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Post by The Biff Lebowski on Nov 6, 2011 18:08:34 GMT -5
Did you all test your smoke alarms today?
Did you change the batteries if they're not lithium?
Did you replace them if they're over 10 years old?
Did you check your carbon monoxide detector?
Did you replace it if it's over 8 years old?
Did you visually check your portable fire extinguishers?
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Post by Rebel on Nov 6, 2011 19:52:06 GMT -5
Did you all test your smoke alarms today? Did you change the batteries if they're not lithium? Did you replace them if they're over 10 years old? Did you check your carbon monoxide detector? Did you replace it if it's over 8 years old? Did you visually check your portable fire extinguishers? Thanks for the reminders. Check smoke alarms= no. Too lazy to move the car to get the ladder down off the garage wall. I'll do it tomorrow. Replace batts=no. Same reason, also, the smoke alarms chirp to let me know when the batts are shot. Replace smoke alarms=well, hell...mine are over 10 years old, now, but they're hard-wired into the electrical system. Major pain to replace. Check CO detectors=yes, checked them both. Replace CO=not old enough yet. Check fire extinguisher=shit. I forgot I even had one. Going to check it now. Hope I remember I have it when it counts... I thought I was doing good because I remembered to change the furnace filter and change the time on the water softener. |
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Post by The Biff Lebowski on Nov 7, 2011 8:09:32 GMT -5
Replace smoke alarms=well, hell...mine are over 10 years old, now, but they're hard-wired into the electrical system. Major pain to replace. Not really. Find the associated breaker, turn it off. Pull the caps off the two wires of the existing smoke alarm, replace caps on wires of new detectors. Repeat until all detectors are replaced. If you lived in metro GR, I'd do it for you. |
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Post by Rebel on Nov 7, 2011 8:33:09 GMT -5
Damn, that actually does sound pretty easy. Can I buy AC-powered alarms at Home Depot? I assumed they just sold battery-powered ones there.
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Post by The Biff Lebowski on Nov 7, 2011 8:55:30 GMT -5
Damn, that actually does sound pretty easy. Can I buy AC-powered alarms at Home Depot? I assumed they just sold battery-powered ones there. Definitely. They also have AC powered ones with battery backup (which is a really good idea if there is a power outage). You could get them at Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, or any of your local mom & pop hardware stores too. It really is easy. Once you get past the first one, it'll be gravy. There is a good possibility, depending upon the age of your house, that they are on separate breakers. Make sure the power is off to each one. While it is possible to exchange them with the electricity hot, it's far less nerve wracking to have the power disabled. |
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Post by zdunklee on Nov 7, 2011 12:31:42 GMT -5
Replace smoke alarms=well, hell...mine are over 10 years old, now, but they're hard-wired into the electrical system. Major pain to replace. Not really. Find the associated breaker, turn it off. Pull the caps off the two wires of the existing smoke alarm, replace caps on wires of new detectors. Repeat until all detectors are replaced. If you lived in metro GR, I'd do it for you. Yea, they should be just held together with a wire nut (unless someone was a real asshole when they were installed), so it really is simple to do, most likely harder to find the breaker than it would be to replace the alarms. |
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Post by The Biff Lebowski on Nov 7, 2011 13:30:41 GMT -5
Yea, they should be just held together with a wire nut (unless someone was a real a-hole when they were installed), so it really is simple to do, most likely harder to find the breaker than it would be to replace the alarms. Truth. It would be rare for someone to use a shrink connector in residential electrical but stranger things have happened. It would mostly depend on what would be cheaper for the contractor. Your best bet, though, is to have someone at your home when you do the replacements so they can laugh at you so they can call 911 just in case something happens and also to video it and put it up on YouTube. |
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Post by Queenie on Nov 7, 2011 17:42:45 GMT -5
Yea, they should be just held together with a wire nut (unless someone was a real a-hole when they were installed), so it really is simple to do, most likely harder to find the breaker than it would be to replace the alarms. Truth. It would be rare for someone to use a shrink connector in residential electrical but stranger things have happened. It would mostly depend on what would be cheaper for the contractor. Your best bet, though, is to have someone at your home when you do the replacements so they can laugh at you so they can call 911 just in case something happens and also to video it and put it up on YouTube.  |
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Post by Rebel on Nov 7, 2011 20:00:28 GMT -5
Yea, they should be just held together with a wire nut (unless someone was a real a-hole when they were installed), so it really is simple to do, most likely harder to find the breaker than it would be to replace the alarms. Truth. It would be rare for someone to use a shrink connector in residential electrical but stranger things have happened. It would mostly depend on what would be cheaper for the contractor. Your best bet, though, is to have someone at your home when you do the replacements so they can laugh at you so they can call 911 just in case something happens and also to video it and put it up on YouTube. I have a friend who is found of saying, "Electricity is not a hobby." Fortunately, my existing smoke alarms have a light which glows when it has power, so it shouldn't be hard to know when I have found the right breaker. On a (barely) related note, I was power-washing my siding a few weeks ago when I found out my GFCI circuits work as designed. I was standing on a metal ladder on my front deck, blasting the siding, and the water was cascading down over the outlet to wear where the washer was plugged in. The outlet has a plastic weather cover it, and the washer itself has a GFCI plug on it, so I wasn't too concerned. When the washer quit running, I checked the GFCI plug and saw that it hadn't tripped. Went into the house and found that one of the GFCI outlets in one of the bathrooms had tripped first. I was very glad that it had done its job. I was also very uncertain about whether I should reset it and go about my business. Finally decided it was no good leaving soapy water all over my siding, so I went ahead. Might need to get a gas-powered washer before the next time I do the siding. |
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Post by The Biff Lebowski on Mar 11, 2012 11:19:34 GMT -5
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Post by The Biff Lebowski on Mar 11, 2012 18:20:02 GMT -5
Also, if you haven't done it yet, change the "observing daylight savings time" drop down on your profile to "yes" if you forum time is off.
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