WNY Handyman

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None of the items on your list are “life and death” devices

If there’s one thing our government SHOULD do is to take this crap off the market. 99% of what gov’t does is a waste and intrusion but stopping this would be welcomed here.

Our Kidde 1275s (I believe)false alarmed twice this morning– first around 3:30am then again around 3:45am. They beeped a three or four times then stopped by themselves. After checking the whole house, I’m convinced there is no source of smoke/fire. I have three hardwired Kidde units that I installed as routine maintenance replacements about 2 years ago– I don’t know brand of units I replaced but they never false alarmed for 10 years.

Since most others on this post report the false alarm at night, I too am wondering if voltage fluctuations could be the cause. I live in the DC area and tonight is fairly hot/muggy so everyone is demanding power for AC units. We’ve also experienced brownouts in the past, but not tonight as the digital clocks didn’t reset. Any EEs on this post that can comment on whether a voltage fluctuation could set off the alarm?

Finally, as I was checking each alarm, I didn’t notice some type of bug on the wall near one of the alarms. I didn’t notice if that was the offending alarm that tripped the others.

Tom

This just happened to me last night! It went off three times for no reason what so ever and then again an hour and a half later. I pulled the detector that was blinking green and have not had a problem since. Does anyone have any suggestions? What model/unit should I replace it with? Thanks for your input, and I will look more closely at the detectors that I have, and purchase in the future!

We have had the exact same problem with ours the other posters here have discussed. I am assuming it is fruitless to call the manufacturer based on the comments here as well. My family is up again at 1:00 am because of these apparently faulty units and needless to say we are very frustrated and now face the expense of replacing them all.

Up this morning at 2:45am because of our KIDDE units. This is NOT the first time we have been awakened by these alarms, but it will be the last. Out of sheer frustration, most of them were RIPPED off of the ceiling and broken in half trying to remove the batteries. Suffice to say we are looking for replacements.

Thank god I am not alone in this! Our model 1285′s started going off at 3:00 and again at 3:45 this morning. Looks like its time to replace them all since my heart is still racing after being startled awake like that, not a good thing for a woman who is 7 months pregnant.

Amazing that no one talks about cleaning the unit out with a vacuum cleaner, as recommended by the manual, everytime they change the battery. I have had 8 units connected together in my house without false alarms, and the units are now almost 10 years old, time to replace them. I have been woke up by the low battery chirp from one unit, but I don’t change the batteries until the unit indicates it is needed. The batteries last about 3 years, standard Duracell’s. Whenever I change the battery, since I have the unit off the ceiling, I vacuum it out with a strong vacuum.

I will echo any complaints about how difficult it is to get the A/C plug/clip off the unit sometimes. Poor design.

I have a similar story – except that my alarms began screaming at 1:00 am. No fire or smoke. I checked the brand/model and yes it is the Kidde 1275. I went online and found this website, and while it’s a shame to see so many posts on this poor product, it’s comforting to know I’m not alone. The house was built in 2002. It’s not surprising to know that builders go with the cheapest product. In 2006 we had an addition built and used First Alert detectors. We’ll be installing those in the rest of the house soon.

We have hard-wired Kidde units (not sure what model #, I’ll have to check when I get home) We were awakened about 5am by the smoke detectors. Startled, we jumped up and ran to the kids room -there were 2 smoke detectors in the hallway and one in another bedroom that were sounding (they must be connected). None of the others in the house were going off (we have 16, give or take a couple). In the commotion I thought it seemed ‘hazy’ or ‘smoky’, but I believe that was just blurred vision from being startled awake. Oddly, we smelled nothing, could find nothing wrong. My husband ran into the attic, down to the basement, in every room (even though the sounding alarms were isolated to the upstairs, when they were screaming at us for 10 minutes it was hard to tell if more were going off). He even ran outside (it was raining) to see if there was smoke coming from somewhere. When we were a bit calmed and convinced nothing was on fire – I looked on the internet and found these posts. My husband got the ladder and pulled down the detector that was blinking green and slow red (the two on either side were blinking green and fast red, so we think not the culprits). After reading some posts, my husband admitted that there was a spider hanging from that detector. Hmmm. Well, I hope that’s all it was – but of course now I have a complete lack of confidence in not only our detectors, but our botched ‘family fire plan’…we did horribly. I can only think that’s because we were confused that there was NO FIRE OR SMOKE. Well, I am going to vacuum the units I guess, and work on our family fire plan just in case. With as many units as we have, I feel safer that we are ‘covered’, but on the other hand we just have more risk of false alarms. Good luck everyone.

