I had changed the battery in my smoke alarm and it blared off immediately and didn't stop until I removed the battery. I tried this a few times with no success. I couldn't figure out why this occurred then I happened to read the product information on the back which stated to use a specific brand name battery. Really? I never paid any attention to what type of battery I had purchased for years. I guess it's time to replace these that I have because I haven't found any Eveready batteries around. Has anyone experienced any problems with a smoke alarm they've had for years?
No I haven't had the problem you have. We have a new smoke alarm that's different from other apt. of the building. The other apt. we moved from in the same unit that had structural damage to it from building across the way, so we had to move to just another apt. is a new one. The old apt. we lived in had an older model and it wasn't picky of it's batteries and neither is the newer model that's simpler to operate and put the battery into it. The newer model just says in the directions that there must be a battery or you can't mount it to the ceiling. If the smoke alarm has a customer service on the directions maybe the customer service can help you. It's highly unusual that a smoke alarm is picky about the batteries it uses. Good luck with your smoke alarm problem.
Now, this is a reminder to me since we had plans of installing smoke alarms since we moved here in 2001. Quite a long time ago eh? We already had window shopped and it is affordable although my husband has apprehensions with the effectiveness. During the testing, the gadget failed to emit the alarm twice. So we are not sold out yet with the one we tested. Maybe we can find another prospect in the mall on Saturday.
I realize that this may not be much help to your current situation MrsJones - it may however be enlightening - as even though mine are hard-wired - after having also experienced more or less the same thing some years ago when trying to replace a back-up battery - I did discover - that yes, it does appear that the majority of smoke alarm units these days - are now selective regarding type of batteries. The reasoning behind it - is apparently for safety reasons - after it was found that many people were using rechargeable batteries - which as their charge was unreliable - caused the units to either malfunction or not go off at all - making them more or less useless as a prevention device and therefore in order to guarantee correct functioning of the unit - manufacturers now - always recommend the batteries - that have been used and proven in their field tests of each individual unit - to be the most effective and reliable However that said - as you've found and I did too - as there does appear to be something installed into these units that prevents anyone from over-riding the manufacturer's battery recommendation - although I could be being overly cynical and totally wrong on this one - I kinda suspect that there might be a little more to this than meets the eye - and that this in reality - could be more to benefit the smoke alarm manufacturer and the battery producer - rather than the consumer.
This is very helpful @gata montes. I agree with you on your point regarding manufacturer and producer vs consumer. I believe we can apply this to all industries.
I have had the exact same problem actually. I was really clueless about it, why it seemed perfectly fine until I went to change the battery. Nothing I tried could help and I ultimately took the lazy option and just bought a new smoke alarm altogether. I'm still not clear on why it got so sensitive and ridiculous just from a battery change.
I have not experienced this type of problem with a smoke detector but I have experienced a item not working because of the battery not being a certain type of battery such as regular batteries or alkaline batteries.
