Limitations Of Smoke Alarms - Kidde i9010 User Manual

Break out the crosshatched area with a screwdriver or similar tool.
Using a screwdriver or similar tool slide the exposed piece towards
the center of the alarm. This will deactivate the alarm, stop the
low battery "chirp" and render the alarm safe for disposal by
draining the battery.
CLEANING YOUR ALARM
YOUR ALARM SHOULD BE CLEANED AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR
If the tamper resist feature has been activated you will need to fol-
low the instructions in Section 3 to remove your alarm for mainte-
nance.
To clean your alarm, remove it from the mounting bracket as out-
lined in the beginning of this section. You can clean the interior
of your alarm (sensing chamber) by using compressed air or a vac-
uum cleaner hose and blowing or vacuuming through the open-
ings around the perimeter of the alarm. The outside of the alarm
can be wiped with a damp cloth.
After cleaning, reinstall your alarm and test your alarm by using
the test button. If cleaning does not restore the alarm to normal
operation the alarm should be replaced.

7. LIMITATIONS OF SMOKE ALARMS

WARNING: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND THOROUGHLY
• NFPA 72 states: Life safety from fire in residential occupancies is
based primarily on early notification to occupants of the need to
escape, followed by the appropriate egress actions by those
occupants. Fire warning systems for dwelling units are capable
of protecting about half of the occupants in potentially fatal
fires. Victims are often intimate with the fire, too old or young,
or physically or mentally impaired such that they cannot escape
even when warned early enough that escape should be possible.
For these people, other strategies such as protection-in-place or
assisted escape or rescue are necessary.
• Smoke alarms are devices that can provide early warning of pos-
sible fires at a reasonable cost; however, alarms have sensing
limitations. Ionization sensing alarms may detect invisible fire
particles (associated with fast flaming fires) sooner than photo-
electric alarms. Photoelectric sensing alarms may detect visible
fire particles (associated with slow smoldering fires) sooner than
ionization alarms. Home fires develop in different ways and are