https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:26:36 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764600 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 18:15:15 +0000 PinkElephant 2764600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Did you have your house painted, your floor s refinshed, or any other work done? We were provided special covers with our new (hard wired with battery backup) smoke alarms and advised that we should cover them when doing any of the above since dust/tiny debris messes with the sensors. </p> <p>Not sure what the solution is if this did happen to them - maybe clean with compressed air? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764591 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 17:50:27 +0000 SweetiePie 2764591@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>YES. Oh my goodness crazy that this just happened to us in our beach rental. We were there for a month and in the first 1.5-2 weeks it went off at random times when we were sleeping. Like 3am.<br /> The first few times it was also 5 seconds in FULL ALARM mode. No chirping for low battery - these were also hard wired to power. Ear piercing alarm and voice saying "fire fire fire". Owners said could be dust or bugs. There were about 10 alarms all connected so we went around 3 separate occasions with a vacuum.<br /> Finally one night at midnight it went off FULL FORCE for 10+ minutes. The only way to stop it was that my husband went around and fully disconnected every unit and eventually it stopped. There were 3 he didn't get to before it stopped. We told the owner and they said they'd come and replace all of them.<br /> Well we did some googling and learned that for our brand (kidde) the originating unit would flash red during the alarm. Well of course it went off AGAIN while they were on their way to us and we ran and looked at he remaining 3 alarms and found the one that was flashing red. So we determined that must be the faulty one.<br /> Owner called some electricians and I think ADT and they said it's still best to replace all alarms especially if they were all installed at the same time.<br /> So they did. And we didn't have another incident in the remaining 2-3 weeks. </p> <p>So long winded way of saying that it happened to us EXACTLY as you described and ended up being a faulty unit and was fixed by replacing all of them. </p> <p>Also, super weirdly my son NEVER woke up during these alarms. One was even in his room and even when it went off for 10 mins he didn't even stir! And he is not a heavy sleeper. I was shocked but someone told me after that there was an article about how kids often sleep through a fire/smoke alarm. Kinda scary! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764586 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 17:39:10 +0000 Littlebit7 2764586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd just replace the entire smoke detector. How old is your house? Apparently smoke detectors have a life span. They collect dust and can start to act wonky. Our landlord is a general contractor and replaced ours at the 10 year mark </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764582 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 17:08:46 +0000 threeplusme 2764582@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I too have heard that insects can set them off. We had one in our old house that would occasionally go off for no apparent reason. It happened more than once in the middle of the night. The kids woke up panickled and we couldnt find any problem. I then of course can't fall asleep thinking maybe there's a fire I could see. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764516 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 14:42:19 +0000 pachamama 2764516@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ineebee: Our Kidde smoke alarm/ CO2 monitor in my room was faulty and did this for 5 years on and off. It was hard-wired to the rest of them in the house and would go off and do low battery chirps like every 4 months. So many late night freakouts! I guess it's pretty typical for hard wired alarms to be faulty.<br /> What we did is got the exact model number off it and got a new one from Amazon. Did it last week and havent herd a peep so I think this one will be better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764481 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 13:42:27 +0000 gotkimchi 2764481@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine does that when battery is getting low </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764478 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 13:38:54 +0000 MaryM 2764478@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can't remember if I saw this on TV or in a movie, or if it was someone I know...</p> <p>But I've heard of bugs or ants in the wiring making that happen <a href="http://www.fiddledeedee.net/2012/11/26/the-ants/" rel="nofollow">http://www.fiddledeedee.net/2012/11/26/the-ants/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764471 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 13:33:52 +0000 misolee 2764471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine actually does that when it has low battery. Or it's a sign that battery is running low. You should check it just in case </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-smoke-alarm-sounding-off-not-chirping-for-3-5-seconds#post-2764455 Wed, 02 Aug 2017 12:57:50 +0000 ineebee 2764455@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just moved into a new home, and there's this pesky smoke alarm that's way too high to reach, and so far in the past two weeks, it's sounded off for 3-5 seconds at a time -- not beeping/chirping like the low-battery sound, but full on alarm mode -- and then shuts off on its own. It happens when absolutely nothing is going on, and almost always when DS is sleeping! No cooking, no smoke, no activity in the house. 5:30am one Tuesday, then 5:30am two Tuesdays later, and then the next day just now at 1:45pm. Anyone else have this problem?</p> <p>I probably won't have a chance to climb up there and take a good look at it til the weekend, but I'm wondering if anyone here has any ideas or helpful experiences to share? </p>