Picture quiz: this photo was taken in a 3 bedroom residence in central Nevada. Anything of note here?
For bonus points, how would you determine if it is functioning as intended?
Looks like a smoke or CO detector tied to a security system. How to test it? Test button or light a fire and see if the fire dept. shows up?
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449CT is discontinued.
Photoelectric smoke detector.
Recommend replacement immediately.
no battery…
No J-box, no screws or visible attachment.
And
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Discontinued merely means it is no longer manufactured. This product was not recalled and if installed properly will give satisfactory performance through its service life. Next.
Is it a Camera
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Gotta say that I never open them up. They either respond to the test button, or don’t respond.
So, I’ll bite and say I don’t know.
Same here…I never opened them up.
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This.
This is why I test smoke and CO detection not only in every building I inspect, but most homes of friends I visit.
This was in a friend’s house where I stayed overnight.
This is a model 449CT high-end self-diagnosing four wire field-reparable heat detector and smoke detector (not an alarm). Manufactured the 48th week of 1994. It has no local sounder. It has no local test button. When I tested regardless, nothing happened other than the red LED on each connected unit lighting up. Meaning the home had fifteen or so of these and none of them would do a damn thing other than light up the LED.
A magnet or can of fake smoke (which I hope one day Inspector Outlet will stock) does the trick to test.
The J box is hidden behind, and normal. Like many such ceiling boxes it’s an air leak to the attic and costs the owner both heating and cooling dollars each month.
The J box has dual two conductor low voltage wires. The battery backup is at the central alarm, which looked like this:
The 449CT apparently was made by GE/Security at the time, then ESL, now UTC.
Available for under $50 each under part UTC-GE-ESL-449CT GES-449CT or UPC 046188008469.
It has a unique (to me) smoke chamber which just clicks off, so I clicked it off and cleaned it. The test button is a magnetic reed switch near the hinge.
The 449CT can be easily cleaned by replacing the proprietary field replaceable optical chamber. All models are designed to reduce false alarms from dust, insects, RFI, and external light. An integral combination rate-of-rise and fixed 135 degrees F (57 degrees C), 50-foot rated, heat sensor is available with all “T” model detectors.
In short this was a potential home automation disaster. The home was all wired up with smart home features and techniques such as X-10, which did not stand the test of time. The equipment is now obsolete, and hard to replace.
This
https://forum.nachi.org/t/why-i-test-smoke-detectors-nachi-sop/209876
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Good catch. I usually only test one unit. If it is a recent built or fix-n-flip, I test to confirm the interconnect. Do you test all units?
NOTE: This part is discontinued by the manufacturer. Replace with: System Sensor 4WTR-B
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Why bother?
It is 28 years old. A little past its useful life don’t cha know!
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I will for sure test every battery unit. For interconnected devices I may just press one test button, hold my ears and verify the screaming sound from all directions.
@rkenney asked “why bother?” for a 28 year old detector. For lots of reasons, including that commercial systems operate on a different timescale than residential units, and because I am well aware that saying something is old is not the same as actually replacing it on the spot. These commercial detectors are not beyond their useful life, as the occupants of the building would have known if a fire started last week.
The flaw here was the central system: no adverse condition was detected at the detector.
So how can that be? “The flaw here was at the central system” … BUT, “no adverse condition was detected at the detector.”
So if the detector didn’t detect anything it wouldn’t even matter if it was hooked up to a central system. Which is it? can’t have it both ways. Sounds like double talk to me, not a HI job to diagnose an alarm system.
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The detector worked.
The central smart home system had been deactivated years ago, and it was that smart home system that monitored the detector loop.
(Thus the detectors on the ceiling gave a false sense of security to the owners). Thus:
Why I test smoke detectors - Nachi SOP - Members-Only / Inspection Ethics - InterNACHI®️ Forum
When you push the test button does that prove the alarm works for smoke or CO, or that the alarm works?
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If it sounds you have then proven that it has power and makes noise; nothing else. Testing smoke alarms for proper sensing function is beyond the scope of a home inspection and not possible in the field.
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The opposite is true. If you press the test button and nothing sounds, chances are the alarm is bad.
Older photo alarms actually had a functional test button. Modern ones do not.
You can however pick up a case of this stuff:
Just not from Inspector Outlet.
Testing detectors is well within my standards of practice, and I consider it among the most important and impactful part of the work I do, despite frequent ridicule of the idea on this message board.
Smoke alarm sensitivity degrades over time. This is the reason replacement is recommended at regular intervals. There is no way to test smoke alarms to factory specifications. UL217 and UL268 specify the quantity of smoke and the time for alarm systems to sound. This testing cannot be duplicated outside a lab (controlled environment).
Any assurances you may make to a client about the operational status of these devices (other than the units age and power source) is Bull Sh^t and will land you in serious legal and financial trouble should a problem occur. As a professional you should know better. If on the other hand you make a practice of BS ing your customers go right ahead
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