Reply To: Kiddie 3 in 1 Smoke/Co Strobes & Red Plastic Ribbon Seals

[John Wilson]

Hi Ryan,

There’s a number of threads already here about both the Kiddie and First Alert issues. It’s definitely being looked into but no resolution yet.

One known issue is the Kiddie ones have a specific initialization sequence that must be followed which is a bit odd. For their initial power-up, they must be first connected to 120 power and then the safety seal on the pre-installed batteries removed. If the electrician pulls the seal off before going up the ladder to install (like logic would suggest – less work at the top of the ladder) activating the batteries before the 120, they do not sync properly and are prone to false alarms.

The above does not appear to be the only issue, but it’s the only one I personally have encountered.

As for the safety seal, I have also encountered it, several times, sometimes a complete strip, sometimes only a chunk remains, but never have I seen a house where all of them have been missed thankfully. Education of the building community is the only answer to that. As I’m both FPO and Building Inspector, it was easy for me to talk with the electricians and builders, and haven’t seen the problem in quite a while now. Everyone misses things from time to time. Your Building Dept adding this to their occupancy checklist is the single biggest piece and let them educate the building community.