‎Smoke detector false alarms | SimpliSafe Support Home
 

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Saturday, February 1st, 2020 6:59 PM

Smoke detector false alarms

I have have way too many smoke detector false alarm in the past 18 months. My house is spic and span clean, my wife is a clean freak, so the excuse from SimpliSafe that it is dusty is just plain wrong.  I've had six false alarms from two different smoke detectors (one up stairs one down stairs) during this time. It is very upsetting to get the call from SimpliSafe that the smoke detector had been triggered. Fortunately I have web cams very close to the smoke detectors so when I get the call from them I can check to see if there really is smoke. Of course that has not been the case. I learned that it is possible after getting numerous false alarms from the downstairs smoke detector that technical support can remotely turn off that detector from the system. Recently I was away from my home and the downstairs smoke detector triggered, l could see there was no smoke on my web cam, I had SimpliSafe turn that detector off. Before I returned home the upstairs smoke detector did the same, so I had that one turned off. I got two new replacements from SimpliSafe and within ONE WEEK another FALSE ALARM!! I am now thinking I should install two detectors at each location side by side, therefore if only one goes off I know it's a false alarm. It seems strange to go that route, however it seems to make some sense. I would also like to mention I have 5 store bought smoke detectors throughout my house. Several are many years old, I have never had a false alarm with any of them, NEVER! This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

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2.8K Messages

5 years ago

Not that I am excusing the issues with the smoke detectors, but just want to make sure:  1) do not place them in a kitchen or near a bathroom where steam can set them off), and 2)  clean them with a can of compressed air once a month - it's the only reliable way to clean them.

2 Messages

3 years ago

I had the same problem last fall. (I asked the question through support 6 months ago and hadn’t heard back). I was away, I received the call from the monitoring service that the detector went off and they asked me if they should alert the FD. I said yes, rushed home and met them at my door. There was no problem. Does it alert the service with a battery problem? It was not going off when I went into the house. It was 6 months old, so I had a few years left on the battery. I’m at a loss also. 

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@charlesmace​ the Smoke Detector works by having a detection chamber that triggers when small particles get inside. This is the only way that an alarm event can be triggered from the Smoke Detector.

But of course, while the Detector is designed to trigger from smoke, it can also trigger from other particles. The most common would be from dust.

To prevent future false alarms, we suggest taking the unit down and vacuuming around the grill to keep it clean, on a semi-regular basis.

2 Messages

@davey_d​ 

I've had similar issues as those noted above. I don't understand why they NEED to be cleaned. Regular residential smoke detectors don't require cleaning, and I've had them for years without issue. If the detector is that sensitive to dust, then it's not designed correctly. Not your fault, as I doubt you were the designer.

Additionally, it doesn't make sense why this happens after months of no issue, and then constantly once it happens once, as well as why only some detectors do it and others are just fine.

I do think SimpliSafe should refund people for the cost of the detectors that have this issue, but I'm guessing that's not within the current policies.

2 Messages

@davey_d​ Nope. Very clean, no spiders, etc. The fire dept. said it’s probably faulty or to change the batteries. I changed them and it’s been fine. So are the batteries 6 month batteries or 5 year batteries? 

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@charlesmace​ it should not be possible for a low battery to cause a false alarm. If anything, a low battery might weaken the signal or stop it entirely, so it would prevent alarms from happening at all.

If you're worried though, our Support team is happy to continue troubleshooting, and even replace the unit if necessary.

1 Message

2 years ago

Same issue.  False alarms from smoke detectors and also a motion detector make me not want to use the system.

Community Admin

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71 Messages

Hi dmanfredi1999,

 

If you are still experiencing false alarms after following our troubleshooting steps, please give us a call at 800-548-9508 so our Support team can assist you further! 

2 Messages

5 months ago

I was just awoken for a false alarm. At 5:19 PM the alarm was correctly triggered and exactly 6 hours later it got triggered again, this time, for no reason.

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