Press the hush/silencing button. It will silence the entire interconnected system. The button may also say “test.” It should silence all the alarms immediately unless there's still smoke and debris. It will reset in eight minutes, given that the smoke and debris have dissipated.
Pressing the “Test/Silence” button on the front of the unit should stop it from beeping or chirping.
Most importantly, if the smoke alarm in your property is disconnected, it could result in criminal charges if there is a fire on the premises. Although it is not illegal to disconnect a smoke alarm (for example, if you experience smoke with burning food), the detector should generally remain connected all the time.
Clear Residual Charge to Stop the Chirp
Press and hold the test button for 15-30 seconds. This will fully reset the smoke alarm and drain any charge left inside.
The beeping sound the low battery alarm makes can become very annoying but can be disconnected by removing the drained battery from your home alarm system panel. Make sure to replace the drained battery with a new one to keep your home alarm system functioning properly.
Hardwired smoke detectors can still beep even if there is no battery. Possibly the backup battery might have been activated and that can signal a problem. The backup battery may have run out and that is causing your hardwired smoke detector to chirp.
There was probably some power left in the device. Smoke alarm contibues to chirp even with electric power off.
Curie Environmental Services explains that California classifies smoke detectors as Universal Waste Electronic Devices due to their circuit boards and should not be put in the trash. (Curie also provides prepaid mail-in recycling services for ionization smoke detectors.)
Manually pressing and holding the “silence” button on the smoke detector/fire alarm will cause it to stop sounding but not permanently turn it off. On older models, you may need to unscrew the alarm from the wall or ceiling and hold down a button on the back.
IMPORTANT: Deactivation of the alarm is permanent. Once the alarm has been deactivated, it cannot be reactivated or mounted back onto the mounting plate and will no longer detect smoke or carbon monoxide.
Disconnect the wire harness by squeezing the locking arms on the quick connector while pulling the connector away from the bottom of the alarm. Battery-operated alarms will not have a wire harness.
Covering the smoke detector with a dishcloth can work. You could also use a shower cap or a rubber band and plastic wrap to temporarily disable the smoke detector. Once again, it is important to remember to uncover it when you are finished cooking.
Due to UL regulations for smoke detectors, the nightlight cannot be turned off completely. It will be a dim green on the lowest setting to show you that the unit is receiving power.
Taking the battery out of a smoke alarm will not make it stop beeping. Even after the battery has died, the detector maintains a residual charge that will keep the chirp going for at least seven days.
Peripheral devices, like smoke and motion detectors, door, and window sensors can either use AC power to function and require a battery only in case of a loss of power or can function as wireless devices which run independently and on battery power only.
Low battery: Even hard-wired smoke alarms have backup batteries that need replacing periodically. A low battery can cause that annoying beeping sound. Dust buildup: Dust and debris inside the smoke detector can trigger false alarms. Regular cleaning can prevent this issue.
If the electricity in your home goes out, these alarms automatically switch to their secondary power source, the backup battery. The backup battery should power the alarm for a minimum of 7 days without electricity to keep your home protected. Modern hardwired alarms require a battery backup.
If your smoke alarms are wired to your home's electrical wiring, simply turning off the circuit breaker will do the trick.
A hard-wired smoke detector usually chirps because of 1 of these 3 problems: A dead backup battery. Dust inside your detector. Malfunctioning/old detector.
While your smoke alarm sounds, pressing the hush button will silence the smoke alarm for approximately 10 minutes. The hush feature is typically used where an alarm has been triggered accidently. This provides time to clear the current environment of fumes that triggered the alarm without the alert tone sounding.