Can I replace a capacitor pack with a battery?

[ub7rm]

I used to live in an old granite tenement block in Aberdeen and know full well the circumstances the OP speaks of - no one owns the communal area and more often than not in the old building there is no factoring / maintenance contract in place. When something goes wrong or needs upgrading the owners have to get together and pay jointly.

This means that frequently the communal areas are in a state of some neglect. Sounds to me like the OP through his eventual actions has made the communal area somewhat safer than it was before he started. In any event it doesn't sound like its a proper fire alarm which is subject to regulations but a domestic smoke detector.

In my old building I replaced all the light fittings because none of them worked. I split the cost of the new lights with the neighbours and they were delighted with having working lights in the place rather than relying on light spilling out from the fanlights above flat doors. I'm sure some on here would have me in court for that - but I left the place safer than I found it.

 

[dnjb]

In any event it doesn't sound like its a proper fire alarm which is subject to regulations but a domestic smoke detector.

I got the replacement unit from Screwfix - it cost little more than a normal battery one so, no, it's nothing fancy at all - as you say, a domestic unit and of no more difficulty to install than a battery one. That's the thing that got me a little narked in this thread - the odd person not appreciating how simple a task it was in the end, despite my misguided and silly effort to fix the old unit.

And thanks for appreciating what things are like in these places! If I hadn't replaced the unit it would have been unplugged and that would would have been it - nobody else would have bothered to replace it at all.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

@ub7rm - In a way I hope for the sake of all the ignorant fools (for they are truly ignorant and foolish, rather than venal) that they never end up, through their combination of laissez faire and unqualified bumbling, causing any harm or loss to anybody who is litigious, because the situation you describe is a recipe for disaster. As soon as you lay hands on something you become responsible for how it performs, or fails, and no amount of protestations about how "simple" or "common sense" it was to do the work will do you any good whatsoever while you are being destroyed in court by an aggressive lawyer determined to show that you were not qualified or insured to do work like that.

 

[dnjb]

Interesting to see "Ignored Member" with so many last posts in this forum. I can only imagine Mr Must Have the Last Word is ranting on again. At least it seems I'm not the only one getting his sanctimonious attitude - //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-sorry-i-mean-ban-all-sheds.440944/

To be honest he's probably putting more people at risk than anyone! "Hey, I have a question, I'll go and ask on DIYnot. Oh, wait, that ban-all-sheds d... guy will probably rag on me with his stinking attitude, I'll just try it and see, I can't be bothered dealing with him". Apparently, even specifically requesting that his "help" is not wanted doesn't even work - //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/help-needed-albeit-not-ban-all-sheds.378636/

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Interesting to see "Ignored Member" with so many last posts in this forum. I can only imagine Mr Must Have the Last Word is ranting on again.

Well - you are of course perfectly free to behave like a bigger and bigger idiot by criticising posts which you haven't read but have decided to "imagine". What I wrote (to somebody other than you) was hardly a rant.

At least it seems I'm not the only one getting his sanctimonious attitude - //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-sorry-i-mean-ban-all-sheds.440944/

And you are free to behave like a bigger and bigger idiot by getting bent out of shape when you don't get the sort of advice you had already decided you should get before you posted here.

To be honest he's probably putting more people at risk than anyone!

That's not being honest - that's being an idiot.

Apparently, even specifically requesting that his "help" is not wanted doesn't even work - //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/help-needed-albeit-not-ban-all-sheds.378636/

And you are free to behave like a bigger and bigger idiot by thinking that people have the right to decide who is allowed to answer the questions they post on an open forum.

 

[dnjb]

Can I request that mod close this thread please? It's serving no useful purpose any more. "Ignored Member" has his last word, let's leave it at that.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

But then you'll be denied further opportunities to criticise things you've not read.