Purchased 7 awhile ago to replace all hardwired in our house. They've worked well but recently starting to get brief false alarms. The triggering unit is indicated by a continual flashing red light, which is useful if the alarm stays on long enough for you to walk around the house to every alarm! I found online that the triggering unit DOES latch the alarm so you can tell which one caused it *after* they've stopped. NOTE: This latch information is NOT in the owners manual. A unit that previously triggered the alarm will flash 3 red lights every 45 seconds. A non-latched unit will flash 1 red light every 45 seconds. Hope this is helpful to someone else!
The first one received had a problem in that the unit kept chirping even though the battery provided and another one I tried was fresh and definitely not in need of a charge. I called the manufacturer technical support and got through to them quickly. They suggested that I purchase a new battery from local outlet just to make sure of a fresh battery, but I decided not to and instead returned for exchange from Amazon (thank you, Amazon, for continued great service.) The second unit received did not have that problem. I trust that in event of actual fire all would work well. It was easy to install even given that I had to change out the older wire connector.
This was an easy replacement. My 15 year old, contract grade smoke alarms were easily replaced with these new ones. The only work was having to take down the old brace (too small) and put up the new one that came with the detectors. Very nice that these have a green light to tell you that they are working. When I replaced one of my old detectors, the green light did not come on when I plugged in the new. I found out that it was a loose connection that I quickly replaced with the one that came with the detector and BAM! works great. /smile
I had purchased 5 of these and they all were in great shape, worked right out of the box, and went up very easy. I feel safe.
Installed 6 of these and have had zero issues. If you're an amateur like me, you can install these. Just follow the directions and flip off all your breakers :) A high quality feel and I am confident these can last another decade, like the ones I replaced. Plus they are photoelectric so if I burn the bacon, no false alarms. I also used one Nest carbon monoxide/smoke detector in the hallway for the bedrooms, so that way if anything bad ever happens, I'll get notified immediately on my cell phone by the app.
This is as easy as it gets to replace your smoke alarms. According to BRK, the 7010B was the compatible replacement for our older 2002RAC alarms. All we had to do was take down the old alarm by detaching the wired plug, loosen the 2 screws and take the old back plate off, put up the new back plate, tighten the 2 screws, attach the wired plug and put up the new alarm. It took us literally less than 5 minutes apiece for each of the 3 units we changed. Nice when things work the way they're supposed to.
Feature Product
- 6 pack of 120-Volt hardwire smoke alarms with photoelectric sensor and battery backup
- Features convenient 9 volt battery backup, silence/test button, dust cover, 85-decibel alarm
- Inter-connectable with BRK and First Alert hardwired smoke and Carbon monoxide alarms
- Intuitive Latching alarm indicator identifies which unit triggered alarm. Backed by 10-year limited warranty and tested to meet UL 217 standards
- 85 decibel alarm
Description
The First Alert BRK 7010B hardwire photoelectric smoke alarm with battery backup is a hardwire 120V single or multiple station smoke alarm designed for residential home use and institutional locations such as hospitals, hotels, motels, dormitories and other multiple family dwellings. This alarm is inter-connectable and can be installed and linked with up to 18 compatible devices (up to 12 smoke alarms and 6 compatible devices like bells, horns and repeaters) so that when one triggers, all alarms sound. The First Alert BRK 7010B emits loud 85Db audible alarm. The alarm also features a photoelectric smoke sensor, which is particularly effective at detecting slow smoldering fires. The frist alert BRK 7010B hardwire smoke alarm with battery backup is packed with convenient features. The single test/silence button silences a non-threatening alarm or low battery warning; plus allows you to test the unit's functionality quickly. The latching alarm indicator will automatically identify which unit initiated the alarm if alarms are installed in a series – helping identify the initial location and source of an incident. The smoke detector also includes an optional drawer and mounting bracket lock to prevent tampering or removal of the 9-volt battery. End of life signal provides audible notice when the alarm needs to be replaced after 10 years of service. This alarm is backed by a 10 year limited warranty and is tested to meet UL standards 217. Includes smoke alarm, mounting bracket, 9-volt backup battery and user's manual.
I replaced some old 7010B's whose time had come after probably 10+ years. I unplugged the old ones, plugged the new ones straight into the old fixtures, and they seem like they'll work for another 10 years. Which is great because our fireplaces flue doesn't open and we found out by burning a very smoky fire that made these things get loud, quick. I'm like "we get it guys you work stop shouting at me". But they wouldn't stop until we cleared the air with them.
Moral: they work, and I still haven't died yet. But if I do, you can be assured that I'll write all about it here.
My original new home build alarms we past due for replacement. Had to switch out the mounting bracket as the diameter had changed slightly. Replaced four different units in about 20-25 minutes. Units have in place for about a month a no issues. Just an FYI the green LED status light is bright enough to slightly illuminate the floor in a dark room. Not enough to cause you a problem sleeping, assuming that it is not directly above your bed. Even in that case a small dab of nail polish could resolve the problem.
I used these to replace 10-year-old alarms in my home. They installed easily and don't have the same issue of going off whenever I open my oven door. The old ones were sensitive to increases in heat, and these are more sensitive to smoke. If you aren't comfortable working with electricity, please hire an electrician to do the installation, since these wire directly into the house power, and have a 9v battery as a backup during power failures.
I should give this product five stars, but the manufacturer annoyed me. These two units were bought to replace one that had gone bad and one that I accidentally damaged. The bad one started alarming around 12:30 AM and could not be silenced, and was in a location I did not even know there was one, which I found after testing the other six. Instead of just plug-and-play, turning the units to lock into the existing mounting plates on the ceiling, I fumbled for quite a while before I realized the design of the mounting plate was slightly changed from the originals of the same model. It was almost impossible to see the difference. While dealing with it at one point I had to disconnect a hard wire pigtail, and drew a spark while putting things back together. This lead to a surprise power outage in one bathroom only. Fortunately I have late-model circuit breakers and the reset was easy, but all the fuss was caused by what looks like an unnecessary change in the mounting locking system.
Decades of government, university and private research clearly indicate that photoelectric alarms significantly outperform ionization alarms in the fires most likely to kill you and your family. Ionization alarms nuisance trip when you cook and shower, but will take 15-90 minutes longer to alarm in a smoldering fire than a photoelectric alarm.
No matter how new your ionization alarms are - replace them with photo only alarms. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is the largest firefighters union in the US and Canada with almost 300,000 members. The recommend only photoelectric alarms and specifically do not recommend combination alarms. Combination Photo/Ionization alarms suffer the same nuisance tripping issues as ion only alarms and they cost far more. There is no advantage with Combo alarms.
Almost 95% of US homes have ionization alarms. If we could wave a magic wand and change all the smoke alarms in the US to photoelectric alarms - our fire death rate would drop 40% overnight. Don't become the next statistic.
To see a video test of the two types of alarms, check out the CBS San Francisco segment: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/7987862-consumerwatch-certain-smoke-detectors-may-not-warn-of-deadly-fires/
