Hardwire smoke alarm

[talktwo]

Well here's the issue ... my friend has a restaurant establishment and most of the equipment is quite old (15-20 years old) ... yesterday, it was discovered that his smoke detector didn't quite work. So we opted to change it. It's hardwired to the building. Here's the question:

Is there a safe way to install the smoke alarm without turning off the main power?? Reason being is that we're afraid if we turn off the power, some of the other equipment may fail to come back to life. Usually I turn off the main power before fiddling with electricity, but I don't think he can afford to have equipment malfunction on him.

Here's what the plan is so far:

1) insulated PVC gloves (will rubber dishwashing gloves work just as well??)
2) seperating each wire with caps, then connecting each wire individually wrapping them in electrical tape, then capping

Thanks :):)

[AloneInACrowd]

Is there a safe way to install the smoke alarm without turning off the main power??

That statement contradicts itself :P Regardless of what you do there's always gonna be a risk of electrocuting yourself. Dropping a wire or anything. Regardless of what the cost is of turning off the power then powering it back on, it can't be higher than the absolute safety of another human being.

I'd just shut it down and try to change it ASAP. I can't see powering stuff down once as being a huge downfall of electrical components.

[Jim123]

Not sure what you mean by "Main Power". Normally you would only shut down the circuit that powers the smoke detector.

I would look at replacing the existing AC detector with another AC model, they are not that much more expensive.

As to you original question of can you remove the existing detector in a safe way without powering down, if you have to ask then this is not something you should try. (This is from someone who has moved circuit breakers in a live power panel.)

[talktwo]

Not sure what you mean by "Main Power". Normally you would only shut down the circuit that powers the smoke detector.

I would look at replacing the existing AC detector with another AC model, they are not that much more expensive.

As to you original question of can you remove the existing detector in a safe way without powering down, if you have to ask then this is not something you should try. (This is from someone who has moved circuit breakers in a live power panel.)

I suppose I should have been more clear and explicit. We normally WOULD shut down the circuit that powers just the smoke detector, however, the breaker panel is not entirely labelled.

We are replacing the AC detector with another AC model.

We have already removed the old detector and capped off the exposed wire.

[xKagex]

I'd do it.

Is it safe? Probably not. This is coming from a person who short-circuits stuff to find the breaker, though. ;) Considering we have about 20+ electrical panels, and very few are labelled.. sometimes this is the only way. :D

[x86asm]

I'd do it.

Is it safe? Probably not. This is coming from a person who short-circuits stuff to find the breaker, though. ;) Considering we have about 20+ electrical panels, and very few are labelled.. sometimes this is the only way. :D
LOL, you're nutz man haha

[dark169]

if your careful you can do it hot. BUT if this is a comerical building it may not be your typical homedepot smoke alarm, it may be hard wired back to a fire panel / fire alarm somewhere if thats the case it may just be 24V. A thing to leary about is if it is tied back to a fire pannal removing it may set the alarm off (ie fail to alarm) something to look into.

[mart242]

Why not turn it off? It won't be worst as if there was a power outage.. he might as well find out now if something won't start up properly after an outage!

[Shaner]

I suggest buying a battery operated fire alarm to go along with your current one. Anything that is hard wired won't work if you don't have power. It's not uncommon for the power to go out during the early stages of a fire, especially if it's an electrical fire.

It's just not safe having a hard wired fire alarm.

[MrDisco]

I suggest buying a battery operated fire alarm to go along with your current one. Anything that is hard wired won't work if you don't have power. It's not uncommon for the power to go out during the early stages of a fire, especially if it's an electrical fire.

It's just not safe having a hard wired fire alarm.

not entirely true. you can have a hard wired system with a battery backup to eliminate such a scenario.

[Shaner]

not entirely true. you can have a hard wired system with a battery backup to eliminate such a scenario.

True, but I was thinking along the lines of having a hard wired smoke alarm only. Some people I know have those and I think it's risky.

[talktwo]

Why not turn it off? It won't be worst as if there was a power outage.. he might as well find out now if something won't start up properly after an outage!

That is true :) :) Never looked at it like that hehehe

[Jim123]

Why not turn it off? It won't be worst as if there was a power outage.. he might as well find out now if something won't start up properly after an outage!Also a good opportunity to find out what is attached to each circuit breaker so the next time electrical work is needed you don't have to kill all the power. :)