The Fire Department has found that some smoke detectors are sounding without there being an actual fire. This may not be caused by a certain detector but may be a result of condensation dripping on the detector. This can occur due to air flow through electrical conduits.

In newer homes (the last 15 years), you will find that all your smoke detectors may be connected together. This is done so if the basement detector sounds an alarm; all sound an alarm to insure that you can hear it from any location in the home. If your detectors are not connected to each other, then you can only hear the one sounding.

If your detector sounds and there is no smoke present after you have checked throughout the home, please do the following:

Go to the uppermost detector in your home and disconnect it from the ceiling (usually a quarter turn). When the detector comes down you will see it is connected by wires. In some cases you will see water dripping from the detector. That’s from the condensation. If it does not appear to be wet, look for rust on the top of the detector. Shut off the electricity to the detector at this time. Usually a circuit breaker for the area you are in will stop the detector from sounding. If you also have a battery back-up detector, the detectors will continue to sound on low voltage until you also remove the battery. There is a plug-in at the back of the detector. After the electricity has been shut off, unplug the detector. Once the detector has been removed, and it’s the offending detector, the others should stop sounding. If your detectors have battery back up, then disconnect the battery and it should stop sounding. Should the detector continue to sound, unplug them separately again until the offending detector is found. The others will quit sounding.

If at any time you see or smell smoke, leave the house and call 911 immediately.

Now that it’s quiet, check the electrical box for condensation or water dripping from a conduit. You may even find rust in the conduit that runs up to the attic. That is the problem area. When we find this problem, we simply take some insulation from the attic and stuff the problem conduit. Stuffing the conduit causes the air flow to stop, thereby causing the condensation to stop.

You may have conduits that go up into other cold spaces that may not be at the upper level. Check those detectors also.

We recommend that you replace the detector that caused the problem with a new detector. A temporary fix may be to take the basement or mid-level detector and put it in place of the damaged detector. Be sure that if it was the detector at the bedroom level, you replace the detector as soon as possible.

Once repairs have been made, turn your electricity back on.

Should you have any questions, please call the Building Department at 444-5100 during normal business hours.

It is recommended that smoke detectors 10 years or older should be replaced with new detectors. As they age, they may lose their ability to function properly.