Replace the battery in First Alert P1210 smoke detector? 

I had the same issue. I install/activated my P1210 smoke detector on 1/10/19 and the battery was done by 11/05/22. I contacted (called) First Alert since the manual stated the unit has a 10 year warranty. The rep was very friendly and without hesitation, promised to ship a new replacement unit at no cost to me. A+ on customer service.

Thanks. I have two from May 2022 that just died. I was hoping it was a battery I could replace. 10 years, huh? I installed mine about one year ago. First Alert owes us all replacements!! You are the only one I find addressing this. Thanks.

Thanks! I bought these 4 years ago, and one just went out. I cut the wires off and put them on a less costly 123 3V battery, then wrapped it with tape. It’s the same size, and works perfectly!

Excellent video. Turned out our First Alert unit was 4 y/o (we moved in a year ago). And I totally agree with your opinion of our toss-it-away-society. It' interesting that the user manual lists actions when "the battery is low" but says nothing about replacing the battery. If it was honest, it would say "toss it out and buy a new one." Thanks for the good work!

Your video was super helpful! Thanks! Like you, we bought this house a little over a year ago and these units went off, not the chirping you heard, but full on blast, for no reason. We took them down and looked and couldn't figure out how to open them. We wondered about the same thing... replace the whole unit or just the battery, so you helped us to make the correct decision, just replace the unit. But, I agree with you that this is incredibly wasteful and sad that we have to do this. Shame on the company who made this product: First Alert.

I agree with the throw away society! My alarm just went off and I was hoping I could just put a battery in it. The date on mine April of 2021. That is definitely not 10 years! What a waste!! Thanks for the video.

Thank you for making & posting this video!! I'm going to contact First Alert customer service in the morning. My 2 yr/7 month old alarm started chirping at 12:30 AM. It's like it KNOWS what time it is! 🤦🏼‍♀️😔

Sure appreciate you doing this video. I had a First Alert go bad in one year........ Total scam!

Man I don't know if you'll ever see this but thank you for this video. I could not find consistent information on my smoke alarm and how to get it off the ceiling, and I didn't want to just use force and break it since I rent. It started going off randomly around 1AM and while I'm a night owl, I value sleep greatly and I would have felt awful had this thing kept beeping and waking up people in the apartments beside me. Awful product, but thanks so much for your video.

I agree with you about how lame it is that First Alert has an inexpensive unit with an expensive battery and that we are supposed to throw the whole unit away instead of just replacing the battery. This is very unnecessary and irresponsible on First Alert's part. My alarm was manufacturered in November 2019 and is also supposed to have a 10-year life, however the battery died in November 2021 but has been laying around until now (April 2022) for one of us to figure out how to change the battery. Meanwhile, we have been at risk with no working smoke detector the last 5 months. I will not replace with another First Alert product and will not purchase anything from First Alert in the future. Thank you very much for your video.

I have the same smoke detector dated March 2020. Now September 2023. Lasted 3 years. Glad I watched your video. Even if it was only to know that the 10 year life is overrated. Reviews on Lowe's website confirm. And, yes, we do live in a throwaway society. It is terrible.

I think we all have the same idea of changing batteries until discovering the high price only to end up tossing it in the landfill which is anything but conservative. Mine is dated July 2019 and just went to blasting the alarm. Is there any hope¿ Thank you so much for making this video, it helped me come to a fast conclusion without the stress. Much appreciated

I woke up at 3am for the BS. Same model. 1 month different from same manufacturing date as yours. So guess I got to replace it. This was a life saver. Going back to sleep

Thanks for the video. My First Alert seems to have been manufactured in 2019 so it lasted around 2.5 yrs. Hope these people help re-use devices instead of throwing away after single use.

thanks for this. ours was manufactured in May of 21 and it just went out in the last few days! we learned a lesson. won't buy one like this again

Thanks that was so helpful. I took the alarm off the ceiling and was able to get back to sleep. I'll buy a new one tomorrow hope it will fit into the base on the ceiling. Again thanks

Thanks. I agree completely. What a waste putting a special battery in there and now the new bracket mount may not match the screw holes in the ceiling either. Keep up the great job sharing.

I got the same unit from Home Depot, a 2-pack for $9. I thought it was a steal, installed it less than 3 months ago and now it's beeping. I look at the date and it's even older than yours, 09-19-2018. No wonder it was so cheap. I agree these kinda one time use thing is insanely wasteful. Good video.

Thank you ! Your first action of twist counter clockwise and the deactivate switch is what I needed.

