My smoke alarm was beeping, so I replaced the battery. However, it still beeped. I reached out to to SimpliSafe to see if it could be replaced, but I haven't heard anything back yet. Thoughts?
When you look at the Smoke Detector, do you see a constant yellow light? That means that the Tamper Switch in the back isn't being held down by the mounting bracket. You just want to twist clockwise until the unit locks into place, and the light should disappear. The warning chirps should stop as well!
Why does my SimpliSafe smoke detector only work with a Panasonic brand 3 volt lithium battery? These batteries are not always easy to find as opposed to other brands.
@gborto757 The Smoke Detector was designed to work with the Panasonic battery, but it can work with others. Taking a quick Google search, I was able to find the Panasonic CR-123A Lithium 3-volt battery on retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.
my smoke detectors beep constantly. When I hit the "reset" button in the middle they stop for a while, but jus start up again. It's insane. Changing the battery doesn't help! It's driving me crazy - help!!
Great, I saw in this thread that the smoke detectors only work with Panasonic batteries?!?!? Not even sure how that is even possible. I just received my order for the batteries and they are not Panasonic.
I too am having a problem with one smoke detector that has had a couple of false alarms and now it is chirping every night around 12:30-1:30 AM, freaking my dog out. I tested the battery that came out of the detector and it was nearly fully charged.
I think the detector is faulty. The other 2 have been fine.
@RDaugherty1 The Smoke Detector can work with any battery brand, but if your local fire marshal says that it's necessary to use a Panasonic battery with it, then you should only use that battery.
When your Smoke Detector chirps, do you see a yellow light? If you see a steady yellow while the Smoke Detector chirps, that means that its Tamper Switch isn't being held down all the way. In that case, try twisting the Smoke Detector clockwise until it locks into place.
But if you see a flashing yellow light, that could indicate an issue with the device. If you see that flashing yellow light, I would contact our Support team for further assistance.
But users should be aware that, if you have a problem with a smoke detector and call SimpliSafe support, the first two questions will be: "When did you last replace the battery?" (Which certainly makes sense!) and "Is it a Panasonic battery?" When I told the tech it was an Energizer battery, he immediately suspended the call and said that we could not continue until I installed a Panasonic battery. He stated explicitly that any brand other than Panasonic can cause the detector to fail. Whether that is true or not--I doubt if it is--is beside the point. I had to order a set of Panasonic batteries and install them before I could call back and resume the troubleshooting. (And it turned out the detector had failed. The Energizer battery was not the problem.)
Interestingly enough, I ordered the replacement batteries from SimpliSafe and the "Panasonic" batteries they delivered turned out to be Procell batteries, which are manufactured by Duracell.
Bottom line: use only Panasonic batteries or SimpliSafe will not provide support if you have an issue. Please note that I'm not knocking SimpliSafe or your support team, who have always been very helpful when I've called. But those are rules they play by. No one at SimpliSafe should tell customers to use any other batteries if you're not going to support them when they do.
Note that any CR123 battery will operate the smoke detector. The requirement for Panasonic is from UL, who tested the smoke detector with the Panasonic battery. Any change (like a different brand battery) invalidates the UL listing. It's a "legal" requirement, not a functional one.
Yes, you will find statements like that in the forums, but I'll bet the rent that the person who wrote that is not from SimpliSafe. Representatives from SimpliSafe never state that the detectors will work with other batteries, only that they should work or will likely work or may work.
This is not a legal issue. SS is legally required to inform you that if you use any other brand you will invalidate the UL listing, and they have done so. As long as they include that disclaimer, it's perfectly legal for them to guarantee that their product will work--as long as that's true. But they won't say that.
The only unequivocal statements I've seen SS make on the matter are:
Even aside from the UL issue, they won't guarantee the detector will work with other brands
Using any other brand can cause the detector to fail
So if you want to use Energizers, go ahead, but understand this: If your detector should fail and issues a false alarm, as mine did, and the fire department fines you $250 for responding to a false alarm (which I fortunately avoided, because I was home at the time), you cannot complain to SS. They will tell you, as they told me, that Energizer batteries can cause the detector to fail and can be the cause of the false alarm.
davey_d
Community Admin
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5.7K Messages
4 years ago
Hi there,
When you look at the Smoke Detector, do you see a constant yellow light? That means that the Tamper Switch in the back isn't being held down by the mounting bracket. You just want to twist clockwise until the unit locks into place, and the light should disappear. The warning chirps should stop as well!
(edited)
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captain11
Captain
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6.2K Messages
4 years ago
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gborto757
2 Messages
1 year ago
Why do these units only work with a Panasonic 123 3v lithium battery??
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gborto757
2 Messages
1 year ago
Why does my SimpliSafe smoke detector only work with a Panasonic brand 3 volt lithium battery? These batteries are not always easy to find as opposed to other brands.
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bookworm4955
1 Message
10 months ago
my smoke detectors beep constantly. When I hit the "reset" button in the middle they stop for a while, but jus start up again. It's insane. Changing the battery doesn't help! It's driving me crazy - help!!
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RDaugherty1
2 Messages
7 months ago
Great, I saw in this thread that the smoke detectors only work with Panasonic batteries?!?!? Not even sure how that is even possible. I just received my order for the batteries and they are not Panasonic.
I too am having a problem with one smoke detector that has had a couple of false alarms and now it is chirping every night around 12:30-1:30 AM, freaking my dog out. I tested the battery that came out of the detector and it was nearly fully charged.
I think the detector is faulty. The other 2 have been fine.
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DTM
14 Messages
7 months ago
But users should be aware that, if you have a problem with a smoke detector and call SimpliSafe support, the first two questions will be: "When did you last replace the battery?" (Which certainly makes sense!) and "Is it a Panasonic battery?" When I told the tech it was an Energizer battery, he immediately suspended the call and said that we could not continue until I installed a Panasonic battery. He stated explicitly that any brand other than Panasonic can cause the detector to fail. Whether that is true or not--I doubt if it is--is beside the point. I had to order a set of Panasonic batteries and install them before I could call back and resume the troubleshooting. (And it turned out the detector had failed. The Energizer battery was not the problem.)
Interestingly enough, I ordered the replacement batteries from SimpliSafe and the "Panasonic" batteries they delivered turned out to be Procell batteries, which are manufactured by Duracell.
Bottom line: use only Panasonic batteries or SimpliSafe will not provide support if you have an issue. Please note that I'm not knocking SimpliSafe or your support team, who have always been very helpful when I've called. But those are rules they play by. No one at SimpliSafe should tell customers to use any other batteries if you're not going to support them when they do.
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