Customer Reviews

First Alert SA511CN2-3ST ONELINK Battery Operated Smoke Alarm with Voice Location, 2-Pack

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

At about 2:30 one morning I awoke to the faint sound of a smoke alarm beeping in my infant daughters room. To my suprise neither my wife, nor my daughter were awaken by the contiunous high-pitch whine of the 5 dollar smoke detector. Honestly, I don't know how long it had been alarming before I awoke. Fortunately it was a false alarm triggerd by a humidifier.

A few short days later (prime shipping) my new First Alert OneLink units arrived - I'd suggest buying 6 for a good size house and to make sure they are all in range to set each other off. They work on a mesh-type network, so when one receives a signal from the alarming unit, it will re-transmit the alarm again so any units out of range of the first unit also get the signal to alarm. It works well.

Setup is simple and the included mounts make it easy to hang them on the wall or ceiling. The first time I pressed the test button I knew NOBODY was going to sleep through an alarm.

About 6 months later I was proven correct. Something triggered one of the units - naturally it was in the middle of the night when we were asleep. All of them starting alarming (and yelling "evacuate! evacuate! smoke in basement"). They are LOUD. I'd suggest setting them off when your spouse is asleep and watching their reaction. Have some clean undies for them to change into afterwards.

The same unit did false alarm a few more times, and First Alert was quick to send me a replacement... They didn't hassle me for the box, receipt, or make me go through hoops to get a replacement. The (obviously USA based) phone representative sent me out a new one asap. It was the best customer service I've experienced in a long time.

If you don't have hard-wired alarms in your house, get these... don't be cheap.

Since installing these smoke detectors a year ago, I have had to install three complete sets of Energizer batteries, replace one detector that ate a set of batteries every two weeks, and pull all the detectors tonight because I need to install a fourth set of Energizers. I buy the batteries fresh with a four or five year code each time so that is NOT the problem. It is obvious that changing batteries every six months is NOT a good plan unless you enjoy being awakened at 2AM every month or two with a low battery warning.

two years later - I've had two of the remaining 5 (I already tossed out two) begin to sound with no reason. Batteries were good, we are non-smokers have no fires going inside or out - they just sounded off about a week apart. I'm down to 3 now. They also do not communicate through ordinary sheetrocked inside walls. I will replace them with another brand.

I would not recommend them to anyone for anything.

I have a multi story house and wanted more protection and to know if there is smoke on another floor. These comunicate very well, They are a little hard to set up, it took multiple times before we were able to get them to talk to each other.. Don't loose your instruction sheet! you have to do it every time you change batteries.

I don't have much to add as the other reviews mostly cover it, however I will add one thing. I wanted smoke and co protection in the house but didn't want to shell out the extra dough for the co units throughout the house as they cost twice as much. So I purchased one smoke/co unit to put upstairs where the bedrooms are, and then two of these smoke only units for the rest of the house. I don't think it is as important to have co in the living areas where you'll be awake most of the time and hopefully feel the symptoms of co poisoning. But in the sleeping area it seemed an absolute must for me as we have all heard of people dying this way.

So here's the problem: the smoke/co detector will tell you which threat is triggering it, smoke or co, and the location. The smoke only also do this, but they only seem to know about smoke. So if the co goes off the smoke only detectors go off too, but they tell you it is smoke 'cause I guess they don't know about co, or at least don't know the word. They still link fine with the smoke/co detector, and sound off in unison when any one of them go off. They just aren't smart enough to tell you the smoke/co detector is being triggered by co. Actually, worse than that it is a bit misleading as they'll tell you it is being triggered by smoke. Seems like a bit of an oversight and something that could have easily been handled in the programming. Therefore they loose one star from 5 down to 4. Still a great product.

Purchased two smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and two smoke-only detectors for different areas of the house. Units function as advertised but found to have what I consider to be very limited range.

Setup was simple, and everything worked perfectly during short range tests. However, when units were placed 25' apart with a single wood stud/drywall wall between them they wouldn't communicate. Tried to relocate slightly in case I was getting interference from wiring in the wall, but no luck. Also tried different units in different positions/orientations in case transmission was direction or there were variations in signal strength between units. No luck.

FirstAlert customer service was friendly but had no real solution other than to reorient or reposition the detectors. They said the expected range is about 30'. Not for me.

Overall I'd say they're good products with good features (haven't had them long enough to comment on battery life). However, the limited range limits placement options and/or requires a relatively dense network of detectors.

PS: Smoke-only and smoke/carbon monoxide detectors WILL work together in a network. However, the smoke-only detectors don't have ability to "say" carbon monoxide. If a carbon-monoxide detector is triggered and relays an alert to a smoke-only alarm, the smoke-only alarms only has the ability to say (for example) "evacuate... smoke in bedroom!"

Ordered a two pack, set them up between a bedroom and the garage in a single story, 1958 California home, 50ft distant (read: cheap thin walls with no insulation). They will not communicate between each other at that distance. Re-initialized them just in case, still a no go. I let them sit like that for a month. Just tested them again: no go.

Moved the one in the garage to the hallway just outside the bedroom one, worked fine. Moved it down the hallway to the living room (15 feet distance, one thin door separating them): no go.

Took them outside: max communication distance is about 25 feet line of sight. Past that, no go.

Bottom line, these do not work as advertised. Don't waste your money. I know someone who has the Kidde equivalent and she swears by them. I might try those out next.

I installed 4 in my home. So far no fire or carbon monoxide disasters so I can't really tell you how they function under those circumstances. I can tell you they were extremely easy to install and connect. I am very satisfied with the product.

We have a two story house with a basement. I was always worried that we wouldn't hear the smoke alarms on the other floors if they went off. This product solved that perfectly with no wire to connect between multiple locations. Programming was easy, and the units use AA batteries. You don't even have to remove the detectors to change batteries. We are very happy with our purchase, and security we have with it.

Eats batteries for breakfast, false alarms more frequently as they age. Reports smoke when there is none. Good reviews are not worth trusting. Don't buy!

These units give false alarms several times during a normal cycle of the washing machine (detector located in hallway outside utility room)......A show stopper for me. What a waste of money. $70+ sent to somebody's fat bank account.