Same thing with mine. Dead battery after just 2 1/2 years. I called the phone number on the back and after answering many many questions I was told they will send a replacement detector. If you still want to replace the battery yourself you can search for buy them for a lot less if you purchase a five pack. It's a CR1735EG. CR1735 is the type and physical size of the cell and I believe the eg refers to it having that particular connector. If you can make electrical connections you can switch the connector yourself and not worry about buying cells that already have that exact connector on it. Aa long as you buy cells that already have wires or soldering tabs connected to them it is easy to do. It's not safe to solder directly to a lithium cell so don't do it unless you have and are experienced with using a special battery tab spot welder. Look that up if you don't know about those. Some of them are very inexpensive.

Thank you for the info! I completely agree that this is shoddy manufacturing that should be discouraged. My 10 year detector died in 2 years. I will not buy ;First Alert again if I can avoid it!

Thank you for this. My alarm has been going off and it died in 4 yrs. Kinda sucks but appreciate this video!!

Mine lasted barely 2 years. The reason we spent $32 was the “assurance” that we wouldn’t be replacing the battery so often. Should have bought the $15 one. I’d probably still have it and if I needed a new battery I’d still be all in less than $20.

I skimmed through the other comments but didn't see one in which anyone suggested that you email or call First Alert and request a refund for defective unit. Paying $20 for a new one after 1 year of use on a 10-year battery is nuts and they should be happy to send you a new one in exchange for that one. Also, I get where you are coming from on this video and I don't disagree with the idea of attempting to replace the battery (if it had been reasonably priced). However, if it failed and your house had smoke or fire damage, your insurance company may have refused to pay for those damages if it became evident that the smoke detector had its seal broken. All in all, I liked the video because I think along the same lines. It's crazy that this detector doesn't live up to its life cycle claim - which is why I came to view this video in the first place. I guess I'm off to Lowe's now. :)

I just called my closest office for first alert. They are over a hr from my house and just advised me to have someone (an electrician ) come in a replace it. They did not offered a replacement themselves. And they guy was nice but he did not wanted to drive to replace this on a Sunday. So my best bet will be replacing that brand all together. My lasted 5 yrs that i know of, havent been in the house too long.

Thanks a lot for sharing. It is very helpful to stop beeping. It was beeping in the middle of the night around 3am. It’s really annoying. I was facing exactly the same issue. I got first alarm 10 yrs battery in Nov 28, 2019 the same models as yours. The battery was last only two years and one month.

I bought about 20 of these a little over a year ago when i bought my place now they all going out within weeks of each other.i should have kept the old ones they were the More expensive one's.

Thank you for the walkthrough! Dang, mine is also less than 2 years old.

Thanks for the video. Almost bought a new 10year smoke alarm but had heard of this. I'll stick to replaceable battery units

Thank you for your insight . Mine at apartment went off just now . I ran through the apartment for any fire hazards or see or smell any smoke of any sort . Before I press the button on this unit which is in main bedroom it shut off for 10 minute intervals and restarts the alarm. Pushed the tab down then read once it's deactivated it won't be reactivated . I was thinking I have couple of 9 volt batteries or c12 batteries laying around ,but nope have to replace the fire alarm itself. The date is said on the back February 18th 2022. So didn't last 10 month 😕. Will talk to landlord if it's okay to replace all of them .

I bought a first alert in March 2021 and it is going off. It is the exact model you had and it didn't last a year. On my way to Homedepot to replace

My mom had this issue and contacted the manufacturer and since the battery only lasted 2 years on a 10 year battery life, First Alert sent a new replacement free of charge. So go through the manufacturer, instead of buying a new one. Get a free one instead. Most manufacturers will honor their warranties!

I feel like you could add a 2 x AA battery adapter into the detector to replace the 3V lithium unit. You'd have to solder the connector on, but it would preserve the unit and have user changeable batteries again. Or swap 1 x 18650 lithium battery into the unit.

THANK YOU brother. All these goofballs are making tutorials for models with obvious battery hatches....

Thank you for the info. Mine is 6 years old and started beeping yesterday - same battery situation. I agree with you - why is everything made to be thrown away now?? UGH.

Purchased and installed my P1210 10/19/21. Started chirping (series of 3) 7/3/22. Roughly 2 years before it failed. Supposed to be a 10 year battery. One of my dogs goes nuts when he hears the chirp. So glad this happened before leaving our house with a young house sitter who wouldn't know what to do if this happened while she is staying at our house. Very irresponsible of First Alert! Will be going back to 9 volt battery alarms if they are still available and replace once a year.

