Smoke Detector problems

I have First Alert smoke/CO detectors in my house that are WAY to sensitive. They are driving us nuts. Took a shower, heard a warning chirp (long chirp), opened the door, and they went full alarm. Made a fried egg on a stainless skillet in avocado oil this morning, the egg didn't burn or even stick, but they went off. I'm over it. They are showing that they are tripping for smoke, but nothing is on fire, and I'm pretty sure I don't have hobos smoking crack in the basement. They are not showing CO alarms, and if I had a CO problem, the parrot is likely to fall off her perch before it becomes a human problem.

Any brands that I should look toward to replace these with, or brands to avoid?

Before anyone mentions it, I know they have a limited life. These are supposedly good for 10yrs, and are stamped 11/2015. New batteries. I have used the canned air and blown them all out. These are model SC9120B (ionization alarms)

Placement has worked for me on the shower alarm going off from the bathroom. I replaced one near the bathroom with an Atom First Alert smoke detector away from the bathroom door.

I kept the twitchy alarm in the kitchen because I could manage the smoke from cooking by just turning on the vent above the stove.

A simple but ugly mod to help would to add an offset block under the alarm so it is offset from the ceiling.

How old are they? Smoke detectors are supposed to be replaced every 10 years, they will have a date on the back of them. Depending on the type of detector they are the sensors can also be clogged by dust/spider webs, it’s not a bad idea to blow them out with some compressed air every year.

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Originally Posted by bradbn4

Placement has worked for me on the shower alarm going off from the bathroom. I replaced one near the bathroom with an Atom First Alert smoke detector away from the bathroom door.

I kept the twitchy alarm in the kitchen because I could manage the smoke from cooking by just turning on the vent above the stove.

A simple but ugly mod to help would to add an offset block under the alarm so it is offset from the ceiling.

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I have at least 3 twitchy alarms of the 5 upstairs. Its a crapshoot which one goes off. The one in the bedroom is about as far as it can be from the bathroom, and we use the fan in there, so I don't know what the deal is.

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Originally Posted by def90

How old are they? Smoke detectors are supposed to be replaced every 10 years, they will have a date on the back of them. Depending on the type of detector they are the sensors can also be clogged by dust/spider webs, it’s not a bad idea to blow them out with some compressed air every year.

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Before anyone mentions it, I know they have a limited life. These are supposedly good for 10yrs, and are stamped 11/2015. New batteries. I have used the canned air and blown them all out. These are model SC9120B (ionization alarms)

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If I remember there was a smoke detector that had functions like the Nest thermostat; and they had a "turn off" feature that could be activated. Ok, it might have been Nest that makes them.

Now; I have seen how I cook; and the last thing I want to do is turn off the smoke alarm.

A friend of mine indicated once that the smoke detector is not the best timer to use when cooking.

I'm using Kidde brand smoke detectors. Had one fail in last ten years. I use Nighthawk CO detectors for carbon monoxide. Hope this helps.

https://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en...s/fire-safety/

Toss em like a faulty headlight, or repurpose them somewhere that would be 'nice to have', like a shed or outbuilding.

I've had a preference for kidde units. If you go with the same model replace the wiring also. It's cheap aluminum wire and can be the source of the problem

I just had three new hard wired First Alert smoke and CO units delivered to replace some that are 28 years old. Probably time....

I managed to kill a smoke detector with humidity. I was removing some wall paper trim with a steamer. It never recovered and kept going off. So had to be replaced.