Chosen Solution
The smoke alarm goes off for nothing. It’s summer here, all the doors are open, not a wisp of smoke around, yet it goes off several times a night. My question is can I take this apart and clean the sensor? The unit is a few years old, and we heat with wood so I’m wondering if there’s a buildup on the sensor that can be removed. Thanks in advance.
Change the battery. A low battery will trigger it.
Hi there. Your anwer is quite short. Of course tlyour statement could be true, but my second thought is: A Nest Protect is permanently connected to AC power. The 3 lithium cells have a lifespan of at least 5 years. Moreover, the NEST Protect designers would be quite stupid to sound a firewarning because of a battery-faillure, instead of a warning that says: ‘please replace batteries’. Go figure: there will be not even ONE test engineer that will let such a stupid design flaw unnoticed! I had this false alarm problem already in 2 unit (both version 1) only after 2 years of continuous operation. One of them has been sent back to Nest, and they were so nice to send me a replacement u it (version 2 !!) The second Nest Protect (verdion 1) failed 1 month ago. To test your ‘replace batteries’ solution, I wwill just put new lithium batteries in that second failed unit, and will for sure report back about the result. cheers robbert
Although this is an old question I’m sure you are not alone in asking it. No, not only is it ok to open it and clean it,. You should do so periodically dust, Insects etc accumulate over time and it is recommended to use the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner on it periodically ( twice yearly, like minimum testing and battery replacements where used). While you’re about it take a look at the date of manufacture you may find an expiration date too, if you do, DO NOT ignore it. Unlike many other things it isn’t just to make you buy a new one for no reason… they expire. If you are using ionization type detectors (general advice) replace or augment them with photoelectric detectors as soon as you can, ionization type detector’s Fail to alarm 30% of the time in actual fire conditions. Photoelectric detectors are more likely to wake you in the smoldering stage of a fire when smoke inhalation kills most victim’s. (Im a retired Fire Chief) As to why it goes off, dust, wind, strong chemical odors, paint fumes, insects inside it, smoke from burnt toast, etc. steam from a bathroom or sink, fluctuations/ interruption of power, loose electrical connections, all might be causes.
