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
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
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