Re: mum's the word on howto tweak smoke detector

[<hapticz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

average fire allowed to go unchecked will usually run you abt $4000  to
$120,000 to repair and rebuild.

avg cost of new walmart fire detector is abt $8.00

no brainer to figure  cost /risk advantage !


"Frank Winans" <fwinans@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:12qef7ts7kbfod4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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!}
>
>