We have several new smoke detectors that will briefly sound the alarm when a nearby light is turned on. What would cause this and is there anything we can do to fix the issue?
We bought several of these smoke detectors, which are dual sensor and powered only by battery. We haven’t had any nuisance alarms from things like shower steam, using the toaster, etc. However, about half the time we turn on a light near one of the detectors, it goes off for about 10 seconds. This is 4 different detectors behaving the same way!
From looking at the layout of everything, it seems possible that the wiring for the lights runs behind or very close to the detectors. But I wouldn’t have expected battery powered detectors to be influenced by the wiring at all. Then again, what do I knnow?
Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!
The dual sensor means it has an optical sensor in it to detect smoke. This is useful for alerting your dead body about a fire. It’s possibly an electrical glitch, but my WAG is the sudden change in light levels triggers the optical sensors.
In the old days smoke detectors simply used batteries. As the batteries went down, the detectors would begin a noisy process to warn people of the low battery. People frequently removed the batteries and had no protection.
Current code makes the detectors use batteries and hard wiring from the house or business. Both need to be present or the warning beeps occur. A momentary interruption in line voltage to the detector would cause this. The switch you are using could be on the same circuit as the detector. There may be a loose connection somewhere in that circuit. It could be anywhere in that circuit too. You could check all the outlets and switch boxes. Back-wiring is very hard to test. Wiggle and push those wires into the receptacles if you have those. It could still be a loose wire at the breaker panel, either hot or neutral.
I’d WAG that the light in question is one of those CFL bulbs. For some reason, the initial power-up light from them triggers the optical component of your detector.