Anyone ever set off a smoke detector with their vapor?

[pan]

My pv has caused the detection light in my smoke alarm to flash...but it has never set it off..

 

[calico21]

There is a technology that smoke detectors are using now that if something interrupts the beam of light they will go off. Like motion detectors.

 

[trinifreak]

I have tried this test on my home smoke detector since I work on a military installation it would be really bad if one went off and what I found was that vaping will set an alarm of if you blow vapor directly into the detector. I decided to sit under the detector and vape and surprisingly it did not trigger the alarm. Here are a few tips to consider blow your vapor on the ground and stop smoking like a chimney lol... a massive toot/drag every 30 secs you should be fine. IMHO if you want to be extra careful get the fan going. I hope this helps.

 

[Denich]

Its possible to set off a smoke detector with any type of smoke, vapor etc.
I once set off a firealarm at a subway/bus station with DUST!!!!
i was working on a small piece of HVAC equipment that was shut off for a few weeks, when i turned it on the dust set off the duct smoke detector.
4 firetrucks showed up about 10 minutes later.... i forget the exact figure but i think a false alarm cost somewhere in the area of $850 a truck here....... the management came to a consensus that the the general contractor is at fault for not cleaning the ducts so i guess they were the ones to pay
With that being said i try to be watchful of where i vape, i cant afford that many firetrucks haha

p.s. a week after that incident i was working in a long-term care facility (pretty much a seniors home where the people require constant care). I turned on one of the HVAC systems and the firealarm goes off. At that point i proceeded to crap my pants... i ran downstairs to figure out if it was me again only to find out that it was a routine fire drill that was timed just perfectly.

 

[Xaiver]

Okay, so... 6 am this morning, laying in bed, I said "Lets give it a shot."

So, I went and stood under the smoke detector and started chain-vaping into it. It took about 4-5 good solid pulls, and then just as I was about to give up and go back to bed, it went nuts on me.

So....the answer is yes.

But! Only if you're actually blowing it up into it. The vapor is heavier than air, so if it got thick enough to trip the alarm, you'd have to either A: Have the room filled with it, so that you couldn't see. or B: Be blowing it directly into it.

-X

 

[Morgythekilla]

Well i was curious after reading this thread. Got up and stood on chair and almost broke my old neck as the chair at the computer swivels .
Anyhow i took some good puffs without any inhale and blew right at the smoke alarm nothing , i tried this 3 times nothing. It does work as once in a while when cooking it goes off if something spills like cheese from a pizza.
As a note we have the carbon alarm also and i could not make it go off.
Im sure there all different though.

Lol if our vapor had carbon monoxide in it, we'd all be dead..

 

[Morgythekilla]

Why dont you just crack the window,sit thur and vape?

 

[Phate]

Depends on the type of smoke detector, I tried exhaling vapor once into mine and it went off. The older models used to use a radioactive compound called americium-241, which emits a constant stream of alpha particles to detector plates around it, if the stream is broken due to refraction of the alpha particles due to vapor, smoke, highly concentrated steam, etc... then the alarm would go off. This is why the old, "fan it with a towel" method works even if the blocking particles are still present, since the smoke detector would have a constant air gradient moving the refracting particles away from the detecting plates.

As mentioned before, vape towards the floor or in the opposite direction to the detector and you'll be fine as the particles will dissociate into the air (decreasing concentration/volume of air present) before they reach the detector.

That being said, if you are in a very small space and you chain vape, a sensitive beam detector COULD go off, but the chances are unlikely, especially if you blow air from your lungs into the vapor cloud after exhaling as that will speed up the dissociation process.

 

[The Big Chief]

Ive personally tried to set one off to test the theory....I was unsuccessful. Vape away.

 

[Baldr]

I remember having this discussion before.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/220736-smoke-detectors.html

During that discussion, I took a smoke detector off the wall so I could get to it easy, and I blow a bunch of vapor right on it. It did set it off.

In the thread above, after running my test, I posted this link....

Smoke Alarms FAQ from First Alert Store, smoke alarms, smoke detectors, home safety products

And a clip of the info on that page.

The primary thing you should know about smoke alarms is that there are two basic types: Ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms.

Ionization alarms sound more quickly when a flaming, fast moving fire occurs. Think of a candle catching a curtain on fire- it happens quickly. A Photoelectric alarm is quicker at sensing a slower, smoky fire- such as an electrical fire that starts within your walls.

A dual sensor smoke alarm combines the two types, photoelectric and ionization.

Because there is no way of telling what type of fire may occur in your home, it is strongly recommended by the USFA to have both an ionization smoke alarm and photoelectric alarm- or a dual sensor smoke alarm to detect both types of fires.

My guess is that the photoelectric alarm can be set off by vaping, at least if you blow a lot of vapor right at it.

 

[ambientech]

The photoelectric alarms are the easiest to set off with dust or vapor. The older ionization types are the hardest and is what most have in their homes unless fairly new. I am an hvac tech and have set off the photoelectric in our equipment rooms from both dust and vaping. Luckly I already warned the fire department that it was possible that they would alarm while I was doing the work.