Thank you. You were a lot of help.

Got to love a full blast smoke alarm going off awaking and terrifying you and your 8 month old baby. I grabbed baby and ran frantically through the house searching for a fire that clearly did not exist. What a piece of crap. Even the cat ran for his life.

The date on mine is May 18, 2021. It was installed in July of 2021 and lasted until July of 2022. Such a waste!!

Same problem! But mine was full on alarming...no cute lil beep.

The really fun part tonight was that the house I’m renting has 10 foot ceilings & I don’t have a step ladder that will reach. I’m disabled so I just kept stacking my big books on my step ladder. I’m a bit under 6’, but I’m disabled. Just happy I didn’t break my back again & I really feel like Congress or some governing authority needs to seriously look into the bs quality of fire alarms/carbon monoxide units being mass produced that fail to last anywhere near the 10 year mark.

Well I'm jumping on the bandwagon, in the middle of the night my First Alert '10" smoke detector started chirping away, setting off my dog that detests those noises, let me tell you, BAD TIMING, was working a flea market got rained on (monsoon more like it) and was exhausted from not sleeping the night before, so I was dead asleep when my First Alert went off, I just came onto Y ouTube to find a video on how to open this bad boy to find that this bad boy shouldn't be acting up since it was installed less than a year ago and manufactured in 2019, I'm thinking all of our detectors are not lasting as long as they are purported to last which is sucky especially since they are not cheap. Customer Service here I come.

Seriously! 10 years my ass! Mine says April 19th 2021. It's started beeping 2 nights ago. That's a crappy 10yr battery or maybe I got 10 years wrong? 🤔 ahahaha anything to make people spend alot of money that shouldn't need alot of money spent on it.

This was an eye opener for sure. Thanks

Thanks for your video. You're right; we have become the greatest 'throw away' culture on the planet. And what's worse, with so many people on the planet we have so much room for repair people. Unfortunately, these units, despite the fact that they are photo-electric and contain only a small trace of radioactive materials, are not recyclable (because of their plastic housing) here in California.

Thank you for this video. It was very interesting and informative. I haven’t read through the comments yet. We have issues with ours going off randomly with no reason to. I put the switch back in the “off” position (opposite direction of the deactivation position) and my husband said I deactivated it. I switched it back to on and it chirped. Can you confirm that it’s ok to switch it off by pushing the slider opposite the deactivation direction?

mine lasted 5 years and started beeping. Called support who say they need to be cleaned (compressed air) and tested monthly. They're sending me a new one. Also, I was able to reactivate it by the switch - so I'll try blowing it out! Haven't opened it yet but it appears to have a Panasonic Li battery.

For others with the same problem watching this - *there's no reason to throw out the unit* because you don't have to buy that EXACT battery. Just pick up a CR123 lithium "camera battery" for $3 off the site that rhymes with "D-day" and solder it to the leads of the old battery's connector, they're functionally the exact same battery. Done. I'd normally agree with everyone here about the whole 'throwaway society' thing, but in this application it's actually a good idea. People are so dumb and lazy about replacing smoke detector batteries that nonfunctional detectors are frequently the cause of fatalities in house fires. Simply designing that possibility out of the product significantly increases its safety in general consumer use, though I'd prefer if they were closer to 15-20 year lifetimes than the 10 year.

Thanks for ur vid. Called first alert customer service n theyre sending me 2 replacements. They just ask u to push the button so they hear the beep

Instructions said if you flip that switch, it permanently disables the smoke detector. Maybe because it has a plastic tab that restricts you from reactivating it?

Same thing here with me. Thanks for the video.

Hello, Thank you for your video. I have the same situation, one beep per minute. The alarm is over one year and 4 months. I was going to throw it away, but i saw the customer service number on the back. I called them and explain the problem, they sending me a new replacement.

Easy to replace and get a new one, thanks

Great video, good job and good message.

Well snap, my date is 2018 so I guess I need to feel lucky. Took it apart and voila there it is a CR17335E-N(3V) lithium battery. Guessing all options have gone up in price!

I have the same detector in my apartment. I can’t get the damned thing to open up so I can flip the switch to stop it from chirping. At the moment, it is buried in a bunch of towels to mute the noise and waiting for the landlord to come fix it. Great video, though. I learned a lot.

good video. information to the point.

