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Apparently "dirty" power is a major trigger for the wired Nest Protect's false alarms. It's not surprising that your vacuum cleaner was enough to trigger this.

by bgentry 12y ago

Apparently "dirty" power is a major trigger for the wired Nest Protect's false alarms. It's not surprising that your vacuum cleaner was enough to trigger this. CloudFlare's CEO was ranting about his ~daily false alarms about 6 months ago: "dirty power common on PG&E SF causes small blips in light emitter. Nest interprets as smoke." More detail here: https://twitter.com/search?q=%40eastdakota%20nest&src=typd https://twitter.com/search?q=%40eastdakota%20nest&src=typd

brendanr 12y ago
Actually mine just runs on batteries. I think they have an optical sensor which can be triggered by dust. I was told by support that they used to recommend blowing the debris out, but it wasn't good for customer confidence.
- engi_nerd 12y ago
  When your troubleshooting procedures remind your customers of their (erroneous but widely practiced) methods of making NES cartridges work, you might have a problem.
  - yellowapple 12y ago
    I don't know about NES, but at least with the N64, I swear by blowing into the cartridge. Works at least 75% of the time, and the other 25% by wiggling the cartridge a bit in the hopes of getting it to reseat better.
    - engi_nerd 12y ago
      It works -- but what you're really doing is fixing an intermittent electrical connection by introducing moisture. Over the long term that's a recipe for corrosion.
      - jdmichal 12y ago
        We used q-tips with alcohol in my house to avoid this very issue. Cleans the contacts really good with no corrosion issues.
engi_nerd 12y ago
Do they not have an internal power supply to smooth out voltage spikes?
- jpk 12y ago
  What I don't understand is "dumb" smoke detectors, whether on mains or 9v battery, have been reliable forever. Yet a device that should be not much more than putting a little compute power/wireless connectivity/etc in the same enclosure as a sensor setup with decades of proven reliability somehow fails on the sensor's reliability. Is there a patent in this space or something that forced them to reinvent the sensor or should this be a poster child for NIH syndrome?
  - engi_nerd 12y ago
    And the power supply issue is well solved, too -- see just about any modern phone charger. I just...don't understand.
  - neckro23 12y ago
    Conventional smoke detectors use radioactive isotopes (americium). I imagine Nest wanted to avoid putting radioactive materials in their shiny consumer products.
    - yellowapple 12y ago
      That's a shame, since the only place a Nest Protect apparently belongs is a nuclear waste storage facility if that's what it takes to get them to shut up after a false alarm.
    - jkestner 12y ago
      Some do. Many others also use the photoelectric smoke sensor that Protect does, and some use both. The photoelectric type is better at detecting smoldering fires. The ionization (radioactive) type is better for detecting flames. Perhaps with a temperature sensor in the Protect, they thought they were covering their bases.
  - 12y ago

by bgentry 12y ago

brendanr 12y ago

Actually mine just runs on batteries. I think they have an optical sensor which can be triggered by dust. I was told by support that they used to recommend blowing the debris out, but it wasn't good for customer confidence.

engi_nerd 12y ago
When your troubleshooting procedures remind your customers of their (erroneous but widely practiced) methods of making NES cartridges work, you might have a problem.
- yellowapple 12y ago
  I don't know about NES, but at least with the N64, I swear by blowing into the cartridge. Works at least 75% of the time, and the other 25% by wiggling the cartridge a bit in the hopes of getting it to reseat better.
  - engi_nerd 12y ago
    It works -- but what you're really doing is fixing an intermittent electrical connection by introducing moisture. Over the long term that's a recipe for corrosion.
    - jdmichal 12y ago
      We used q-tips with alcohol in my house to avoid this very issue. Cleans the contacts really good with no corrosion issues.

engi_nerd 12y ago

Do they not have an internal power supply to smooth out voltage spikes?

jpk 12y ago
What I don't understand is "dumb" smoke detectors, whether on mains or 9v battery, have been reliable forever. Yet a device that should be not much more than putting a little compute power/wireless connectivity/etc in the same enclosure as a sensor setup with decades of proven reliability somehow fails on the sensor's reliability. Is there a patent in this space or something that forced them to reinvent the sensor or should this be a poster child for NIH syndrome?
- engi_nerd 12y ago
  And the power supply issue is well solved, too -- see just about any modern phone charger. I just...don't understand.
- neckro23 12y ago
  Conventional smoke detectors use radioactive isotopes (americium). I imagine Nest wanted to avoid putting radioactive materials in their shiny consumer products.
  - yellowapple 12y ago
    That's a shame, since the only place a Nest Protect apparently belongs is a nuclear waste storage facility if that's what it takes to get them to shut up after a false alarm.
  - jkestner 12y ago
    Some do. Many others also use the photoelectric smoke sensor that Protect does, and some use both. The photoelectric type is better at detecting smoldering fires. The ionization (radioactive) type is better for detecting flames. Perhaps with a temperature sensor in the Protect, they thought they were covering their bases.
- 12y ago