mum's the word on howto tweak smoke detector

["Frank Winans" <fwinans@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm a computer geek, and am about to discard
another cheap ionization smoke detector that
has gotten too sensitive to put up with.  Cleaning
the little chamber didn't help much, though yes,
that often worked in years past, on other units
I've had.

Actually, I'm thinking of tweaking the sensitivity
with unauthorized do-it-yourself circuit mods.
I'll want to destroy the unit before I let it fall into
another's hands, but I'll accept the increased
risk of myself dying in a home fire that using
such a device entails.  Maybe I'll disguise it as
an abstract sculpture or something, so nobody
else would ever come to rely on it to detect
smoke ;-)

But this brings up some issues;

a) how can I properly calibrate it, and later
retest it, using actual smoke?  Like using a
measured amount of tobacco on a red-hot
heater, and ducting that into a known volume
trash bag or box... I've never seen this topic
discussed, and wonder if the old TEST button
is a credible witness of sensitivity, now that I
think about it...

b) If this works out, should I ever admit it to my
friends?   We're all just a few degrees away
from the most monstrously inept/stupid/deranged
person one might ever envision, and I'd be
enabling that "friend of a friend of a friend" to
construct a passively hazardous device {or
large assemblage of same.}

c) And why doesn't there seem to be any prior
postings on this HOWto ?  Do they get
censored by somebody eventually?   Sure, it
may be <unwise> to discuss in a public forum,
from a strictly personal-legal-liability standpoint,
but that wouldn't normally prevent the topic arising,
judging from the blatantly unwise / illegal things
I see out on the internet already. {Porno sites,
prescription drugs offered by correspondance. Ech!}