The latest design, materials and manufacturing techniques have been used
in the construction of our Alarms to minimize the effects of contamination.
However it is impossible to completely eliminate the effect of dust and
insect contamination, and therefore, to prolong the life of the Alarm you
must ensure that it is kept clean so that excess dust does not build up. Any
insects or cobwebs in the vicinity of the Alarm should be promptly removed.
In certain circumstances even with regular cleaning, contamination can
build up in the smoke sensing chamber causing the alarm to sound or fail.
If this happens the alarm must be returned to us for servicing or
replacement. Contamination is beyond our control, it is totally unpredictable
and is considered normal wear and tear.
For this reason, contamination is not covered by the guarantee and a
charge is made for servicing such units.
If you experience persistent false alarms, in particular locations, due to
contamination of the smoke chamber you could consider replacing Optical
Smoke Alarms (Ei146/166RC) with Ionisation Smoke Alarms
(Ei141/161RC). Ionisation type alarms are less susceptible to dust than
Optical type alarms.
7. NUISANCE ALARMS
When sure that it is just a nuisance alarm, simply press the
test/hush button briefly on the Alarm to silence the unit for 10
minutes.
If, when the alarm goes off, there is no sign of smoke, heat or
noise to indicate that there is a fire, you should get your family
into a safe place, before you start investigating.
Check the house carefully in case there is a small fire
smouldering somewhere.
Check whether there is some source of smoke or fumes, for
example cooking fumes being drawn past the Smoke Alarm
by an extractor.
If there are frequent nuisance/false alarms it may be
necessary to re-locate the device away from the source of the
fumes or replace an Ionisation Alarm with an Optical Alarm. If
for some reason the alarm continues to sound without smoke
or heat being present (due to insect infestation or
contamination build-up for example) the units can be silenced
by disconnecting the mains power and removing the unit - see
“ALARM REMOVAL” section on page 2.
If cleaning the Alarm does not correct the problem it can be
returned to the manufacturer for repair or replacement - see
“GETTING YOUR ALARM SERVICED” section on page 10.
Hush Feature
All the Smoke/Heat Alarms have a combined Test/Hush
Button to help you control nuisance false alarms.
1. To cancel a false alarm, press the Test/Hush Button located
on the cover. The Alarm will automatically switch to a reduced
sensitivity condition (very large levels of smoke from a nearby
fire will override the Hush on the Smoke Alarms). This
condition allows unwanted alarms to be silenced for a period
of approximately 10 minutes.
The unit will flash the red light every 10 seconds (instead
of the normal 40 seconds) to indicate the sensitivity is
7
B16009-R0-160RC SERIES-U&C 17/1/07 11:13 AM Page 6