I have now installed eight (8) First Alert ZCOMBO Smoke and CO Detectors. Within days, one of the devices beeped three times and then again a few minutes later. I got the following alert on my phone and via email:
“You need to replace Hall Smoke Detector 1 Hall in Home with a new Smoke & CO Alarm. This device is malfunctioning and may not reliably detect smoke & CO. This device will no longer be monitored.”
So the first time this happened, I sent the unit back to Amazon and they replaced it with another device. Now last night, the same thing happened again.
This time I removed the device using the app and then reset the detector, re-added the device to Ring, and so far it has not generated an error…but who knows if it will do it again in a few days.
I am going to call First Alert today to ask them WTF and see if they have any suggestions.
Anyone else ever encounter this? If so after reset did the unit continue to function as normal?
Hi @jduffyb1. Resetting the First Alert Smoke & CO Detector was a good troubleshooting step to take, and that should resolve this issue. If you do receive this message again, or experience any problems with the First Alert Smoke & CO Detector, I’d suggest reaching out to First Alert’s support team. You can get in touch with them at 800-323-9005, Monday - Friday 7:00am - 7:00pm CST, or Saturday and Sunday 8:00am - 6:00pm CST.
I suggested the Ring developers make a change to how the system responds to device errors for the First Alert smoke alarm that signals device errors. I have read two other support topics created by users including this one. They had to reset/re-add the smoke alarms. Instead of disabling the device I suggest simply show the message and send an alert but do not disable the device(s) which will cause users to no longer be alerted by the device if there is a fire. In my case, the device error was caused by a radio transmission and there is nothing wrong with the device. It seems worse to disable the smoke detector instead of simply alerting the user.
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First Alert sent me two new ZCOMBO detectors to replace the bad units. They arrived the other day, installed them right away and within 24 hours, the Ring Alarm system tells me both have failed and need to be replaced. I have now had FIVE of these units fail within 24 to 48 hours. Really, WTF? I am going to call First Alert right away on Monday and see if I can’t get through to someone in engineering who can tell me why these are failing. This is crazy.