Thank you. I work with my hands for a living (I'm on my wife's computer/account), and have never been so confused by a single linear switch in all my life.
This was my first RU-vid posted, I believe (I seldom post since I'm such an amateur), but after 4 years, I'm glad this video is still helping others; unfortunately, they kept on selling them (I saw them advertised recently, but don't see them on Costco.com, so maybe they've stopped), and, like others, mine only lasted about 3 years, before it gave out and started beeping. I haven't replaced it yet, either, which is not a good thing. I think I will pay more and go with a Z-wave device that can go with my Ring alarm (but NOT First Alert!)
Thank you so much for this! The instructions on the back are very misleading. I wonder how many people have had a false alarm, then fiddled with that switch, then thought they had permanently disarmed, thrown away, and then spent money replacing. 😳 This helped me realize how it all works. 🙏 First Alert really needs to write much better directions on the back! 🧐 And their user’s manual online doesn’t explain any of this. 🤷♂️
Spot on. The instructions DO NOT tell the installer to move the button into any sort of direction for activation, but only to push the button under the tab for deactivation at the end of life cycle. Morons at First Alert who wrote the instructions need a beating.
Just slide the button up (or down) as far as it can go towards the tab so it turns on. The tab stops the button from deactivation position. You'd have to deliberately break the tab with a screwdriver and keep sliding it further to deactivate the unit. Just slide it to the tab as arrow indicates. It will be fine.
Thank you so very much . What is wrong with the company that they do not explain this ? You should receive a royalty check from first alert every time someone uses your video! Thank you !
Thank you thank you thank you for this video! I bought it at Costco too and mine has the yellow tabs with the same labeling. There should be instructions to push the white tab up half way to activate. Of course I called First Alert on a weekend but they were already closed. I called around 8pm mountain time and they closed at 7pm Central time. Thanks for RU-vid and thank you again for the video!
Why are smoke/fire alarms so mysterious and confusing to use or install. They chirp in the middle of the night and have their own "chucky" personalities. I hate this thing.... I absolutely hate this demon of an alarm. It's "Chucky!"
Thanks for the video. Harder to deactivate than you think. They do NOT last 10 years. Mine stopped working 4 and 5 years into service. Lots of dis claimers on the alarm about battery life and gently vacuum once a month. Not a happy customer. I hope your alarms last closer to 10 years.
And my P1210 bought at Costco June 2019 has a label that reads Deactivate toward the top, then Activate a half inch below it and an arrow below that pointed upward. My thought is that I Activate by sliding the switch up to have the plastic move in the slot to where it stops in the slot. But that doesn't seem to activate it. Can't see or hear anything happen when I press down on the "Test/Silence" button, which is tiny unreadable text in the mold. On top of that the twist lock mechanism to hold the device the wall mount is strange. I can't figure that out to get it to lock. This is some of the worse design I've ever come across. I'd imagine there is huge pile of returned ones sitting at every Costco store.
Thank you. I live in an apartment and this was installed before I moved in. I just looked at the back for the first time (3 years later!) and wondered why the switch *_appeared_* to be already in the deactivated position! (But no, now I see that's the *_activated_* position. Very confusing!) Also, WTF, a single-use plastic alarm that's meant to be entirely discarded after the battery runs out or the alarm is triggered once? That's unconscionable in these days of plastic pollution. >:-(
Thx for the clear explanation. The creators of this alarm def have no idea how to give instructions.. I wouldnt mind half-installing sth but in this case since its a vital thing.. u need to really leave it activated haha. Thx for the vid
Just call first alert and they will replace it for you. We had the same issue after a short time. It is under warranty 10 years. To deactivate just break the tab and push up and the battery will drain quickly. Yes, it’s confusing.
Many thanks! It was driving me crazy that neither of my P1210's would activate, and I thought the tab removal was just for permanently de-activating the unit. Weird instructions on these units.
Like all First Alert products, this crap was designed by chimpanzees with no concept of user friendliness. I applaud the narrator's excellent and plain spoken explanation of activation. Before watching the video, it took me a bit of thinking to understand it. It is a two step process. First, place the slide switch up against the tab as the video indicates, and then press and hold the test button until you hear the alarm. It is then activated. Deactivation seems to be a useless feature other than for permanently silencing the low battery chirp, but since you are throwing the damn thing away anyhow, why bother? In my case, I incorrectly thought that my alarm was chirping, when it was actually a nearby carbon monoxide sensor that needed a new battery. By the time I figured that out, I had already deactivated the smoke alarm and feared that it was permanently disabled. No so. All I had to do was place the slide switch in the middle (activate) position, and then press and hold the test button, and I was back in business. But this was not the end of it. Now I was faced with putting it back up onto the mounting plate attached to the ceiling. The idiots at First Alert thought it would be a great idea to include a lock. It took me a bit of tinkering to figure out how that was supposed worked, but in the end I just removed the lock tab and simply relied on the friction between the three pairs of mounting slots and tabs to keep the two sections together. I HATE FIRST ALERT PRODUCTS! All models have similar flaws. Some are worse than others. I hope they go out of business!😠
On mine, at least the removable transparent strip thing is yellow-tinted so it's a little more obvious. But yeah, design is horrid and I'd have been lost without this video, so thanks. Unfortunately after activating, it won't mount in the bracket, whereas it did before activating! WTF?
