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Ge Smoke Detector Manual

Smoke Detector Placement and Spacing In general ceiling mounted smoke detectors should be located near the center of the room or hall whenever possible, or more than 4 inches (100 mm) from any wall. When the detector is wall mounted, the top of the detector should be 4 to 12 inches (100-300 mm) from the ceiling (see Diagram 4). General maintenance and battery replacement for GE & Interlogix Wireless Photoelectric Smoke Detectors with Sounder & Thermal. Part number TX-6010-01-1.Use 3.

110-Volt Hardwired Smoke Alarms

This page is intended to help you replace hardwired 110-120-volt electric smoke detectors. These residential smoke alarms are required for fire protection by building codes in cities in the United States, and are typically installed during the construction phase of a new house.

Existing 110-volt electric smoke alarm

Different types of smoke detectors can be easily identified by removing the unit from the base plate or wall mounting bracket. Look for these indicators:

2 or 3 fairly heavy-gauge wires, usually coming out of a metal or plastic junction box, and usually connected with wire nuts. These mean the unit is most likely a 110-volt electric smoke alarm, and this article will help you replace it.

1 or 2 small-diameter wires coming from a junction box or hole in the drywall. Wiring connects to screw terminals on the detector. This indicates a low-voltage smoke detector tied to a home alarm system. For more info on this type, see Home Smoke Detectors.

No wires at all will be present for battery operated smoke detectors.

Replacing a 110-volt fire alarm isn’t difficult, and can be done in 30 minutes or less by following the instructions included with the new detector.

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Changing out multiple electric smoke alarms could take a few hours or more, depending on how many you have and how hard they are to reach.

All types of smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years, or when recommended by the maker.
If you’re not sure how old a detector in your house is, check the back for a date stamp.
Smoke detector manufacturers typically stamp the date of manufacture somewhere on the back of the unit.
If the date is 10 years old or older, or if you can’t find a date stamp, the unit should be replaced.

I’m replacing an old smoke detector in my own house for this project. When the home was built, just one wired-in electric smoke alarm was installed; I added the low-voltage combination smoke and heat detector in the same location when I installed my monitored home security system.

Electric smoke detector (right) beside low-voltage photoelectric smoke alarm (left)

If you have a similar situation, be sure to call the alarm monitoring station and put the system in “Test” mode while you’re working on the change-out. I did this just to be safe because, even though I wouldn’t be working on the monitored detector, any dust or vibration I might cause near the unit could possibly set it off.
Since the existing System Sensor low voltage unit is a photoelectric smoke alarm, I decided to use an ionization type smoke alarm for the new unit.

The new smoke detector being installed here is a First Alert smoke alarm, Model SA9120BPCN. It is a 110volt ionization type with battery backup, and is a good general purpose hardwired detector for most homes.

If you have gas appliances, or for some other reason want CO (carbon monoxide) protection, you might consider the First Alert Model SC9120B combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarm.

With that out of the way..Let’s get started!

Steps for Replacing Hardwired 110-volt Electric Smoke Detectors

1) Turn off power at the circuit breaker panel

Most 110-volt hardwired smoke detectors have a light that stays lit constantly. Have a helpful assistant turn off breakers, one by one, and watch for the light to go out.

If you aren't sure which circuit breaker controls your smoke detectors, turn off the 'Main' breaker. This will likely cause clocks in some appliances like microwaves and ovens to lose their time settings, so do this when you have time to reset them.

Also, plan on doing this project during daylight hours, since throwing the main breaker will kill all inside lighting.

2) Remove the old unit from the base plate
Electric smoke detectors can consist of a main unit with a removable cover, or a main unit and a detachable base plate.

For the first type, the cover simply twists off or can be popped off by pulling on it.

Electric smoke detectors with a detachable base plate will come off when twisted, usually to the left or counterclockwise.

Remove old electric smoke alarm by rotating counterclockwise

If you can’t get the unit apart easily, check the plastic housing for an indication of how to remove the unit. Some electric smoke detectors have a tab that must be pressed before the housing can be released or turned.

Once the unit is apart, look for two mounting screws holding the main unit or the baseplate to the wall or junction box. In most cases, these only need to be loosened; the housings and base plates usually have slotted holes that allow them to be removed while the screws are still attached to the junction box.

Locate 2 mounting screws, and loosen to remove base plate

3) Compare the wiring connected to your old electric smoke detector to the smoke alarm wiring diagram supplied with the new one

Pull the house wiring out of the electrical junction box until there is enough slack to work with. There should be 2 or 3 wires of the old smoke detector that correspond to the wires on the new unit.

Compare your wires to the smoke detector wiring diagram

Electric smoke detectors usually have a black “hot” wire, a white “neutral” wire, and a third colored wire (usually red, orange, or yellow) for other interconnected smoke alarms. If your house has only one electric smoke detector, the third wire is not used.

If there is a bare copper “Ground” wire, it is not needed and it can be tucked out of the way.

If you have trouble keeping track of which wires go where, you can use masking tape to label the house wires that are connected to each colored wire on the old smoke alarm.
Or, take a photo of the connections with your smartphone or other camera.

4) Disconnect the house wires from the old smoke

There will probably be a plug-in connector tied to the house wiring. If this connector matches one of the adapters included with the new detector, connect it now.

If none of the adapters fits the existing connector, remove it by taking off the wire nuts; just twist them counter-clockwise to remove.

Disconnect the smoke alarm wiring by removing the wire nuts

5) Install new base plate and connect smoke detector wiring

Thread the house wiring through the center opening of the new base plate, then mount it to the junction box. Fasten the base plate using the existing screws or the new hardware supplied.

Connect the “Hot”, “Neutral”, and, if used, 'Interconnect' house wires to the matching wires on the new detector pigtail harness. Refer to the supplied smoke detector wiring diagram and, if needed, your labels and/or photo to match up the correct wires.

The First Alert smoke detector shown here came with 2 adapters that will fit many older Kidde, Fyrnetics, Lifesaver, and Firex detector harnesses. As mentioned above, if your new smoke has an adapter that happens to fit your existing harness, just snap the connectors together and skip dealing with the wire nuts.

First Alert smoke alarm with pigtail harness and adapters

If you need to use wire nuts, hold the wires to be joined so that their ends are even. Then, screw on the wire nut by twisting to the right or clockwise.

When

Ge Smoke Detector Manual