Aico Smoke Alarms beeping

[Tazer]

Hi All,

Once again, Im back with the same problem.

For the last two years Ive lived with the Aico beeping smoke alarms but now is enough.

The problem I have the first alarm in the chain constantly beeps at random times.

Aico support are useless, spoken to them many times but they cant help or guide me.

A number of electricains have been, taken money and still the same prob.

Over the last week or so, I deinstalled everything and rewired all smoke alarms. Prior to doing this I checked the voltage of live as well as interconnects at each stage. The meter reading is fine, I get a 0 for interconnet and voltage for live I get 243v

All smoke alarms have been cleaned or swapped out for a new Aico ones, and still get the same problem, damn thing still beeps

Its mains wired and no batteries besides the Li-Ion back up. This problem has been going on for the last two years and now is very irritating where you just want to power off the smoke alarms.

Im not sure what else to do besides moving to battery powered alarms.

I have 4 smoke alarms, 1 CO2 and remote switch. The remote switch has been disconneted to see if that was the problem...still same prob.

Any help will do

 

[Workers]

Which is first in line??
Is it the CO Detector?
Is there a hush button as well as the locate button?

What (If done that way) lights are fitted to the system and specifically what light is near the one bleeping. EG Halogen, Florescent, down lighter?

Did any of your sparkies change the MCB on the fuse board?
What tests did the do to the circuit?

 

[Tazer]

Hi

Thanks for getting back to me.

The current set up is Smoke, Smoke, Remote, CO2, Smoke, Smoke.

All smoke alarms are the Aico EI2110 Multi-Sensors
CO2 is Aico EI261EN
All alarms have the Hush button

The remote is the: Aico EI411H3
Which has the following buttons:
TEST - Press to test alarms
LOCATE - Press to identify triggered alarm
SILENCE - Press to silence alarms



The first smoke is in the Loft as we have a dedicated Fuse box there. Its running off a 6amp RCBO. There are down lighters in the hall way and probably 70-100 cm away from the smoke. Regardless if the lights are switched on of off the Smoke still beeps

When the electican came he took the wiring out of the rcbo and put it into another cicuirt which I think was the hall way lights. The lights were disconnected, no power going to them, Smokes for a day or so didnt beep but then after a few days started beeping slowing i.e. once/twice a day
now it beeps every so often, about 40/50 times a day.

He also checked with his meter to see if the line was clean, earth or neutral were not touching any were, internconnects was all at zero.

I have swapped all alarms in the house just in case the first one was faulty but its always the first one which beeps.

I have purchased a new one and swaped the base and smoke around, still the first one in line still beeps.

Thanks

 

[Workers]

Siteing seems correct.
Do all go off when tested? If no.
There could have been a miswire, you would need to change ALL the detectors. As this would have damaged them all.

If yes, Is the green light on at all?
Are the bases fully located? There should be a positive click when being fixed to the base.
Are the battery "snaps" tight on all batteries?

Fill any gaps behind the detectors to stop cold air and particles entering the chamber. Is the loft angled or flat ceilinged? As if angled it should be placed 900mm horizontally down from the apex.

I know Aico may have gone thru this with you but it is the correct sequence to follow.

If all the interlinks are correct and correct colours used then it might be worth changing all of the bases and heads. Then have Aico test them.
It could be faulty but they do not batch test, every detector is tested at the factory.

And no I do not work or am associated with them apart from being a registered installer.

 

[Tazer]

Hi

Yes when you use the remote to test, all the alarms go off. When the button is pressed, alarm goes off and you can then silience all alarms expcept the one which is going off.

Green light is always on, on all alarms, however you can faintly see a redish/ amber light flash now and again.

Im pretty sure all bases are clicked in hence the green light on all units but happy to restest, take all units out check the battery snaps and put back in.

The loft ceiling is straight as its a Dorma conversion, and I have filled in the gaps only on the one which beeps. I will recheck all the others and also fill in the gaps.