Mine is a whopping 14 months old. Garbage. Same thing happened in my last apt. Barely last a year with a supposedly 10 year warranty. Apple got nailed for selling phones with dead batteries. First Alert & Safety First should be the next to be sued imo. Supposed to have a 10 year warranty too. It’s 11:09pm and I just came from hospital yesterday. They always die at the worst time & I have NEVER had a single one last anywhere near 10 years. They operate on the premise that most ppl are not gonna risk the safety of family, friends, & pets by waitresses mf got them to replace the unit free. No. We all just run to the store - especially if we have had fires in our lives before. We are living in a throwaway world & it disgusts me. Toasters used to be passed down to family members. Furniture, etc. nowadays ur might if a mattress or chair lasts a year & that doesn’t even come with a warranty these days. Harder & harder to find companies that offer a minimum one year warranty. Sick to death of consumerism and our throwaway mentality and big companies designing utter garbage on purpose. Earth has become a trash heap. We just keep building on top of the last layer of garbage imo. Dig another landfill. Cover it over. Wait a few years & sell the land & ppl build over it. It’s literally happening rn and has for years. Soil not safe. Water not safe. The older I get the less I’ll miss this life. #BuildBetter #DesignBetter #QualityOverQuantity. #TiredOfTrash. Yeah. I’m deep in my feels right now. lol. Thx for the video. #AnotherOneBitesTheDust. lol. I only wish I had a sledgehammer rn bc I would really like to smash this thing to bits. #HavingAVeryBadNoGoodTerribleDayRN. lol should have stayed in the damned hospital. lol.

My dog and I thank you so much.

Why do they always start beeping in the middle of the freaking night?

Thank you so much! Appreciate your video!

These things are a scam. Goes bad in 2-3 years often times and now they cost like 25 dollars for the basic one.

I bought this smoke detector in oct21. It went through a a 3 chirping fits in a few months. I almost returned it to Lowe’s. It quit doing it, but August23 it started again in the middle of the night! I called First Alert. They said they would send me another smoke detector. I hope to get it in a few days. Even though you didn’t purchase it, you should be able to get another smoke detector before the 10 year warranty. I bought another first alert smoke detector that was sold at Lowe’s in a bargain bin for $4. I thought I could use it in the future if my old detector wears out? A few years later, I installed it in my Mom’s basement, but it wouldn’t stop beeping. I changed the 9 volt battery and it still was beeping for no reason. I threw the thing in the garbage can. The model P1210 needs to be recalled.

2:30 - you’re welcome.

So much help thank you

Mine made it two months such a rip off product dont ever buy these people

thank you!!! I so agree!!

Thanks man I appreciate it

thanks, mine's going off at exactly 5am every day, freaking pos. and I don't mean three chirps, I mean full tilt, sometimes multiple times. it has a 2021 date, what junk.

I have one of these in my house. Manufacture date was just 9 months ago. The battery is already dead. What a joke.

I got a question I got this exact same model I’ve only had it a year and a half it woke me up in the middle of night scared the hell out of me because it’s a smoke detector and turned out there was no smoke no nothing I cut it off and it did not come back on? Has anyone had this happen I’m just curious because it says 10 year but it’s a year and a half old so it can’t be the battery logical thinking of course? it went off about 3 o’clock in the morning and woke me up I’m just trying to figure out what happened I cut it off but it has not gone back off again? Thx

Aren't you going to ask First alart for a replacement.

I just called mines Oct 2020 they replace free.

mine only last 5 years. what a waste to put the whole thing into landfill

For 20 dollars I’d rather get a 9v replaceable battery photoelectric smoke alarm than that unreliable thing. Replacing a 9v battery once or twice a year is a lot better than replacing a 10 year sealed smoke alarm at random.

Why does the PC-1210 smoke detector have a deactivate switch that with an arrow that points downward, but you're supposed to move the switch downward??? WTFO?

I have some of those, and so far they have lasted several years. The idea here though is that you are supposed to replace smoke alarms after 10 years - so assuming the battery lasts that long, its time to replace the alarm anyways.

It is a shame about poor quality. In my opinion, it the companies producing them like this to make more money. Consumers aren't cared for.

My first alert p1210 lasted three years

Mine just died, the date on it says June 2018, I guess it's time to buy a new one 😮

Just got my P1210.

Hey bro.....lov the video and i agree these are shit !!!! Thanks for sharing. Im going to yr community page to share info i cannot share in the comment section. Im heavily censored. God bless sis m

It would have been better just to say that it’s better to buy a new one at the beginning of the video.

I smashed tf out of mine and it smelled weird am I radiated

These are crap! Installed 5 and I’ve replaced 3 after 5 years!

I had two to go out in the past year. It is a waste!

same issue, what a crappy detector