Kidde 1275 going off at 2:30 AM FOR THE LAST 3 MORNINGS. TRIED RESETTING – DID NOT WORK – THEN TRIED TO GET THE AC ADAPTER OFF – VERY HARD – IN FACT THE BACK WIRE BROKE FIRST – THEN THE ADAPTER CAME OFF AND WE WERE ABLE TO REMOVE THE BATTERY – IN HOPES OF REPLACING IT – BUT NOW WE HAVE TO HAVE THE BLACK WIRE REATTACHED. WHAT WILL THAT COST???????

I have Installed dozens of houses with Kidde / Fire X smokes and smoke CO’s it seems that about one in eight installs have this problem in the first 3 months. This has cost my company hundreds and made customers very unhappy last time was in 2009 somebody should sue these @$$ holes for still selling this crap when they know it is defective. I will never trust one of there products again. P.S don’t trust them when they tell you they have fixed the
problem in the newer product.

We purchased our house 8 years ago (new construction) and have had nothing but heartache with these units. They are constantly going off, and sometimes you just can’t stop them. Today was the kicker. I was reading to my 4 year old downstairs when all the alarms went off. I immediatly went looking for any sign of smoke and found nothing. However when I entered my sons bedroom I was welcomed with a horrible smell. It was nowhere else in the house. I called my neighbor (both husband and wife are firefighters) and they came over to inspect. They detected no sign of fire but couldn’t explain the smell in my sons room. Then my neighbor decided to inspect the alarm itself, and when he took it down the odor became worse! He turned it over and the thing had melted inside! It said on the side “replace after 10 years”. I say replace them NOW! Piecs of junk!

Our Kidde (not sure if it’s a 1275 model) smoke alarm went off at 5am this morning – sounding three times then stopping, then a couple of minutes later sounding twice more – not the battery warning sound the proper alarm sound. After waking up very suddenly and charging around the flat checking for smoke or fire we calmed down and then noticed a very “guilty” looking spider crawling away from the alarm in the hall way. After reading these posts and doing a little research it looks like this could have been the cause! In the tired, shocked state I was in in the early hours of this morning I didn’t think to get rid of the spider – hope it doesn’t go for a wander near the smoke alarm again if it’s still about!

Mine work fine. I have five (5) interconnected model #1285 throughout my home, and have not had a problem. Once I burned some toast and set them off, but other than that, no false alarms. I do keep the dust down in the house, and have 3 dogs and cats that I have to constantly have to vacuum up after. One factor maybe carpeted floors. Since building this home five years ago (when the alarms were installed), I went with hardwood and tile throughout. I have noticed a marked decrease in dust within the home. Could this be part of your problem?? New carpet, which sometimes has a lot of “flurries” once installed, or perhaps an old carpet that has since degraded, causing a similar these false alarms. I also take an air compressor lightly to the units when changing the batteries, so that may help. Whatever the source of your problem, find a solution, as these little babies may save you and yours. Good Luck, Sean

this is crazy! one of our just went off last night at 4:30 AM! i thought i was going to have a heart attack! before reading this i did figure out it was the blinking one that needed to be changed. we are still unsure as to what set it off very uneasy feeling all day and im sure for many nights to come.

I have my 1275 for about 8 years…. only had one false alarm.

but I get the chirp from time to time….indicating low battery….. but when I test the battery, i get a strong
reading….. could it be that the battery MUST HAVE FULL CHARGE to eliminate the chirp?

