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Smoke Alarm Reliability.

Hello All,

                  has anyone got any info on the reliability of the mains/battery smoke alarm model 670MBX please? These are distributed by BRK of GL2 2DE. I have come across reliability problems. I was wondering if this is a product quality problem or a local mains' problem.


Thanks,


Z.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    This is not related but I've never liked mains powered smoke alarms they seem to take a hell of alot more test smoke from a solo bucket that I've stopped using it to test these types of smokes. 


    Ts
  • When we did a training course with Ei/Aico, they stated that the instructions say NOT to test with canned smoke, because they're designed NOT to respond to false alarms (and it's a false alarm).  Given that manufacturers instructions override the regs... that's worth bearing in mind.


    I've seen a few BRK alarms in the wild, but not fitted any, so no real experience with their reliability
  • I have these all over my house (smoke or heat detector in every room except bathrooms), and apart from last Saturday morning when the one in the dining room decided to activate and wake the entire house up at 6am they have generally been fine.


    At that time I took the errant unit down so we could all go back to bed - I'll try putting it back up again soon.


    I did notice that the 'test' button on this one was very sensitive, and as the cases flex a bit and mine are fitted to circular dry-lining backboxes I wonder if there was a bit of 'push' from the cabling/connector on the back that was just sitting on the edge and managed to 'push' the test button if you see what I mean?  It has been sitting there for about 5 years though.


    Jason.
  • On the canned smoke thing, I have been told that the units sold for domestic installation are not really designed to be reused after a fire, and therefore testing them with smoke, which can permanently coat the sensors (think of smoker's house, where everything has a thin layer deposited) actually shortens the life of the sensors, and eventually they will trigger continuously even when no smoke is present. The commercial ones however were made a bit less sensitive when new to allow for the degradation from a certain number of tests during the lifetime. (and the instructions for the commercial setting says use more sensors per building, so this is not a problem)

    This was a few years ago, and one make, I'm not sure if it is generally true.

    And of course it is irrelevant for heat sensors, like we all put in kitchens, don't we...
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Mike,

    That's the reason I stopped using the solo bucket for mains smoke alarms, can lead to contamination issues no different from a bs5849:1 system for that matter. 


    Many a time when I've witnessed an engineer testing smokes with just a can spraying directly into the optical chamber and you're correct they will leave an oily residue if used over zealously. 


    Ts