yea its a 3 position switch i had mine die after 4 years so i took it apart (not sealed just 4 screws under the sticker added a 2aa battery holder and a couple new alkalines should keep it going for another 4 years the deactivate switch puts a resistor across the battery to make it go dead
Thanks for your approval! This is my first post to RU-vid. I hope I explained it well enough. I was so frustrated with the twin pack I bought, and, like you, searched the web and saw another video on these units that almost addressed this, but he was addressing the issue that his stopped working within a year. In his video he was playing with the switch - sliding it up and down to get it working again, when it gave me the idea to try that to get it to work - period! Now let's hope these work for the promised 10 years! Good luck!
These crappy smoke detectors are the confusing to activate, to say the least. The instructions are also seem to be written by 4 year olds. My alarm has a sliding switch on the back side, similar to the one on this video, and under it has "activate" written with an arrow showing upwards. On the top side of the switch, there is "deactivate" written. So, what do you do to activate it? Follow the arrow and slide it up or don't touch it, because if you do, then you just deactivated the alarm??? I mean, how dumb is that? By the way, I did slide that switch upwards, then installed the housing to the wall plate, followed by a test. It did chirp right away and now a red blinking light comes on about every 10 seconds. So, is it working properly now or not?? I have no idea......
Thanks. First Alert has some moronic instructions. "Deactivate" pretty much says stay away from that switch. So glad I don't have to return another product to Lowes!
Yes, Thank you for posting this. The designers at these companies are complete bone-heads; they never think of the end user, interestingly, the alarms and the instructions are not USA made.
I had this thing on my wall for 2 years with it not activated. I couldn't figure out why it never went off when I burnt something in the oven or stove. I'm horrified that something could have happened and we would have never known.
Anyone ran into a scenario where the beeping is coming from the ceiling and not the detector itself? I replaced my detector with a new one hoping it stops the 5 beeps but to no avail. Anyone?
Yeah I have the same one and ever time I Placed it back into the bracket and it still wont work and it's on u can test it and I set up the the kitchen. I lit up a match and nothing wont go off
Have you had any problems with these? We have the same ones and if I don’t vacuum them regthen they randomly start beeping. Very annoying. The only way to stop is to use a shop vac. Do you vacuum these regularly?
I haven't had to vacuum mine since posting this video. Maybe it doesn't even work - who knows! It does have a light that blinks every so often, so I know the battery must still be good.
Many people got confused. Including me. It seems that this company is doing on purpose to make more selling. Or the design, and people who designed are not that smart to make something simple, confusing.
Yes! Completely idiotic/confusing manufacturer "instructions." We're not the morons; they are. I just purchased a couple of these but I'm suspecting there is no such thing as an authentic 10-year battery for smoke detectors, especially if the people who write the directions are the same people who make the product. Thanks for the video!
It IS confusing!! If you've removed the clear strip (~40-46) and mounted it and it doesn't activate (doesn't have a little light blink every minute or so and won't beep when you hold the test button), then, YES, manually slide that little "deactivate" button/switch up just until it meets the tab that looks like an upside down L (you can see the difference of one I've slid up at about 1:06). I was afraid that if I did that, I would end up permanently deactivating a brand new smoke detector, but I took a chance and slid that up. When I did, I was able to test it successfully (whereas, before, the light would not blink nor was I able to get even a beep when I held the test button). From reading the instructions, it looks like it is very difficult to accidentally deactivate it (you need a screw driver or something similar), so don't worry about sliding that switch up. On the other hand, if sliding that switch up, or if it is already up but not working and the device is still new or still under warranty, you should contact First Alert for a replacement. It looks like their information is on the back of the device to contact them. GOOD LUCK!
Just slide the button up (or down) as far as it can go towards the tab so it turns on. The tab stops the button from deactivation position. You'd have to deliberately break the tab with a screwdriver and keep sliding it further to deactivate the unit. Just slide it to the tab as arrow indicates. It will be fine.
How do I deactivate the f-ing thing? It won’t shut up. It says to break away tab and slide into deactivate position. There is no tab. There is no deactivate position. It is currently buried in my shirt drawer because it just won’t shut up!
According to the comment by Barbara Moore 2 years ago: "Just call first alert and they will replace it for you. We had the same issue after a short time. It is under warranty 10 years. **To deactivate just break the tab and push up and the battery will drain quickly.**" You probably have slide that all the way up and maybe have already deactivated it. Hopefully, after a couple days since you posted this, the battery has drained. Wow - I don't like that! And Costco still sells these. Ugh!