My family fard from 2000 has a yellow capacitor, that says “SURGE”
But my first alert doesn’t (it’s from 1993)
But my first alert doesn’t (it’s from 1993)
What capacitor? I’m not sure I see one anywhere there.
Below the nuke stuff
I have no idea what you mean by “nuke stuff” either.
1 Like
probably means the radioactive component in the smoke detector, but i don’t see it labeled anywhere
1 Like
Ah, I sorta had a feeling that TTSF would mistake the sensing chamber for a capacitor, but you’re right: I don’t see the older detector’s labeled as “SURGE” anywhere (or that it’s yellow for that matter).
1 Like
Heres the family Gards, see the yellow capacitor?
Here’s the First Alert, it’s not there, but the PCB has a spot for it.
Yes, it is labeled surge.
Oh, that. No idea why that capacitor is seemingly only on some BRK/Family Gard/First Alert detectors to be honest (though given the one on yours is labeled “SURGE” perhaps it’s there to take up the extra current from a potential power surge in the circuitry (even if it’s solely battery-powered & thus unlikely to have power surges in the first place).
1 Like
Why would it even be there, and only on some models, does yours have them?
Well considering it’s on that newer Family Gard detector you have & not on your earlier First Alert one, perhaps BRK encountered issues with their detectors sometimes experiencing circuitry-killing power surges, so they added that capacitor at some point to guard against such. As for mine, I never thought to look for that difference before now, but now that I have it seems like all but one of the “8-row” & Family Gard-style detectors I have (of which there are quite a few) have that capacitor (though its make & model (or at least color) often differ): said odd one out is a 1993 2nd-gen SA67D, & it actually has a spot on the board for a capacitor, but there’s nothing there: meanwhile the next oldest one I have, a 1996 SA67D, does have a capacitor in that spot, so I guess the change was made sometime in between 1993 & 1996.
1 Like
Ok, thanks for your help
Sure thing. I don’t believe we have any confirmation that that’s what that capacitor is for though (heck if anything the “SURGE” lettering may have to do with the make &/or model somehow).
Can you post pictures of yours with the capacitors?
I will if I can drag them all out again: I put them all back once I had taken them out to see which had a capacitor & which didn’t.
Ok thanks for the update