Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I had the previous model (240 I think is the number) and sure enough it started giving the end of life signal 5 years after the house was built. I am second owner so took a while to find what was beeping (once every 5 minutes) and then by dumb luck I hit the test button and it quieted it. Turns out this is a documented feature and quiets the end of life alert for 36 hours.. I mention in case someone else may run across this and it helps them... Because it took me several days to give up and look for replacement and then wind my way to the manual.
These hard-wired detectors really need an on/off switch.
This is a replacement model and GE even offers a $10 cover that is the old size to save painting - although $10 seems pretty steep for this type of part.. Nonetheless, it sounded like it may be have been designed as a straight-forward swap. I saw nothing other than a minor wiring change in the DYI boards so I ordered with high hopes.
This is not the case though so be prepared:
1) The mount holes are totally different so you will need to drill. I just used top one and seems secure enough.
2) The wires come in on the other side of the beam unless you turn it upside down, but, the configuration of the new holes don't look conducive to turning updside down, IMO.. Not sure how one would deal with this if you have the wires on one side of beam behind the dry wall. I did not have dry wall to deal with but you may, so just mentioning.
3) The final incompatibility generated lots of chatter on the DYI boards and is a new feature (circuit in the detector) that requires slightly different wiring to your alarm system. This is probably an upgrade and good so I will not knock it, however, just another thing different, to learn about and deal with. You may need to do slight re-wire. I lucked out and could leave the feature out but you may not be able to do this if your current detector is wired to the NO (Normally Open) bank of your security system.
The instructions were only given for systems that are wired NO. After I poured over the wiring instructions for a couple of hours and figured out how this was interfacing I went to install and found mine used an NC hook up... That may not be the preferred install but that is how it was and not being a security system expert I decided to leave it. Leaving out the new circuit, the installation ended up to be a fairly easy swap, but I sure wasted a lot of time and angst prep'ing for it. So you may want to check your current wiring out beforehand.
If your current wiring is compatible with instructions and you want/need to wire in the new circuit, looks like you will just need an extra piece of wire.
As for the End Of Life alert. This will go off in 6 years and I have to say I am not looking forward to it on this new model. The old model beeped twice every five minutes and you can turn off for 36 hours if you know the secret method. This was livable until I got it replaced. Five minutes is annoying but not immediate so once I heard it I could go down at my leisure and turn off... This was nice and would have been nicer had I had the instructions or better yet if there was an on/off switch.
The new model is "even more secure" as it beeps every fifteen seconds for EOL so you hear it and cannot ignore it... This is great to find the alarm and check it out, but once found it is over the line of annoyance every 36 hours IMO. Personally I think all these hard-wired devices have all gone over the line and need an on/off switch so normal human beings don't have to call emergency services or vacate their home due to noise when these things malfunction - which is far from a rare occurrence I have had this 2 times in 2 years - not this particular detector, but this would have been the third had I not surreptitiously hit upon hitting the test button...
All in all this unit it is a replacement for the old and the circuitry seems to allow for a robust and sophisticated alarm system security hook up. I would recommend.
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