# CO/smoke alarms



## HAtech (Mar 7, 2013)

I now have on hand 2 dozen or more CO/smoke alarms that my co-workers have replaced for one reason or another (if any), but which I have tested in my shop and found nothing wrong. Most of them have been sitting on my shelf waiting for an opportunity to put them back in use. Until, now, I have found the manufacture dates are generally 2007 Nov 28. This would normally put them outside the 60 mon. recommended lifespan except that some of them have been on the shelf for 2 years (lol). 
Now, if the lifespan starts, as I have read, with their installation, then logically taking them out of service and shelve them should place a gap in their functional life and leave them still useable. However, I'm not going to try to talk anyone in management into believing that this would be workable.
On the other hand, it has occurred to me that the, if the lifespan of a CO detector is recommended at 5 yrs. (7 yrs. for Kidde), and the normal useable life of a regular smoke alarm is 10 yrs. (NFPA), then,
could a CO/smoke alarm still be useable solely as a smoke alarm for another 3 to 5 years. Is this a valid line of reasoning or not, and why?


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

Liability......

If it was taken down to be replaced....it's next stop should be the dumpster...:thumbsup:


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## HAtech (Mar 7, 2013)

You assuming it was replaced for a valid reason. My co-workers don't need one (and might not recognize a good one from "I feel like it").
The ones that show any abnormal function become part of my trash can target practice. But, most show no sign of any problem (not counting what goes through my co-workers heads).


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## SLSTech (Sep 13, 2008)

Over time a detector loses effectiveness mostly caused by dirt, etc... As I recall is that after 5 years you are looking at losing 50% effectiveness which is one reason I could care less about the supposed 10 year life span. 

As for it sitting on a shelf, I would dare say that could actually be worse than it hanging on the ceiling or a wall - like Griz said, it is a liability issue


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## mrcharles (Sep 27, 2011)

Yeah ditch them.... new ones are cheap, and you are opening yourself to liability.... Smoke Alarms are there to save lives... They deserve to be replaced for piece of mind... 


That being said old ones should not go in the dumpster, they should be properly disposed of as they contain americium-241 which is a radioactive material.


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Photoelectric smokes are functionally good for over 10 years if cleaned...but the manufacturer says 10.

COs are only good for 5 and they have a times in them that will start to beep when they expire. They are garbage.


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