At about 2 a.m. the smoke detectors started going off. I jumped out of bed to check and fortunately, there wasn’t a problem. No smoke, no fire. I tried to reset the alarms and finally, they stopped. Back to bed. About 40 minutes later, it started again. I found one blinking red and changed the battery. Reset the rest and then back in bed. 40 minutes later, the same thing. I examined all and didn’t see anything wrong other than they were loud and I could reset them this time. I replaced all the batteries and back to bed. 40 minutes later, all are on again. Frustrated, I called the Huntley Police non-emergency number. Told them the problem and asked for advice. They said they would send someone from the Fire Department. “Now?” I asked. “Yes”
About 15 minutes later a team (4) showed up and started checking the detectors. We managed to shut them off but they said, “Smoke Detectors need to be replaced every 8-10 years. They quit functioning correctly and may just alarm all the time.”
They left after 30 minutes and I had just gone back to be bed when all the alarms went off AGAIN. Finally, I just disconnected all of them. Now I could go to bed.
All the alarms units were from the original construction – these are the ones that work off the house power with 9V backup batteries. Check yours or you may have a similar experience. I may sleep all day!
