It's a First Alert Model 9120B... has AC and battery power. Tried replacing the battery with a known good one (even metered it and it shows 9.2V) ... and the damned thing keeps beeping. I've also tried disconnecting it from the AC power and depressing the button for 5-10 seconds or so to try to get it to reset.

Ideas? Or is it just in need of replacement?

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Here's one possible issue/solution:

[idoneitmyself.com]

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MindMeld
Here's one possible issue/solution:

[idoneitmyself.com]

Interesting. The room where the smoke detector is, IS fairly dusty, though it being on the ceiling, I wouldn't have thought it'd have that much dust. Worth a try though.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

They build them now that after 10 years they have an EOL chirp and force you to replace them.

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C(-)ris
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.....smoke....gets in your....eyes....

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C(-)ris
They build them now that after 10 years they have an EOL chirp and force you to replace them.

Those can also get dusty and fail very prematurely. I had to take one down and silence it with a hammer after about 13 months.

....yes, had that happen recently.....a 10 year old one just started chirping and I couldn't stop it......then saw how old it was......

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

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C(-)ris
They build them now that after 10 years they have an EOL chirp and force you to replace them.

Yes, I saw that -- this one isn't 10 years though, it's dated 2015.

I've tried the air duster, that hasn't solved it. So I'm going to try to leave it totally unplugged/no power for a bit and see if that resets it.

The manual for it is -- at least for me -- very confusing on this point. They don't even show how the battery is supposed to be oriented in the holder, and the plus and minus signs inside are tiny and almost impossible to see. I'm not sure I'm understanding it properly, but I think the manual is suggesting to turn off the power at the breaker before replacing the battery: [www.firstalertstore.com] ... if true, that's a total pain in the neck.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

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PeterB
I'm not sure I'm understanding it properly, but I think the manual is suggesting to turn off the power at the breaker before replacing the battery: [www.firstalertstore.com] ... if true, that's a total pain in the neck.

Well, there is 120VAC going to it, so they would be remiss to not at least suggest that.

2015? 6 years? Time to replace it.

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mikebw

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PeterB
I'm not sure I'm understanding it properly, but I think the manual is suggesting to turn off the power at the breaker before replacing the battery: [www.firstalertstore.com] ... if true, that's a total pain in the neck.

Well, there is 120VAC going to it, so they would be remiss to not at least suggest that.

True, but you'd also think that disconnecting it from the AC at the jumper would be sufficient ... I guess their procedure is intended to discharge the detector, but I don't see what it matters if you turn off the power at the breaker or just remove AC power from the unit. [support.firstalert.com]

... anyway, just for the heck of it, I tried and it didn't work. So I'm guessing this one just went bad early.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

A friend Phoebe had that happen. She ended up throwing it down the trash chute.

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“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]

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Racer X
A friend Phoebe had that happen. She ended up throwing it down the trash chute.

Probably still beeping.

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mikebw

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Racer X
A friend Phoebe had that happen. She ended up throwing it down the trash chute.

Probably still beeping.

lol

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PeterB
The manual for it is -- at least for me -- very confusing on this point. They don't even show how the battery is supposed to be oriented in the holder, and the plus and minus signs inside are tiny and almost impossible to see. I'm not sure I'm understanding it properly, but I think the manual is suggesting to turn off the power at the breaker before replacing the battery: [www.firstalertstore.com] ... if true, that's a total pain in the neck.

The problem may be that the battery is not seated properly. Did the battery seat cleanly? Did you set the locking-pin?

Some tips here:
[www.bobvila.com]

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I hate wired smoke detectors, they give way more trouble than straight battery. We have three of them because the of a remodel job some years ago. The rest of the house has battery only, no issues with them.

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Grateful11

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Sarcany

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PeterB
The manual for it is -- at least for me -- very confusing on this point. They don't even show how the battery is supposed to be oriented in the holder, and the plus and minus signs inside are tiny and almost impossible to see. I'm not sure I'm understanding it properly, but I think the manual is suggesting to turn off the power at the breaker before replacing the battery: [www.firstalertstore.com] ... if true, that's a total pain in the neck.

The problem may be that the battery is not seated properly. Did the battery seat cleanly? Did you set the locking-pin?

Some tips here:
[www.bobvila.com]

Battery seated cleanly, no evidence of corrosion or obstruction, and I didn't set or use a locking pin.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

I just replaced all,of mine after one started chirping non stop. They only last about 7 years from what I’ve read and mine were older than that by a bit.

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JoeM

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vision63

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mikebw

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Racer X
A friend Phoebe had that happen. She ended up throwing it down the trash chute.

Probably still beeping.

lol

.....could you ask Phoebe.....if Ross and Rachel were on a break......????

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

She's returning the Holiday Armadillo for Ross.

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********************************************
“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]

Followup -- got a replacement, the replacement is working fine. So definitely a problem with the old alarm. I think it's fine that these things have a finite lifespan, but I think it'd be better if they made them with some sort of self-test circuit so as to distinguish between EOL versus all the other possibilities we discussed in this thread... would have saved me a lot of diagnostic time.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)