New heat alarm goes off randomly

[masamune]

I had one of these fitted in my extension kitchen last year,

Aico EI144RC Mains & Battery-Powered Heat Alarm

The last couple of months it goes off momentarily at random times during the day. Very loud and surprising as you can imagine.

I pulled the unit down from a 3.5m tall ceiling and checked/replaced the 9V battery just in case.

The problem continues, I am not sure if it's busted or something else...

 

[baldykev]

Hi go to this link look under support https://www.aico.co.uk/technical-support/

 

[Taylortwocities]

Aico is a good make and unusual to have problems, but it can happen.
Contact the support folk at Aico. If you have the receipt then they may replace under warranty.

 

[masamune]

Aico is a good make and unusual to have problems, but it can happen.
Contact the support folk at Aico. If you have the receipt then they may replace under warranty.

Thanks both for the replies.

I don't have the receipt unfortunately, it was supplied & fitted in the extension by an electrician I would prefer not to let back in my house.

I followed the troubleshoot but still beeps once or twice from time to time. Haven't checked if anything with the wiring yet, it is hooked up on the lighting circuit (I believe) and a bit too high for my ladder. Definitely worth contacting Aico, otherwise I guess I'll have to foot the bill for a new one...

 

[PCAnimal]

I had a problem with this alarm. It turned out one of them had been hard wired instead of being wireless. Electrician didn't realise. Might be worth checking other alarms to see if they have more wires

 

[masamune]

Yes, this is a hard wired alarm. I checked the wiring and it all appears correct. There is no interconnection with anything else in the house.

I contacted Aico who were very helpful.

They explained the alarm is not designed to make double-beeps and in fact self-checks every 40 seconds, if there was an actual fault it would beep at that interval. They suspect a voltage supply issue that may somehow relate to the dimming of my kitchen lights.

I am not sure how the electrician connected the alarm but the lighting circuit was clearly intended to be dimmable by design.
I checked the voltage at the alarm supply with a multimeter and it fluctuates around 239~240VAC, unaffected by dimming. This does not appear to be an issue and I presume minor fluctuation should be compensated by the alarm components. A far fetched thought is that the frequency may have a remote relevance, if somehow it is being affected.

There are two solutions, position the alarm to another supply and check if any issues are still present or buy a different alarm

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I am not sure how the electrician connected the alarm but the lighting circuit was clearly intended to be dimmable by design.

You don't dim entire lighting circuits. And if the alarm were connected to the switched live of a light you'd be getting the full range of "mains failure" alerts the whole time the light was off.

I checked the voltage at the alarm supply with a multimeter and it fluctuates around 239~240VAC, unaffected by dimming.

Unless it is a true RMS meter it might not show any variation on a dimmed supply.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

The dimming thing might be the cause (triacs etc will leak under very low load) or it might be a red herring. If you can reach the supply cable to the alarm (and have the skills and tools to do the following safely) then disconnect it from the lighting supply and connect it with flex and a 13a plug to the nearest working socket. Fault continued= faulty alarm, fault goes away = power supply issue

 

[sparkwright]

Yes, this is a hard wired alarm. I checked the wiring and it all appears correct. There is no interconnection with anything else in the house.

To clarify the meaning of wireless, when an Aico fully wired INTERCONNECTED system is installed, later on an additional detector may need to be added.

It may be difficult to add a new 3 core+e cable from one of the existing detectors to the new detector.

In the case, a feed in 2 core+e cable can come from a nearby lighting permanent feed to the new detector.

The new detector has a RADIOLINK base fitted, and so does ONE of the existing detectors.

Radiolink provides the missing interlink connection.

Apologies if you know all this; or don't have this set up; or not relevent.