Theoretically, if you follow a regular cleaning / maintenance / test schedule, shouldn’t it be possible to make an FA system photoelectric smoke last at least 30 years ?
I wonder if the 10 year thing for residential photoelectric smokes is because they aren’t end-user serviceable – you can’t open them up and clean their insides like you can do with an FA system smoke without either breaking it or voiding the warranty.
You might be correct. I’d never though of that. If you think about it, it is just a laser. Maybe 10 years is how long it will take for the sensing chamber to become “clogged”, or filthy enough to not detect smoke at a reasonable amount of time. Also, maybe it is how long it takes for the laser to wear out.
It’s actually an LED, not a laser.
Except on http://www.notifier.com/salesandsupport/documentation/Datasheets/DN_5306.pdf this particular Notifier smoke, which actually does have a laser.
Oh, I always though they were lasers. LEDs are supposed to last at least 15 years, so maybe it is the filth clogging up the sensing chamber.
Single-station smoke detectors are a life safety device. The manufacturer is most likely required to specify a date to replace it to avoid liability - someone with a 30 year old BRK ionization detector that might still detect smoke but not sound, etc. The manufacturer probably has to specify a life span. Everything has a shelf life. Really, it has nothing to do with the degradation of ionization or photoelectric principles. It’s just a way of telling the consumer, “you cannot expect this to last forever”.
You also can’t take the ionization chamber apart on any type of detector - even system detectors.
But, I still see people with antique square smoke detectors in their homes, and sometimes, even old mechanical wind-up heat detectors. whatever floats your boat and helps you sleep at night - quite literally.
Come on, you can get a basic 9-volt detector for under $5. Why ask questions?
I had a neighbor come to me a while back about new smoke alarms…
20 year old First Alert ionization units.
I recommended they be replaced but she insisted they worked fine…
Until she burnt breakfast and it didn’t go off… confirmed by test button that the horn was dead.
I went to a service call a month or so ago for a group home, it’s a small house with an addressable DMP XR500 system. They called because they “burned toast, and the fire alarm went off but the keypad didn’t show the detector and we didn’t get a fire alarm signal”.
before I went out, I told them to verify that it wasn’t a battery powered smoke detector. nope, that’s not what it is. ok. got there. she shows me the smoke detector in the dining room - an older 9v BRK/Family Guard unit.
I patiently explained how that wasn’t part of the fire alarm system, and that type of detector is prone to that. I then sprayed some canned air into the chamber, and when I retested it, the horn was dead.
we also inherited a company who was notorious for taking a home’s 120-VAC smoke detectors and connecting it to the security panel via a relay (this is a NO-NO for many reasons). I get, reliably, one service call a month. “this detector didn’t sound” is the common call and it’s some old FireX or Kidde detector and the horn failed.
I don’t work with single-station detectors, but it seems like the piezos fail. For the price (under $5), just replace them when they say.
I understand what you mean, I was just curious. I came here to learn.
So the horn died while you were on the way there?