This is a
battery powered smoke detector intended to be used in conjunction with a DSC home
alarm system with automated notification of alarms to an off site monitor
company. It replaces an earlier version that had performed fairly
consistently over a period of 7 years or so and then had begun to give multiple
false alarms. One prerequisite of the replacement alarm would be that it had at
least some thought of elimination of false alarms that went into the design. I
think the WS4916 meets that requirement.
Our previous detector sent false alarms due to battery age, dust and just out of spite a couple of times, or it seemed. Nothing wakes you up at 2:30 in the morning like a fire alarm sounding in the house. And not just the run of the mill smoke detector beep. This alarm is designed to wake the dead, so you will not end up that way. It is a good thing, but also it is a good thing if you do not have the fire department come by so you can complain to them about your smoke detector not working.
About the WS4916 detector:
This is a wireless detector, and as such it runs on batteries and can be mounted in places that are not reachable by standard wired in detectors (also available from DSC). This one runs on two (included) CR123A Lithium batteries. Our original was powered by 6 AA Alkaline batteries, which tended to be somewhat unreliable as a power source over the long haul. (Lithium batteries like these in prior years have powered my 35 mm camera after having been used in my alarm system for 4-5 years.)
This alarm has both a photoelectric smoke detector, and a heat sensor built in. So, if conditions are present that include rapid rise of temperature to a set limit, but not smoke, the sensor will still sound an alarm.
The alarm tests for smoke or heat every 7 to 8 seconds. During this, it also monitors self diagnostics, tampers and faults. The red LED light will flash once every 50 seconds or so. It will not go into alarm unless alarm threshold is met and exceeded. Once threshold drops below alarm level, the alarm will reset. The old one was not like this to my experience. In order to reset that one, you had to physically remove it from its mounted position and pull the batteries. This is no way to live when the alarm has sounded falsely. The new WS4916 should reset OK if it ever sounds a false alarm.
One guard against false alarm for the WS4946 is that in order for an alarm to sound, the unit has to stay above the preset threshold of 75% for two minutes prior to entering alarm mode. So, in theory, if you are awakened by a repeating chirp, you should have time to determine what is happening prior to the unit actually waking the dead and calling for the fire department. And let me tell you, this alarm by itself is extremely loud even prior to sounding the alarm in the main panel.
Another feature that should prove to minimize false alarms is what they call “Drift Compensation”. This works as an automatic adjustment to the sensitivity of the smoke detector over time and resets sensitivity as the unit ages and is impacted by dust or other environmental impacts. This could have saved me at least two false alarms by itself. Once the alarm reaches its limit on adjustments, it will show on your main panel that it has “trouble”. The unit can then be cleaned by first calling your alarm monitor service and putting unit into test, and then blowing canned air into the easily accessible smoke chamber. The alarm company should be notified any time you need to service the unit, for cleaning, battery changes or testing.
Removing the unit from its installed position will initiate a tamper alarm and the monitoring company will be notified. You may have up to 10 seconds to replace the unit once you have tampered with it. My old unit was not so generous about easily made mistakes like this.
My old unit at least two times, sent a alarm based on batteries being too low, even though they tested at 1.5 volts each. For the WS4916, you should still have up to 14 days of use once the unit senses a low battery level. At that time, it will send a low battery warning to your main panel. If you fail to notice that, after 7 days, the unit will begin to chirp and continue until battery failure. The unit will still send alarms as needed at this point, but the alarm will be preceded by a chirp.
Installation is simple and if you are at all handy, I recommend you do it yourself. My alarm company walked me through any special instructions I would need to know about prior to installation, and you should also ask them if they have special requirements. It is easy to do. The unit has many possible hole mount patterns, so I was able to find a combination that kept me from having to add more holes in my ceiling. They should also help you in testing procedure after they have programmed the serial number of your new detector. When it was all said and done, I saved myself at least $100.00 for the service call and installation.
