QUELL smoke alarm (with built in private detective???

[ptrott]

:eek: I have just installed a Quell smoke alarm and unlike most people I actually read the brochure/instructions. Did I get a surprise!!! This thing KNOWS how a fire is started and decides whether or not it will go off!!!! (apparently)
I quote word for word from the brochure.."SMOKE ALARMS MAY NOT ALWAYS SENSE EVERY KIND OF FIRE. THEY CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO SENSE FIRES CAUSED BY CARELESSNESS OR BY SAFETY HAZARDS". (Are we to assume that a CAREFULLY caused fire is more likely to be sensed than a CARELESSLY caused fire???:confused:

"THEY MAY NOT GIVE EARLY WARNING OF FAST GROWING FIRES CAUSED BY SMOKING IN BED,......bla bla bla...,NATURAL CAUSES SUCH AS LIGHTENING, CHILDREN PLAYING WITH MATCHES OR ARSON"

That is nothing short of AMAZING!!!! For under $40 I got a smoke detector that detects fires started by adults (I hope) but not by children, and whats more, it knows whether I was smoking in bed or in the kitchen on a chair (I hope). Not only that, but if the fire was lit intentionally (arson) or accidentally (not arson and it will go off I hope).
Has anybody else got one as smart as that?????
Does it have a little camera and micro processor inside? OH NO, ARE WE BEING WATCHED BY OUR SMOKE ALARMS??? NO WAY AM I PUTTiNG ONE IN THE BEDROOM:eek::eek::eek:

Phill.:eek:

[shaunburgess]

What if the one in the bedroom gives started giving you marks, that's scary! A little popping out of your smoke detector with a 5 onit really would put you of your rhythm

But what is the point of a smoke detector that only detects certain types of fire's?? See what happens when you RTFM, this not something that should be done!! it just confuses the heck out of everyone and goes against the code.


p.s. RTFM - Read the F****** manual

[ptrott]

Heheh, I wouldn,t mind the 5 as long as it was a mark out of 5.
I do apologise to you all for reading the manual....I cant even say that it was because all else failed. It was purely out of interest, and I wish I hadnt't.
Further to the above, it also states that it may not detect fires caused by "violent explosions, escaping gas, improper storage of flamable materials, overloaded electrical circuits," How does it know if the flamable materials were stored improperly or properly, and how does it tell if the circuit was overloaded or just plain faulty. Very interesting technology:-)
It makes one wonder just how ineffective they really are.

[Dean]

It's all just anti-lawsuit text :p

[Ashore]

:eek: ."SMOKE ALARMS MAY NOT ALWAYS SENSE EVERY KIND OF FIRE. THEY CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO SENSE FIRES CAUSED BY CARELESSNESS OR BY SAFETY HAZARDS".
"THEY MAY NOT GIVE EARLY WARNING OF FAST GROWING FIRES CAUSED BY SMOKING IN BED,......bla bla bla...,NATURAL CAUSES SUCH AS LIGHTENING, CHILDREN PLAYING WITH MATCHES OR ARSON"
Phill
When you talk of smoke detectors there in fact several types operating diffrent ways but usually home detectors are particle detectors not smoke detectors

Smoke detectors need actual smoke to partially block a light source to activate
Particle detectors use Americium 241 which is an isotope that ionizes the air in a chamber a voltage is applied across the ionized air a small current flows. When products of combustion enter the chamber the current is reduced and an alarm activated. The beauty is that you don't need visible smoke .
The reason they will not pick up arson or rapid spreading fires is that the particles don't have time to enter the chamber and cause a current drop.




The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[ian]

It makes one wonder just how ineffective they really are.
Not really, I think what the manual is really saying is "if you die or are injured in a fire because our detector doesn't work, well tough!"
However, it makes one wonder at the sense of the NSW Government's pending requirement that all homes (new and old) be fitted with smoke detectors if said detectors can be sold with such an all encompassing escape clause.

ian

[julianx]

Maybe there is a "black box" inside the smoke detector ( like the ones in planes) your insurance company can check the box after a fire and see if they have to pay out or not :D

[ian]

Maybe there is a "black box" inside the smoke detector ( like the ones in planes) your insurance company can check the box after a fire and see if they have to pay out or not
Sort of like what I was thinking ...

After the fire, you're filling in a claim form and come to the question ...
How did you become aware that there was a fire? (check appropriate box)
[ ] smoke detector went off
[ ] saw or smelt smoke
[ ] other

If you don't tick the first box, (i.e. the smoke detector didn't go off) then the fire must be due to your own carelessness or arson — the insurance company doesn't have to pay !

[ptrott]

It makes me wonder.... I only fitted them because thay are mandatory here. It would make more sense to run a 3/4" copper pipe into the roof and fit a couple of thermal activated sprinklers. At least if there IS a fire they will eventually get hot enought to go off and do something positive... even if I am not at home, and I think that the roof space is the most likely place for a fire to start.

Black Box??? Maybe that is why you can get theses smoke detectors in any colour you want as long as that colour is white. That way, you would never think it would contain a Black box :-) If you were paranoid you might think that you have to have them hard wired to 240Volts so that they can send messages over the grid to those that watch us...........