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Had a carbon monoxide detector false alarm on a new build last Thursday, whole street got evacuated

Installed a hardwired combo unit in a house near Austin. Everything tested fine at install. 3 days later the fire department shows up because the homeowner called it in. Turns out the sensor was just too sensitive to some paint fumes still off-gassing. Had to swap it for a different model. Anyone else run into this with fresh construction?
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3 Comments
alexc93
alexc937d ago
Did your buddy have to replace the unit or just air the place out?
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aaron884
aaron8847d ago
Oh man, that's wild! I've seen this exact thing happen with those new build paint jobs. The VOCs from some of those high-gloss finishes can really mess with the sensors for a week or two. My buddy had a similar issue with a place near here where the primer fumes kept tripping the alarm every time the HVAC kicked on. He ended up just cracking windows and running fans for a few days to clear it out, then the false alarms stopped. It's a pain, but sometimes you gotta give the house time to breathe before those sensitive detectors chill out.
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troy832
troy8327d agoMost Upvoted
My neighbor had the same issue last year except it was from a new carpet install, not paint. Those volatile gases just hang around forever. Took him almost two full weeks before his sensors finally stopped screaming at the mailman every time the door opened lol.
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