Replacing a Heat Detector

Having a heat detector in your house especially in the kitchen area is good because the heat detector is a device just like a fire alarm device, which is designed to respond when the convected thermal energy of a fire increases the temperature of a heat sensitive element whereby its thermal mass and conductivity of element would regulate the rate flow of heat into the element.

Every type of heat detector has its own advantages or disadvantages and when you want to install the heat detector you should discuss it with a professional person who will suggest to you which one of the best heat detectors is suitable for your house. Some of the heat detector which is normally used is rate-of-rise heat detector and the fixed threshold detector. For those of you who already have a heat detector installed in your house, you need to always check whether it is working or has failed when you do a testing process on it. If you find out that it is faulty, you need to replace it with a new one (only the unit without tampering with the wiring) and it is recommended that the device be replaced every 10 years.

What you need to do:

  1. New heat detector
  2. New battery

Heat Detector

Method:

  1. Firstly, you need to open the battery compartment of the new heat detector before insert a nine-volt battery onto it. Once done, you can press the test button and wait for a few seconds until you hear an alarm rings meaning that your battery is in a good condition.
  2. Before you start doing any other work, you must make sure that you turn off the power on the circuit breaker for safety precautions. Then, remove the existing heat detector by unscrewing it from its mounting base and unclip its power supply.
  3. After that, you need to reattach the power connectors onto your new heat detector. The connectors need to be lined up and you have to slip them in just like a plug.
  4. Then, you have to insert back the lock pin inside the lock on the heat detector’s base. Once that has been done, you can reattach the heat detector on its existing mounting brackets and lock it once the pin head is fastened and connected with the notch.
  5. Next step is for you to turn on the power and test its operation. You can push either the test or silence button where the heat detector will produce a sound and also light up a green light meaning that it is working fine.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Fundamentals of Infrared Detector Operation and Testing

Handbook of Modern Sensors: Physics, Designs, and Applications