I purchased a Clipsal 10 Year Lithium Battery smoke alarm and the date of manufacture was 2 years ago (Oct 2021) and according to Clipsal 10 years starts from the date of manufacture.
Surely this is unacceptable given the item has a limited lifespan and is used to fire safety?
Not discount, yes major online electrical retailer.
I purchased a Clipsal 10 Year Lithium Battery smoke alarm
Where from?
according to Clipsal 10 years starts from the date of manufacture
Source?
Lithium metal batteries have a very low self discharge, 2 years sitting on the self won't matter.
These are not Lithium Ion batteries.
I have contacted the retailer so I will give them the benefit of the doubt before I drop their name on the interwebs.
Is something you've said incorrect? Why would you worry about naming them? Are you lying?
I am not an authority on electrical safety systems @deme so please don't rely on my account of facts so you might be correct. One thing I did decipher is all smoke detectors have a "limited 10 year life" so regardless of the method of power delivery they should be replaced at after this duration. Still, getting a 2 year old product seems undesirable…
@Principal Reasonable: No one said you were.
Is "I purchased a Clipsal 10 Year Lithium Battery smoke alarm and the date of manufacture was 2 years ago (Oct 2021) and according to Clipsal 10 years starts from the date of manufacture."
Accurate or not?
@deme: 5 seconds of web searching turned up this:
How should smoke alarms be maintained?
[…]
Every 10 years
Replace the smoke alarms:
- Regardless of manufacturer, all smoke alarms have a limited life of 10 years from date of manufacture.
Product is 10 years from date of manufacture, but in the sale to consumers is stated to have a 10-year life: which while accurate, most consumers would believe that to mean that the units are good for 10 years from install, not manufacture. I'm considering submitting this myself to the ACCC to see what they say, since it is misleading even if unintentional (which I believe to be the case here).
Child seats are the same (should be disposed of 10 years from manufacture), but they're not advertised as having a 10-year life.
I bought one that was in date and it only lasted 7 years.
Brand?
Actually it was Quell.
Hopefully Clipsal will last you longer if the seller sends you a newer one.
I bought a small Cavius smoke alarm a few years ago with a replace-by-end year of 2026.
Earlier this year I decided to test it and found that it was completely dead.
I opened it up and found the soldered-on CR123A cell had a use-by date of March 2024.
I send the company a message and never received a reply.
A battery's use by date doesn't mean it will magically stop working by that date, it just means by that date its no longer at 100% of its advertised capacity. soldering that battery on a device is such an anti consumer move, thanks for letting us know what not to buy
A battery's use by date doesn't mean it will magically stop working by that date, it just means by that date its no longer at 100% of its advertised capacity.
The use-by date is in reference to a cell that's sitting idle and not connected to a device. A smoke alarm needs energy to work. That means the cell is under load continuously. The cell isn't just sitting there not being used until a fire happens.
The quiescent current should be very low in a properly-designed circuit, but clearly something went wrong for the battery to be drained at least three years before the replace-by date.
If you were replacing your smoke alarm battery, would you install a battery with a use-by date that passed a year ago?
If it's a non-critical device like a torch or remote control, sure. But this is a smoke alarm. I don't know when it stopped working, but if I followed the "replace by" date on the alarm, it would have been nonfunctional for over three years.
It is a sealed smoke alarm. As long as the battery actually lasts around 10 years, then it isn't a problem. User replaceable battery smoke alarms are against code in every state now.
Sounds like some HN deal, selling defective products with NO warranty at all!
I bought 2 Nest smoke alarms, they both came from the same retailer… one was almost 2 years old the other was only a few months.
The Good Guys?
Did you get the 2 year old unit replaced or refunded?
As I expected the retailer is happy to refund in full. I called the local JR Turk and they have them in stock with the manufacture date of Nov 2022. So I could send them back, pay the postage and buy the “newer” units but I absolutely cannot be bothered so I have just installed the ones I have. Lesson learnt on such an item.
Was it discounted? Purchased from a major player?
But yes, thats 20% of the life already gone.