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wilcoxm
06-03-2006, 22:20
Anyone else here got an optical smoke alarm??

Does it go off at the drop of a hat? I have not got it installed in the kitchen or bathroom, but on the downstairs hall ceiling.

Every time i have a bath/shower, put the kettle on, or cook any meal, off it goes.

I have searched the web for advice, but they all seem to say dont install in a kitchen or bathroom.

Any advice?? :confused:

marky
06-03-2006, 22:27
Yup, get them moved, the muppets that re-wired my house put a heat one in the kitchen, it lasted about 2 days before the hammer hit it.
Alarms to my knowledge normally go in hallways and stairs etc :shrug:

Edit> Avoid foggy days

greencreeper
07-03-2006, 00:15
I put my smoke alarm up in the living room - high ceilings so it took some effort. It came down again the next day and has stayed down. So much as a mouse fart sets it off. I've long said that smoke alarms are dangerous. You buy one, it goes off all the time, you take the battery out, you end up cremated with the family, en masse.

My last place had smoke alarms in the hall and kitchen - they were wired into the mains lighting circuit. You can imagine how difficult it was to stop them beeping. Fortunately the kitchen one had a cancel button - had to press it every 15 minutes though. Nightmare.

Matthew
07-03-2006, 00:18
Might be worth a read here (http://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/smokealarms.php).

marky
07-03-2006, 00:28
The optical ones work on vision(lack off) so anybody with the sniffers :PP:

danielf
07-03-2006, 00:30
We have one on the stairs/landing. It's great. It goes off when the oven chips are nearly done... ;)

Matth
09-03-2006, 22:44
Optical just outside the kitchen, have to try very hard to make it go off.

Ionization one on the landing - hypersensitive.

The optical detects visible smoke (sooty, smouldering etc.) and is also tripped by steam etc.

The ionization one detects flame, hot smoke etc. The two types together provide better cover, as they would both be rather slow to respond to the wrong kind of smoke.

Xaccers
10-03-2006, 10:34
I thought the ionization one detected a disruption (by smoke particles) in the sensing of a decaying isotope?

bob_a_builder
09-07-2006, 23:15
Hmm, confused now.

Got a Ionization one on the landing, no real issues been there 10 years, now for the last 6 months or so its been going off due to steam from the bathroom. Could just be faulty I suppose, or we are now producing the wrong sort of steam ?

Was wondering if an Optical might sort it, but would seem not from the OP

Positioning, the link to Fire brigade site says, but most people have a bathroom off the landing.

edit:
Ah
"Smoke alarms have a useful life of about ten years. At that age they should be replaced, even if they seem to be working"
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pyfff/smkalarm.html

maybe my isotope has decayed too far !

Graham M
09-07-2006, 23:19
Id imagine Optical ones would be more subceptible to Steam

bob_a_builder
09-07-2006, 23:32
Although same site (http://www.sccfd.org/pub_ed/smoke_detectors.html)suggests the opposite

"If the alarm is the ionization type, replace it with a photoelectric detector. This type of alarm is less sensitive to smaller particles and thus less affected by cooking smoke or small amounts of steam. "

but OP's experience seems differnet

Halcyon
10-07-2006, 10:11
It's also worth changing Smoke alarms every 5 years.

Matthew
21-12-2006, 02:40
Now that Christmas is upon us I would just like to draw your attention to here (http://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/xmassafety.php) and to also to here (http://www.humbersidefire.gov.uk/video/default.asp?video=xmas). The second link shows what can happen if some of the simplest steps are followed.

Stay safe and have a good Christmas.

Caff
21-12-2006, 03:12
:tu: Indeedy.