Compact Fluorecent bulb set off Fire alarms

[Motown 454]

Hi I just went and picked up a 300 watt compact flourecent for my garage . The electrician suggested using it until I put the permenet lights in. The light socket had a 60 watt compact flourecent in it, when I removed it and put the 300 Watt bulb in it set off the fire alarms. Does anyong have any idea why this happened? I don't want to call the electrician now but I will call tomorrow. I was just wondering if anybody ever heaed of this happening?

 

[Greatbear]

Are these interconnected smoke detectors or a set of heat-sensing detectors wired to an alarm panel? In the case of the former, interconnected smoke detectors rely on a third wire in the cabling to "talk" to one another, and large CFL lamps are known to put out a fair amount of RF (EMI) interference. If the nature of the interference mimics the signaling used by the smoke detectors, they can be fooled into thinking one of their companions is going off and will sound the alarm. In the case of alarm panels, the same interference can be picked up by unshielded, non-twisted alarm wiring and set off the alarm. To fix this, either separate the lamps and/or their wiring from the alarm wiring or vice-versa, or try another brand/style of lamp. In the case of the smoke detectors, make sure the circuit the lamp is operated from is not shared with the detectors. If it's not shared, do the same as you would with the alarm panel suggestions above.

 

[brucer]

is the base of the cfl pointing straight up? or in other words, filiament pointing straight down?


i have read certain cfl's are suppose to be mounted on an angle or horizontally, or the filament pointing up or the base of the bulb down such as in a lamp..

 

[nehog]

What kind of smoke detectors are these? Wired, battery, or what? Are they interlinked/interconnected? Does the alarm sound instantly when the light is turned on, or is there a (perhaps substantial) delay?

 

[Motown 454]

The detectors are interconnected, they are also co2 detectors. They are hard wired and batery backup. The bottom of the bulb is pointing straigt up. The lamp and the detector are about 8' apart. I'm going to try putting the bulb in my clamp on light and move it further away.

 

[Motown 454]

I just tried the compact bulb in my clamp on light and it was fine. So I put it back in the socket on the ceiling and its fine now. Maybe it was because it was too cold to start last night?? Not sure, but I'll try it again later.

 

[SuperSocket]

Any infrared detectors?

 

[Motown 454]

Any infrared detectors?

No none.
I tried it a few more times and it works ok now. I don't know what happened but I'll tell the electrician Monday that it happened.

 

[Torque1st]

New electronic devices sometimes burn off or vaporize materials used in assy giving off a Phenol smell. The vapors could have set off the alarm. Installing high watt CFLs base-up or in enclosed fixtures can lead to overheating and failure.

 

[Motown 454]

Torque1st I've been using it on and off for a couple of nights and it works fine now. I guess it must have burned something off of it and set the alarm off. Its in the same place and no problem now. I thought maybe because it was cold that night it struggled to start but it was just as cold tonight and it was fine. I'll still mention it tto my electrician today.
Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Motown 454]

I have some pictures that were taken with a only the 300 watt compact fuoresent that screws in a regular socket. Its pretty good, it only uses 68 watts and is pretty bright.