When you say have all the units changed..will this not be a costly excersie i.e. 4 smokes and one Co2. Or can I contact Aico and send all of them back to test at once. I have in the past sent the first one back which beeps, they tested it and said nothing wrong with it and sent it back to me.

I will try some of the recommendations out on what you have suggested.
Thanks for the help. Will report back on progress

 

[bernardgreen]

I do not know anything about this system but something springs to mind.

Remote test button. Is this a wireless device and if so what radio frequency does it use ? If it uses one of the licence exempt frequencies then possibly the bleeps are in response to a signal from a transmitter in an alarm sensor, key fob or wireless thermostat.

EDIT from the data sheet

Radio Frequency: 868.499 MHz (Regulated 1% duty cycle band).

And also this very open and honest mention of the possible problems that can affect wireless communications.

Ei Electronics radio communication systems are very reliable and are tested to high standards. However, due to their low transmitting power and limited range (required by regulatory bodies) there are some limitations to be considered:

(i) Radio equipment, such as the Ei168 RadioLINK Base, should be tested regularly at least weekly. This is to determine whether there are sources of interference preventing communication. The radio paths may be disrupted by moving furniture or renovations, and so regular testing protects against these and other faults.

(ii) Receivers may be blocked by radio signals occurring on or near their operating frequencies, regardless of the house coding. The Ei168 RadioLINK Base has been tested to EN 300 220-1 V1.3.1 (200-09) in
accordance with the requirements of EN 300 220V1.1.1 (2000-09). These tests are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in residential installations. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio and television reception. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.

 

[Workers]

Bernard it s all hard wired.

 

[bernardgreen]

Bernard it s all hard wired.

The remote is the: Aico EI411H3

The data sheets for the remote say it uses radio to send system test commands to the sensors. I assume there are wireless receivers in the sensors in order for them to react to the test signals from the EI411H . The data sheet also mentions House Coding should be used to prevent signals from other systems triggering the sensors. Apparently a system that is not House Coded will still work as an alarm system and respond to signals from a remote test unit.[/quote]

 

[Tazer]

Hi All,

Everything is hardwired including the remote, nothing is wireless.

Is it worth while disabling the remote to see if that makes a difference i.e. disconnect the remote entirely and feed the two cables into a connector block to test.

I will also try Workers suggestion to see if this makes a difference.

 

[Workers]

I think you had a cross or short at some stage and it has affected one of the others.
Disconnect all links.
See what happens.

If it stops then add one at a time and if it starts bridge out the last one connected, THAT is the one that needs replacing.

You could remove the test/hush and bridge that first. Just another step in the process of elimination.

Bernard I think the wrong codes were given.

 

[Tazer]

Sorry All, been quite on this thread.

Been going through the testing phase.

Ok so this is what I've done and so far so good, no damn beeps

I went back to the first smoke alarm and disconnected the next in line smoke. The first one was in the loft. I ran this smoke alarm for a few days....no beeps.

I then installed the next smoke alarm on the 1st floor landing, disconnected next in line....no beeps after a few days.

The next item in line was the Aico Remote Ei1529RC. I connected this in and after 20 mins or the beeps returned. I got excited thinking Ive found the source of the problem.

Removed the remote, ran for a hours no probs. I then decided to connect all smoke alarms together and remove the Remote Control.

This worked for a little while, the CO2 was then constantly beeping every couple of mins. The CO2 unit is the Ei261ENRC

Disconnected the CO2, so at the moment I have the 4 Smoke Alarms model: Ei2110 running, its been a few days now and no beeps...ahh so pleasant sleeping at night or getting scared with the damn beep in the middle of the night.

Am I right in saying the source of the problem was firstly the Remote Control and secondly the Co2 unit. Are these units faulty? or is there something else I need to do.

I don't mind not using the remote but the C02 is required.

 

[Tazer]

Hi All

Was I dreaming yesterdat that a responce was posted here.

It suggested in contacting Aico, which I will do this morning to see if I can get the remote and CO2 swapped out after all the tests and money spent on electricians in getting the issue sorted.

Its amazing what you can do yourself hey with some advise from you guys.

Thanks