Seems to be a quality control problem at factory. obviously the manufacture is not improving their smoke alarms. i have a model 2060. which has the same problem of randomly going off. Have changed battery, cleaned unit, and relocated to a different area in house. unit date on back is jan 2008. will buy another unit for the fix, I hope

My Kidde alarm went off at 3:30 am this morning and then again at 4:00 am. Seems this happens every 6 mos. or so–always in the wee hours of the morning. All these false positives are making it difficult to keep my two children serious about the alarms.

4:45am and then 4:55am. Why am. ?? Our detectors sounded. All of them. I did the house run in 30 seconds. Nothing burning. Kids woke up, which is good. Our bedroom detector shows green followed by a slow red every minute or so. It’s a model i12060. April 2007. Changed battery. Same. Pulled it. I’m up now. Now what? Breakfast?

Our two Kidde alarms went off this morning at 1:36am. They went off several times…scared the crap out of me and my 6-month pregnant wife. I’m just glad she didn’t go into labor! Now, I didn’t see any spiders, but I did notice a dead lightening bug lying on the floor beneath the one detector. What are the chances that the bug may have been lured to the detector by the flashing green LED light and cause it to go off?? Stranger things have happened, I suppose. Either way, these crappy Kidde alarms are going in the trash tomorrow.

My heart is still racing. Model 1275 (x6) started screaming at 3:17 a.m. I have to work on my fire planning as I failed miserably. Instead of grabbing my animals and leaving the house I started tearing around the house looking for the fire. Thank goodness there wasn’t one. Looking to replace all units immediatly since reading all your posts, which have helped to slow my racing heart. Thank you for that.

OMG. all of my detectors (8 of them) model 1275 just went apeChit. Didn’t know what to do so I went thru the house yanking every one of them out. this is not the first time either. What next?

Thank goodness I found this site. Same story with me! Three am, four am….near heart attacks. All batteries changed and still going off. Like others have said, GOD FORBID there be a actual fire! Nobody in this house will take it serious. Bummer….

Thank God I found this site..now maybe I can sleep with piece of mind..for 2hrs anyway.I am currently writing this at 3:16 am of course after running around my entire house with my nose in the air sniffing like a dog for non-existing smoke.I had a total of 3 false alarms starting at ~midnight to now.The Kidde 1275 were installed when house was built ~5yrs ago.the offending unit is currently lying on the ground in front of me, disembatteried.
Oh well…Back to sleep I go

Our main house and separate suite are connected together by 3 (new) hardwired Kidde detectors, on a well-tested low capacity house electrical circuit.

So far I have tried all different models of Kidde and all end up double chirping usually in the wee hours of the morning. It’s random and sometimes it will go days or weeks without a peep then it’s wakey wakey time again. It’s like the little boy who cried wolf — how can we trust these things now?

Kidde customer service and tech support is of NO help. But the local store has been good about returns ..at least unitl their generosity wears out.

Interestingly, the previous units were Firex and they gave no trouble over their 9 years of life. Sadly, they were bought out by Kidde, and it seems Kidde never continued with the Firex quality.

So, what to do, which other brand is a better choice?

Sleepless in Victoria, BC

Wait a minute. I thought I was the only one with this kind of problems. I had my house built 5 years ago and almost got used to being awaken about once a week. Always around 3:00 AM with false alarms from my Kidde interconnected smoke detectors. We have 9 of them in the house. At one point when the issue became more frequent and when neither new batteries or clening the units had any effect on false alarms, I bought all new units and installed fresh batteries. Yes, I just gave them MORE revenue. I bought the latest model too. That was a few months ago. Things seemed to be good for a couple of weeks, but the false alarms came back. Last night I had 6 false alarms from 3:08 AM to 4:50 AM. I had to go around the house and unplug them all. My wife, my kids and I could not sleep. What a way to start the week. Now, what are we supposed to do? Disconnect the detectors? In this case, if there is ever a fire, I’ll get in trouble with the insurance company. Do I live with the issue? I this case we will continue to have sleepless nights AND we won’t respond in case of real fires anyway, since we are so used to false alarms. I think the best way out is a class action law suit against this company.

