It’s blinking. Should AC alarms do that?
http://youtu.be/A9krjC6Ih88 (Open in YouTube)
There is also an alarm that chirps every night, just once. Coincidence, or connected?
In general a pulsating power light on a piece of equipment means that a device with two power sources (primary, backup, etc.) has lost one feed. Chirping is also an indication that the backup battery has died.
With this I am assuming it does not normally blink the power light. If the detector always does this, then that is just how it indicates power to the device.
I do not think it is the battery, as it only chirps once, and I cannot confirm that this is the alarm that is chirping. Also, yes the blinking started sometime in the last 24 hours.
There are also wireless smokes connect led to the security panel, but I am ruling that out since they are fairly new, and I assume that it would show on the keypad.
From the manual…
Try resetting the alarm and see what happens.
The alarm never went off. It just started blinking.
But thanks, I will reset it when I get back.
Thanks, it’s back to normal now. If the chirp happens again, I will let you know.
It is possible the alarm went off briefly and stopped. Spiders are notorious for doing such things to smoke alarms. And given the environment (basement guessing on the exposed ceiling) wouldn’t be too far fetched.
Then why didn’t the other alarms go off? Could it be possible that it was too brief to trigger the other alarms? These are 3-wire residential alarms, after all.
I’m just lucky it wasn’t this alarm:
http://youtu.be/Tij7F_RQaso (Open in YouTube)
That would’ve been hell to reach with a 3-foot ladder.
I’ve seen those residential detectors go off for a few seconds and stop. And there is a slight delay in the interconnection circuit so it is possible I guess. Or maybe it just went off for a few seconds while you were not around. I wouldn’t worry about it but you could always just check the interconnection by pressing the test button and make sure the others sound. Of if you really want to test it properly, spray some test smoke into the unit to verify it’s operation. Everything should work just fine unless there is a malfunction in the detector itself or it is not properly interconnected with the other units.
Where exactly does one get a can of A3? 
Amazon dot com is your friend!
Or your local hardware store!
Has the interconnection feature been tested? The installation manual states “• The same fuse or circuit breaker must power all interconnected units.” I know from experience this is true. The electrical contractor had to rewire the power to detectors in 2 room suites on a hotel job.
I don’t see a breaker for them. Screw it, that isn’t my home, my family rents it out for the summer. We were jus visiting to close it for the winter.
On a second note, my RM3 is no longer tripping, any help? I use it for my collection, as all the BRK 4919s in my house were replaced with Kidde combo units.
These smoke alarms are required to be connected to the same circuit. There is not a requirement for them to connected to a dedicated circuit that I can find. In fact it is better to power them from a circuit that would be inconvenient if turned off and left off: i.e. the overhead lighting circuit.
Are these the kind of smoke alarms that sound for CO, or are they not? This is the model that the rest of the alarms are:
They are from 2008, the one in the original post is from 2010. From what I remember reading, “Smart Connect” alarms sound for smoke/CO even if they don’t sense the hazard?
That statement is merely saying that when interconnected, the units that did not sense the smoke or CO will sound their alarm horns.
Your picture looks like a smoke alarm only. Looking through the First Alert web site many models use similar covers. However, the combination units use a single red/green LED for smoke alarm and power indication. The other red LED is to indicate a CO alarm. While the covers may have a similar look, the combination units also have printing to indicate whether the active alarm LED is for smoke or CO. The cover in your picture does not have this printing.
I meant, will smoke only units sound for a CO alarm, and visa versa?