The smoke detector cost me just under $100.00. You can find them on the Internet in the $60-70 dollar range, but even if you get one of these you may have to pay your alarm company to reprogram your main panel for the new alarm.
Our previous detector sent false alarms due to battery age, dust and just out of spite a couple of times, or it seemed. Nothing wakes you up at 2:30 in the morning like a fire alarm sounding in the house. And not just the run of the mill smoke detector beep. This alarm is designed to wake the dead, so you will not end up that way. It is a good thing, but also it is a good thing if you do not have the fire department come by so you can complain to them about your smoke detector not working.
About the WS4916 detector:
This is a wireless detector, and as such it runs on batteries and can be mounted in places that are not reachable by standard wired in detectors (also available from DSC). This one runs on two (included) CR123A Lithium batteries. Our original was powered by 6 AA Alkaline batteries, which tended to be somewhat unreliable as a power source over the long haul. (Lithium batteries like these in prior years have powered my 35 mm camera after having been used in my alarm system for 4-5 years.)
This alarm has both a photoelectric smoke detector, and a heat sensor built in. So, if conditions are present that include rapid rise of temperature to a set limit, but not smoke, the sensor will still sound an alarm.
The alarm tests for smoke or heat every 7 to 8 seconds. During this, it also monitors self diagnostics, tampers and faults. The red LED light will flash once every 50 seconds or so. It will not go into alarm unless alarm threshold is met and exceeded. Once threshold drops below alarm level, the alarm will reset. The old one was not like this to my experience. In order to reset that one, you had to physically remove it from its mounted position and pull the batteries. This is no way to live when the alarm has sounded falsely. The new WS4916 should reset OK if it ever sounds a false alarm.
One guard against false alarm for the WS4946 is that in order for an alarm to sound, the unit has to stay above the preset threshold of 75% for two minutes prior to entering alarm mode. So, in theory, if you are awakened by a repeating chirp, you should have time to determine what is happening prior to the unit actually waking the dead and calling for the fire department. And let me tell you, this alarm by itself is extremely loud even prior to sounding the alarm in the main panel.
Another feature that should prove to minimize false alarms is what they call “Drift Compensation”. This works as an automatic adjustment to the sensitivity of the smoke detector over time and resets sensitivity as the unit ages and is impacted by dust or other environmental impacts. This could have saved me at least two false alarms by itself. Once the alarm reaches its limit on adjustments, it will show on your main panel that it has “trouble”. The unit can then be cleaned by first calling your alarm monitor service and putting unit into test, and then blowing canned air into the easily accessible smoke chamber. The alarm company should be notified any time you need to service the unit, for cleaning, battery changes or testing.
Removing the unit from its installed position will initiate a tamper alarm and the monitoring company will be notified. You may have up to 10 seconds to replace the unit once you have tampered with it. My old unit was not so generous about easily made mistakes like this.
My old unit at least two times, sent a alarm based on batteries being too low, even though they tested at 1.5 volts each. For the WS4916, you should still have up to 14 days of use once the unit senses a low battery level. At that time, it will send a low battery warning to your main panel. If you fail to notice that, after 7 days, the unit will begin to chirp and continue until battery failure. The unit will still send alarms as needed at this point, but the alarm will be preceded by a chirp.
Installation is simple and if you are at all handy, I recommend you do it yourself. My alarm company walked me through any special instructions I would need to know about prior to installation, and you should also ask them if they have special requirements. It is easy to do. The unit has many possible hole mount patterns, so I was able to find a combination that kept me from having to add more holes in my ceiling. They should also help you in testing procedure after they have programmed the serial number of your new detector. When it was all said and done, I saved myself at least $100.00 for the service call and installation.
The smoke detector cost me just under $100.00. You can find them on the Internet in the $60-70 dollar range, but even if you get one of these you may have to pay your alarm company to reprogram your main panel for the new alarm.