I’ve been living with this for the past 5 years. Our problem is coming from the basement alarm, which triggers the rest. Usually, from 1-3 am. My thought was that is was caused by and insect like a spider. I’ll try the vacuum.

Just to let you all know that there is another side of the coin with the 1275′s. I have 9 installed in new construction 9 years ago. With 2 exceptions they have worked fine without false alarms. The two exceptions were defective units that appeared to give false alarms as you all describe, but were easily tracable to one unit which when replaced ended the problem. I’m thinking that some of your problems may be other things setting them off?? I’m coming up on the 10 year recommended replacement for all of them and will not hesitate to replace with 1275′s or equivalent.

I bought 9 hardwired interconnected Model i12080 and they go off in the middle of the night every couple months. Last night it was 2:40am and then twice more at approx 2:50am and 3:00am. Kidde clearly has a major quality problem and aren’t interested in fixing at all. My units all show dates around mid 2008, so not even 3 years old but they have been doing this for years. I noticed they have an entire section in the manual for ‘nuisance alarms’ but it was of no help. So clearly they just acknowledge the flaw and just put it in the manual instead of fixing it. Will never buy a Kidde product again.

Add me to the list. I live in one unit of a duplex, built 7 years ago. Have two of these detectors in the unit. One of them started raising nine kinds of holy hell at 1:30 in the damned morning. I did a quick run of the entire place (not hard, it’s really small) and it became immediately apparent nothing was burning, but the stupid alarm just wouldn’t shutup. Unplugged and de-batteried, and the other smoke alarm is not going off or giving signs of trouble.

Still, I might let the landlady know that these things are crap.

My 1275′s have gone off for now reason 3 times now in the past 10 years. The most recent was last night after a power outage at around 2:30 a.m. Same story– I ran around the house and outside looking for smoke/fire, and then had to get the ladder out to take down the units. After the first time, I started keeping ear plugs in my bedside table– I was very grateful for them last night.

I need to replace these alarms, but I’m not sure yet what I’ll get. Any suggestions for alarms that actually work only when there’s actual smoke?

Same story and same problem as other posts. 2:00 am. False alarm. Freaked us out. Ridiculous. Going in the morning to replace.

Ditto to the above comments. Glad I found this site. False alarm from a Kidde 1235 at 5 a.m. freaked me and the dog out. I had to pull the unit from the ceiling to shut it up.

I replaced all of my Kidde detectors due to false alarms, now just 1 year later they are going off a couple times a night AGAIN.

I think the model is 1235. Is the model number on the little sticker on the back? There is an issue number on the sticker but nothing that says “Model Number”.

Is there a non-Kidde product which actually works? I will replace them and never use a Kidde product again.

I thought about what conditions occur at night too. It’s not low air movement, since you’d expect some false alarms during the day and since I know my neighbours they would tell me it was going off.

Home Depot is also complicit in selling these crappy units.

Wow, what a list…And I’m adding to it. Replaced all units 6 months ago after ~7 years of intermittent late night heart attacks with these things going off for no apparent reason.

I replaced them with unit # PE120 from Lowes and here we go again…So the solution is…You guessed it, no fire alarms…Isn’t that just great.

I’m going out and buying some battery powered ones and leaving them around the house.

What the !@#$?>????

Us too, my wife, four-day old baby and myself were blasted awake at 3:45 this morning. A quick scream and nothing. WTF, not like we need sleep anyway with a new one in the house

We have the i2060 model and they have gone off around 3am twice this year. Today I checked each of the detectors with incense smoke and NONE of them went off! They all have a green light and new batteries. Has anyone found another company that makes a quality detector you could recommend?

we had one start chirping at 9 pm last night, changed the battery, then another started chirping, changed that battery….then the first one startedup again and one by one they all started, randomly, chirping. late night trip to drug store….new batteries for all 10 of them, tested each one and……3 of them randomly chirping ALL night, got home from work at 7 today, stil chirping. my son has just removed the 3 that seemed to be doing it and the house is at last chirp free. Can anybody tell me what that is all about? oh, cleaned each one with compressed air last night too.