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CLEANING YOUR ALARM
YOUR ALARM SHOULD BE CLEANED AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR
To clean your alarm, remove it from the mounting bracket as outlined in the beginning of
this section. You can clean the interior of your alarm (sensing chamber) by using compressed
air or a vacuum cleaner hose around the perimeter of the alarm. The outside of the alarm
can be wiped with a damp cloth. After cleaning, reinstall your alarm, verify the green LED
blinks every 10 seconds and test your alarm by using the test button. If cleaning does not
restore the alarm to normal operation the alarm should be replaced.
7. LIMITATIONS OF SMOKE ALARMS
WARNING: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY
• NFPA 72 states: Life safety from fire in residential occupancies is based primarily on early
notification to occupants of the need to escape, followed by the appropriate egress
actions by those occupants. Fire warning systems for dwelling units are capable of protect-
ing about half of the occupants in potentially fatal fires. Victims are often intimate with
the fire, too old or young, or physically or mentally impaired such that they cannot escape
even when warned early enough so that escape should be possible. For these people,
other strategies such as protection-in-place or assisted escape or rescue are necessary.
• Smoke alarms are devices that can provide early warning of possible fires at a reasonable
cost; however, alarms have sensing limitations. Ionization sensing alarms may detect
invisible fire particles (associated with fast flaming fires) sooner than photoelec-
tric alarms. Photoelectric sensing alarms may detect visible fire particles (associat-
ed with slow smoldering fires) sooner than ionization alarms. Home fires develop
in different ways and are often unpredictable. For maximum protection, Kidde
recommends that both Ionization and Photoelectric alarms be installed.
• A battery-powered alarm must have a battery of the specified type, in good condition and
installed properly.
• AC powered alarms (without battery backup) will not operate if the AC power has been
cut off, such as by an electrical fire or an open fuse.
• Smoke alarms must be tested regularly to make sure the batteries and the alarm circuits
are in good operating condition.
• Smoke alarms cannot provide an alarm if smoke does not reach the alarm. Therefore,
smoke alarms may not sense fires starting in chimneys, walls, on roofs, on the other side
of a closed door or on a different floor.
• If the alarm is located outside the bedroom or on a different floor, it may not wake up a
sound sleeper.
• The use of alcohol or drugs may also impair one’s ability to hear the smoke alarm. For
maximum protection, a smoke alarm should be installed in each sleeping area on every
level of a home.
• Although smoke alarms can help save lives by providing an early warning of a fire, they
are not a substitute for an insurance policy. Homeowners and renters should have ade-
quate insurance to protect their lives and property.