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Home alarm system keeps going off saying fire?

Posted on 5/29/18 at 9:05 am
Posted by jdavid1
Member since Jan 2014
2463 posts
Posted on 5/29/18 at 9:05 am
I have a basic Honeywell alarm system that is just setup with doors and windows. It doesn't have any fire alarms wired up to it. It goes off every 6 or 7 hours saying fire. None of my fire alarms go off, but it does cause the one right above my panel to blink bright red. I assume it's being set off from the noise of the alarm system since my fire alarms are not hard wired. Is this just a bad alarm panel?

I have a guy coming to look at it tomorrow, but I need to get it cut off since I have an infant sleeping in the room who I don't want to keep waking up in the middle of the night. Should I just unplug the whole system until the tech gets there?
Posted by madmaxvol
Infinity + 1 Posts
Member since Oct 2011
19104 posts
Posted on 5/29/18 at 9:20 am to
They can be set off by dust. Pull them down and blow them out with a compressed air can...it can't hurt.

Posted by jdavid1
Member since Jan 2014
2463 posts
Posted on 5/29/18 at 9:31 am to
It't not the actual fire alarms going off. It's the alarm panel that is going off. Like this.



Posted by VoxDawg
Glory, Glory
Member since Sep 2012
59435 posts
Posted on 5/29/18 at 9:35 am to
quote:

None of my fire alarms go off, but it does cause the one right above my panel to blink bright red.


I'm guessing you're meaning the smoke detector, yes? If the SD above your security panel is lighting up w/ a red LED, then it's definitely the culprit. The other poster who recommends blowing the detector out with compressed air is on the right track. Might want to try using your vacuum hose to suck out any loose dust/debris, too.

The probability of it being a bad panel versus a device that's going into alarm is pretty low. Remember, there's no such thing as a false alarm, just a nuisance condition causing what's likely a good device to go into alarm. Odds are on it being dust/dirt.

That device is likely hardwired back to the panel, since it needs power and there are scarcely few UL listed wireless smoke detectors to work with a security panel. If you're truly concerned about it, you could remove the end of the line resistor from the smoke detector terminals and put it across the two fire alarm input terminals at the panel. You'd need to remove the pair of wires from the smoke detector at the panel side, since it would still be going into alarm, this way.

I only recommend doing so if you know that your security guy is en route for a confirmed appointment. REMOVING THE DETECTOR WIRING FROM THE TERMINAL WILL DISABLE THAT SMOKE DETECTOR AND IT WILL NOT OPERATE IN ANY LIFE SAFETY CAPACITY.
Posted by VoxDawg
Glory, Glory
Member since Sep 2012
59435 posts
Posted on 5/29/18 at 9:36 am to
quote:

It't not the actual fire alarms going off. It's the alarm panel that is going off. Like this.


Is your monitoring company calling you saying the panel is reporting a fire condition?
Posted by VABCHTIGER
South Boston, VA
Member since Sep 2007
316 posts
Posted on 5/29/18 at 9:46 am to
Generally, smoke detectors blink once every seven to fifteen seconds to show that they are working properly and if they go into an alarm situation, the LED goes on steadily (I'm assuming that when you say fire alarms, you mean smoke detectors). And I don't know of any way sound could make a smoke detector go into an alarm condition or "blink bright red". When the alarm system goes off saying fire, is the smoke detector above the panel blinking a brighter red than normal?

Since most security systems have battery backups, the system will continue to work until the battery cannot power the system anymore. This could be a few minutes up to 24 hours, depending on the state of the battery and the drain the system puts on the battery. You could disconnect the siren so that it doesn't sound, but if the keypad(s) are also making noise that you don't want you will have disconnect the battery along with disconnecting the AC source. This will totally disable your alarm system.
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