876 Beep

Monday, September 11, 2006

I woke up yesterday to Beep (1.5 minute pause) Beep (1.5 minute pause) Beep (1.5 minute pause).... It sounded like a smoke alarm battery was low.

I've got smoke alarms and CO2 detectors scattered around, so I went looking for the one that was beeping.

No so easy. I was aware that my right ear was a little less sensitive than the left, a legacy of the rifle range in my teens, but I've never had a big problem with it. This morning, no matter where I stood, the beep was in the left ear. I guess it was too high a frequency for the right. That makes a sound rather difficult to locate, when it always sounds to the left.

The beeps were spaced far enough apart that I couldn't just move around near an alarm to verify it. Sometimes it wouldn't beep until I moved away. Skipping beeps. It was frustrating.

I ended up testing the batteries in each one, and replacing a few.

Then - Beep (1.5 minute pause), Beep (1.5 minute pause), Beep (1.5 minute pause)....

Could it be the furnace? The freezer? Where's it coming from? It couldn't be any of the detectors I'd checked the batteries in, because I had heard the beeps somewhere, elsewhere, while I was working on each one.

I forgot about the CO2 detector in the living room. That one doesn't HAVE batteries! It plugs into an outlet on the wall. I unplugged it, and it stopped beeping. I plugged it in in the kitchen, just around the corner, and it didn't start beeping again.

A mystery. Why was it beeping? If it detects CO2 it's supposed to scream.

Everything was fine until about 10 pm, then.....

Beep (1.5 minute pause), Beep (1.5 minute pause), Beep (1.5 minute pause)....

Not the CO2 detector again. I checked that one first.

Another cock the head, stay still, listen, narrow down, give up, remove batteries from detectors one by one again - and it was one that I had changed the batteries in. I hadn't pushed the new 9-volt in tight enough. I guess. I needed pliers to get it in tight enough.

Why am I reminded of the "check engine" light in the minivan, and the screwy motor sensors? Which, by the way, reminds me. As of today, the minivan has been at the dealer's shop 15 days, and I've heard nothing from them.