17-09-2020, 05:56 PM
31
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
I have to sort out my own mains powered alarms soon. They too seem to be discontinued which is annoying or I could have left the base plate in place and just slotted on the new alarm unit. I'll probably go for battery alarms making sure that they are big enough to cover where the old one was. As for the wiring to them I'll just put it in a terminal block and shove it up into the ceiling.
17-09-2020, 07:22 PM
32
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
Originally Posted by digitalham
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I have to sort out my own mains powered alarms soon. They too seem to be discontinued which is annoying or I could have left the base plate in place and just slotted on the new alarm unit. I'll probably go for battery alarms making sure that they are big enough to cover where the old one was. As for the wiring to them I'll just put it in a terminal block and shove it up into the ceiling.
In my case, fortunately, the smoke alarm isn't actually mains-powered, but powered from the intruder alarm at 12V, so I'm going to ignore the 'warning'!
17-09-2020, 08:20 PM
34
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
Originally Posted by digitalham
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Did they give any reason why?
Incidentally, the guys giving advice on that forum are mostly qualified electricians.
17-09-2020, 08:42 PM
35
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
Not an issue for me although it almost certainly would contravene wiring regulations. The loft has monster thick insulation and is fully boarded above that. The other two detectors are downstairs.I may use wired detectors anyway if the new models are big enough to cover the place the old ones were - I don't want to be repainting ceilings. I suppose another option would be to just add additional detectors and leave the old ones in place although that would look a little odd.
17-09-2020, 09:03 PM
36
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
Originally Posted by digitalham
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Not an issue for me although it almost certainly would contravene wiring regulations. The loft has monster thick insulation and is fully boarded above that. The other two detectors are downstairs.I may use wired detectors anyway if the new models are big enough to cover the place the old ones were - I don't want to be repainting ceilings. I suppose another option would be to just add additional detectors and leave the old ones in place although that would look a little odd.
I'm not one to bother with regulations normally, but if there is the likelihood of any possible consequences that might invalidate my house insurance, I do take note!
17-09-2020, 09:08 PM
37
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
Originally Posted by digitalham
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it almost certainly would contravene wiring regulations. The loft has monster thick insulation and is fully boarded above that.
....as does cables through monster thick insulation
18-09-2020, 04:24 PM
39
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
Originally Posted by JBR
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How about 12V cables?
...and of course that 12v cable will still "go" somewhere and, as an assumption, will connect to a transformer so that still does bind it to the regulations that are implied from that - in other words your 12v cable is still "connected" to the mains via a transformer
18-09-2020, 05:20 PM
40
Re: Mains powered smoke alarm
Originally Posted by Havenview
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There is no requirement to protect ELV (your "12v" cable) cables from loft insulation but the should be minimum 50mm distance from any LV ("mains") cable...and of course that 12v cable will still "go" somewhere and, as an assumption, will connect to a transformer so that still does bind it to the regulations that are implied from that - in other words your 12v cable is still "connected" to the mains via a transformer
I now have the replacement smoke alarm and notice that there is a nice convenient hollow all around the base. That would be ideal for housing the old cables, when I've cut off the bare ends, so they won't be near anything else and will not touch anything conductive, so I won't have to stuff them back into the loft.
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