just recently I've run into a few folks who have had problems with one particular brand of detector.



Not to threadjack but I had a brand new First Alert talking CO detector that I got from Lowes a few months ago.  I had two false alarms after which I got rid of it and got a Kidde one which seems fine.

Distinguishing a CO false alarm from a real one is tricky but there was no fire going in the stove when it started screaming "Carbon Dioxide!"  Scared the crap out of us...


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## firefighterjake (Feb 3, 2012)

PNWBurner said:
			
		

> firefighterjake said:
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Well there's the problem . . . your carbon monoxide detector was detecting carbon dioxide.  

Interesting . . . the brand I've had a couple people have issues with were Kiddes . . . both were plug in with battery back up that were just constantly chirping.


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## PNWBurner (Feb 3, 2012)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> PNWBurner said:
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Yeah, believe me I was a little worried about ignoring the alarm.  But nothing bad happened 

This was a battery only one.  Maybe there was a load of bad parts from China at some point...


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## Uncle (Feb 4, 2012)

Please let me clarify a few things.....The alarms are Kidde "Smoke and Carbon Monoxide" . There is a little sticker on the back with the date *2006 Dec 04* I am not sure weather thats when they were installed or if thats when they expire.

Also I do not have an wood burning insert yet. I do have a year old oil burner in the basement. 

Thoughts?


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## firefighterjake (Feb 6, 2012)

Uncle said:
			
		

> Please let me clarify a few things.....The alarms are Kidde "Smoke and Carbon Monoxide" . There is a little sticker on the back with the date *2006 Dec 04* I am not sure weather thats when they were installed or if thats when they expire.
> 
> Also I do not have an wood burning insert yet. I do have a year old oil burner in the basement.
> 
> Thoughts?



I think there is a pretty good chance this is a dual smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector incorporated into a single unit . . . and I suspect what was activating may have been the smoke detector. Some of the newer units that incorporate both smoke and CO detection into a single unit have different audible sounds or actual spoken words (i.e. "Fire. Fire. Get out now" or "There is carbon monoxide detected") to indicate which type of problem is going vs. some of the older tech that may or may not have had a single alarm and you would need to look at the flashing button to see if it was CO or smoke.

I would guess -- not seeing the actual detector -- that the dry wall dust may have set off the smoke alarm.


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## kettensÃ¤ge (Feb 12, 2012)

Uncle said:
			
		

> Please let me clarify a few things.....The alarms are Kidde "Smoke and Carbon Monoxide" . There is a little sticker on the back with the date *2006 Dec 04* I am not sure weather thats when they were installed or if thats when they expire.
> 
> Also I do not have an wood burning insert yet. I do have a year old oil burner in the basement.
> 
> Thoughts?





I've been shopping for a CO2/smoke detector. Some have a 7 yr lifespan. I'll bet that date is the "born on date"
If you have the model number search it.


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## taxidermist (Feb 19, 2012)

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> nteresting . . . the brand I've had a couple people have issues with were Kiddes . . . both were plug in with battery back up that were just constantly chirping.


[/quote]
FF Jake,
I ran into this last week on a call with a new kidde co det. It has a tamper switch on the back and if it is not pushed all the way to the wall it goes off. You can push it in and disarm the tamper switch.

Best co det I have seen yet is a  Kidde night hawk with digital read out. If I get to a house and i see a night hawk going off 99% of the time there is a problem.

Also I see they are putting a expiration date on the back of them now.

Rob
Be safe!


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