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[ckjk616]

I recently added a distant X10 receptacle, so I also added a coupler/repeater. That night ( I should say morning, 2:14am) the interconnected Kidde AC/DC smoke alarms (10 in all) went off for about 4 or 5 seconds. They repeated later that morning. The "event" repeated itself exactly the next day. Powering down the coupler circuit breaker ended the nightmare. My next step will be switching the circuit breaker back on and clearing the PC interface to see what happens, but I have to wait until the wife is out of town (it scares the hell out of her). There are no X10 timers set for those times, and to my knowledge, neighbors are not using the system. I'm guessing the smoke alarms and X10 use the same or similar systems. Any ideas? X10 tech support referred me to Kidde. Thanks.

[dave w]

Interesting.

Is the Kidde alarms designed to trigger each other in the event one "smells smoke". If so, do they trigger by digital codes sent over the powerline?

Was any X10 signals being sent at the time the alarms went off?

It might be a celestial coincidence. Only way to confirm is send wife out of house and begin sending X10 commands.

[Mellowmark]

The smoke alarms are most likely wired to set each other off in the event of a fire..   there would be an extra switch leg that connects them all..   never seen any digital signal ones for home use on the ac circuit .  could be that the back up batteries are going bad

[ckjk616]

Kidde has responded to my emails telling me they aren't too familiar with X10, but their alarms use 9V DC to signal each other. Yes, when one senses smoke, it signals all the others to go off. Some alarms send an RF signal, but mine are hardwired and "communicate" with 9V.

Batteries are fine. This is more than the chirp telling you they are low. They go off full force for a few seconds and again, this happens at the exact same time of day. No timers are set for that time and reports show no X10 signals at that time, but disconnecting the Coupler/Repeater has solved the problem. My problem is I still need the C/R to signal a receptacle far from the house. It won't trigger without it.

What is the X10 signal? Is it 9V DC like the Kidde? Could the repeater be amplifying to the point of triggering the smoke alarms? Thanks for your responses.

[ckjk616]

Sorry, I forgot to mention, there are, of course, plenty of X10 signals being sent throughout the day with no effect on the smoke alarms.  Maybe it is "celestial".

[Brian H]

X10 Powerline signals are 120 KHz signals.
The X10 RF signals are on 310 MHz.

Does the Activity Monitor show any activity around the triggered time?

What X10 coupler repeater do you have installed?

[JeffVolp]

Years ago at our last house the fire alarms triggered during the day.  The usual cause was cooking, but in this case nothing was on the stove.  After a quick dash around the house looking for something, I saw a spider crawling out of one of the alarms.

Jeff

[Brian H]

Jeff; That reminds me of the time mine went off. A spider was crawling out of it. 

[ckjk616]

The activity monitor shows nothing at that time. It's an XPCR Coupler. I've also seen a lot of spiders in this area (New Jersey) recently.

Now for some more very strange weirdness. I have a hard wired doorbell. In addition, Lowes sold me a doorbell extender that wires into the existing bell, then transmits RF to remote bells plugged into AC. Well, today the doorbell rang, I heard what sounded like a two way radio call coming out of the remote bell, then the bell rang. I swear, it's all true. Can anyone make any sense out of this? I should add, no one was at the door, and a friend was visiting at the time. I have a witness.

Just in case, other X10 stuff includes miscellaneous switches, receptacles, a chime, an Audio/Video transmitter and receiver for TV, and a remote extender. Any ideas? Ghosts? (it is close to Halloween)

[Brian H]

Could be a close two way radio was transmitting and when the remote bell came on. The transmission feed through the circuitry.
I did Two Way Radio repairs for many years and such things can and do happen.

[ckjk616]

Thanks Brian. But could this be what happened with the Kidde alarms (their signal is 9V DC)? Maybe amplified by the X10 repeater? We're in a small community with a police station not far away.  Maybe they broadcast something at 2:14am? Can they all be related or just one amazing coincidence? Sorry to all if you think I'm getting too far away from X10 issues in this forum, but they do seem to be related. Thanks again. Jeff K

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Thanks Brian. But could this be what happened with the Kidde alarms (their signal is 9V DC)? Maybe amplified by the X10 repeater? We're in a small community with a police station not far away.  Maybe they broadcast something at 2:14am? Can they all be related or just one amazing coincidence? Sorry to all if you think I'm getting too far away from X10 issues in this forum, but they do seem to be related. Thanks again. Jeff K

Just to chime in here.

Most smoke detectors have fairly sensitive circuitry to detect small changes in either a light beam or conductivity of ionized gasses.

I remember a customer (many years ago) had a problem with his (non-X10) motion detectors going off and triggering an alarm.  It seemed to happen about the same time of the night / morning, with just a little variation.  With some sleuthing, we discovered that the local police liked to park in his parking lot and watch for speeders.  It turned out that at that close range, when they keyed the radio, it swamped the circuitry in the motion detectors and triggered them!   

Just saying; "Stranger things have happened." 

 

[ckjk616]

A follow up. It now seems to have been "celestial" as one person put it. The wife went out of town, I reset the circuit breaker energizing the coupler, and it's been quiet ever since (about three weeks). My thanks to all who responded.