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

[Ryan Rutter]

Good afternoon,

We have noticed a increase in Kiddie 3 in 1 Smoke/CO Strobe Alarms faulty activations,  as well as the Red plastic ribbon seal that is being left on some or all of the detectors before while inspecting the houses during faulty activation.

1. Has there been any recall or is there anything being done about the false activations with these new Kiddie alarms?

2. Has anyone else come into the problem with the red plastic ribbon seal being left on the detectors, and how are you dealing with it?               -We have contacted the Builder, Building Inspectors and Home Builder Association, and are fallowing up shortly with a attention to home occupants to bring attention to the house that may have been missed and also have the seals still in place.

Has anyone else had issues with these 2 problems?  And what have you done?

Cheers

FPO Rutter

[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.

[Nicholas MacGillivray]

when you say the “red plastic ribbon” are you referring to one to activate the battery?

[John Wilson]

Good question Nick. I was thinking the one that goes around the outside to keep the debris out of the grills during construction.

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