‎Had the stove top fan too low...smoke alarm activated, which enabled burglar alarm which activated, smoke alarm activated... | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
M

Thursday, June 3rd, 2021 6:18 PM

Had the stove top fan too low...smoke alarm activated, which enabled burglar alarm which activated, smoke alarm activated...

Nightmare last Monday.  Initial fault was mine, culinary mishap set off the smoke detector.  Got a call from Dispatch.   The screech was so loud I stepped outside to hear her.  For some reason the activated smoke alarm had enabled the burglar alarm, and opening the front door set off the burglar alarm.  So I got another dispatch call from an operator unaware of the smoke alarm.  I went to the keypad and used the pin to reset to Off.  Then while dealing with the burglar alarm call, the smoke alarm alerted again, and I missed a third dispatch call from an agent who didn't know about the other two calls, and she dispatched the fire department.  I asked the dispatch agent on the second phone call how to turn off the screech...she transferred me to a customer service agent.  While speaking with that agent, my wife called.  I switched to her line and she told me the fire department had been dispatched.  I reassured her and switched back to the agent.  While speaking with him again, the fire chief pulled up in his pickup truck.  He was very understanding.

Then at 11pm the smoke alarm alerted a third time, for no discernable reason.  I called and insisted Simplisafe replace it.  I was promised two day delivery.  Three days later I learned smoke alarms are out of stock and will take a month to arrive.

Sigh.

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

3 years ago

A nightmare indeed, michael_6061730!

Yes, it is indeed a current intentional design feature where if a Smoke Alarm is triggered, that also sets up the burglar sensors (the Motion Sensors in particular) to trigger a second alarm. The reasoning is that if a human was detected moving around in the property, our Monitoring service will be able to determine where they are in your home and give more info to the 911 dispatchers.

The other thing to know is that the Smoke Detector (just like the Carbon Monoxide Detector, Water Sensor, and Freeze Sensor) will keep re-triggering as long as the hazard is being detected.
So in this case, there might have still been some particles making their way into the Smoke Detector's chamber. If you're getting repeated false alarms, we would suggest using a vacuum cleaner to clean around the grill of the unit to pull those particles out.
That would at least be a good step in the meantime, while you wait for that replacement unit, which is coming soon!

- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security

197 Messages

3 years ago

So, if I am understanding things correctly, when my smoke alarm goes off my alarm is automatically turned on.  I don't have any motion detectors (too many pets), but if I open a door with an entry sensor, will my alarm will go off again?

I don't mind the smoke detectors continuing to go off until they no longer detect a hazard, but I am concerned that the monitoring center cannot see a previous trigger only a few minutes earlier and whether it was a false alarm or not.  

Also, it doesn't make sense to receive 2-3 calls back-to-back from the monitoring center and then have emergency services dispatched when the potential threat has already been dismissed.  I have had my smoke detector go off a couple times for false alarms, been talking to the monitoring center and have to switch over to answer another call from the monitoring center.  Thankfully, I was able to answer in time, so dispatch wasn't sent, but it feels somewhat nerve wracking switching back and forth between between calls hoping that I can click over in time.  

I don't want to give a false impression - I am very satisfied with Simplisafe and the monitoring center.  It just seems like there should be a more efficient way to handle a situation such as this.

28 Messages

3 years ago

I had the same thing happen recently except I didn't do anything to trigger it.  There was no smoke but it sounded off and then I got the cascade of other burglar sensors going off.  They did not dispatch emergency services since I got the call and talked to them.  The Simplisafe rep that called suggested that I pop the smoke alarm off and gently blow out dust from it with canned air which seems to have fixed the issue.

Captain

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6K Messages

3 years ago

Unless the directons changed (which I didn't read when I first installed my smoke sensors) they should be cleaned monthly. I do it bimonthly and they work fine now. A case of compressed air cans, less than 8 bucks at Costco three years ago, is still going strong.
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