14 Messages
Smoke Detector Batteries
Yesterday, I had a false alarm on one of my smoke detectors--a very odd one because the horns did not sound, but I received an alert from the app that it reported an alarm, and the monitoring company called. Fortunately, I was home, so the fire department wasn't called.
Today, I contacted support and the tech indicated that this might be due to the fact that I had replaced the original batteries with Energizer brand, and that it is critical to use only Panasonic batteries. He pointed out that the battery door on the alarm indicates to use only Panasonic and that other brands could cause malfunctions. (And I'm now aware of the UL issue as well.)
OK, but...
In these forums, I've seen SimpliSafe reps indicate the battery type without specifying any brand. The support page specifies only the type and does not indicate that it must be Panasonic: https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023810112-How-long-do-the-batteries-last-
Worst of all, the video explaining proper battery replacement actually shows the person using Energizer batteries. But then there is a disclaimer at the end specifying that you should use Panasonic, so you're giving very conflicting instructions. https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029807451-How-do-I-change-my-SimpliSafe-batteries-and-how-do-I-know-when-to-replace-them-#h_0c0b4fec-f932-4972-b10c-e282a28a0c8a
So which is it? Are Panasonic brand batteries really required for the devices to work properly or not? If they are, then that should be clearly specified everywhere and your video describing the proper battery replacement should absolutely not illustrate the process using a brand that won't work and that your own tech support says may cause false alarms or other malfunctions.
This is important to me because I can readily get Energizer batteries at many local stores, but Panasonic brand is "special order". It's also important because there are quite a few users here who are using other brands under the belief that this is just a UL technicality. But if this can cause false alarms or, far worse, can cause the detector to fail to sound the horn when it detects a fire, then the warning to use only Panasonic must be everywhere and stated much more strongly than it "will have detrimental effect", as in: ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE ANY BRAND OTHER THAN PANASONIC OR THE SMOKE DETECTOR WILL NOT WORK.
Better still, you need to rework the detectors so they can use any decent brand of battery.
Today, I contacted support and the tech indicated that this might be due to the fact that I had replaced the original batteries with Energizer brand, and that it is critical to use only Panasonic batteries. He pointed out that the battery door on the alarm indicates to use only Panasonic and that other brands could cause malfunctions. (And I'm now aware of the UL issue as well.)
OK, but...
In these forums, I've seen SimpliSafe reps indicate the battery type without specifying any brand. The support page specifies only the type and does not indicate that it must be Panasonic: https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023810112-How-long-do-the-batteries-last-
Worst of all, the video explaining proper battery replacement actually shows the person using Energizer batteries. But then there is a disclaimer at the end specifying that you should use Panasonic, so you're giving very conflicting instructions. https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029807451-How-do-I-change-my-SimpliSafe-batteries-and-how-do-I-know-when-to-replace-them-#h_0c0b4fec-f932-4972-b10c-e282a28a0c8a
So which is it? Are Panasonic brand batteries really required for the devices to work properly or not? If they are, then that should be clearly specified everywhere and your video describing the proper battery replacement should absolutely not illustrate the process using a brand that won't work and that your own tech support says may cause false alarms or other malfunctions.
This is important to me because I can readily get Energizer batteries at many local stores, but Panasonic brand is "special order". It's also important because there are quite a few users here who are using other brands under the belief that this is just a UL technicality. But if this can cause false alarms or, far worse, can cause the detector to fail to sound the horn when it detects a fire, then the warning to use only Panasonic must be everywhere and stated much more strongly than it "will have detrimental effect", as in: ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE ANY BRAND OTHER THAN PANASONIC OR THE SMOKE DETECTOR WILL NOT WORK.
Better still, you need to rework the detectors so they can use any decent brand of battery.
