Hardwired Fire Alarms testing themselves?

zoeymae

Hi...I've had these fire alarms hardwired through-out the house for maybe 11-12 years. I don't have one in the kitchen, and I've never had a problem with them.
Went to bed last night, and just when I had nodded-off, the whole house went off, like someone pushed all the test buttons at once. It lasted long enough for me to say: "What The ****!" and then it ended.
Nothing unusual, nothing since, not a hot night, every thing as usual???
Any ideas?
Thanks
Lisa

Wildie

Are these fire detectors of the 'smoke detector' type?
If so they could be near the end of their life span and need replacing!
There are also what are known as 'rate of rise' detectors. Similar to a thermostat, they become activated by temperature.
After 11 years it may be prudent to replace these, if this is what you have.

zoeymae

Hi Wildie, thanks for your reply.
They are made by Kiddie, models: 1235, 440479
It says Smoke and Fire Alarm, then under that it says: "A.C. Wire-in Single and/or Multiple Station (24 Devices) Ionization Smoke Alarm.
Hmmmm...I have one of these in my basement, which is also my wood shop. I've been sanding and sawing down there forever, but I recently started re-building a huge kitchen window that I couldn't get down to the basement so I did some sanding on the round-top etc. upstairs. Would the sanding cause that? If so, I can't understand why the one in the basement isn't totally wasted.

fireguy

After 10 or 12 years the smoke alarms have reached the end of their life cycle. Replace them. The smoke alarm upstairs may have tripped because of the dust. The smoke alarm in the basement may be completly plugged with sawdust.

JohnJ0906

Your smokes are overdue for replacement. Most manufacturers recommend 6 to 10 years.

You might want to consider smoke/carbon monoxide combos.

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John from Baltimore
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zoeymae

Well....CRAP! Why doesn't anything last forever anymore? I do Carbon Monoxide sensors; 2 of them. One within the last 3 years, the other is "Iffy".
I think I read in an earlier post that the Ionization ones were for clean rooms?

Thanks All for your posts

JohnJ0906

Well, speaking just on the smokes, dust.
And besides, for life safety, I simply want to be sure that they will function when, God forbid, they need to.

You are welcome.

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John from Baltimore
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"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"