Nest Protects Won't Stop Alerting

[dustl82]

I've had 12 wired Nest Protects in my house since 2012 with no issues. One of those was in our basement. We just had our basement remodeled and earlier this week I replaced the existing one so that it was dust-free after construction and added a new one in the new basement bedroom.

Wednesday at 11 PM the house lights up with a carbon monoxide alert in the basement. I'm fairly confident this is a false alarm but I open up all the windows, turn on vent fans, and it will not go off. I pressed all the buttons to silence the alarm and we even removed the basement devices from our account - it was still going off. Finally, I start taking them all down and pulling batteries until it stops around 12:30 AM. At this point there are 5 still powered on and 3 linked to our account, the 2 basement devices were removed and are no longer alarming while not associated with our nest account.

At 4 AM it starts again and still says it is in the basement. Remember, I've removed the devices that were assigned to the basement from our account so it's technically impossible for it to detect anything in the basement. I removed and powered down all remaining devices and it stopped though clearly, this is a safety concern now.

Thursday I erased settings from all 13 detectors, removed them all from our account, reinstalled them, and added every detector not in the basement (11) back to our account. I'm still getting carbon monoxide alerts for the basement. I erased all settings again and left them all plugged in. I assume this means they will alarm locally if anything is detected like an old school smoke detector. 

I've tried to call and chat with support agents. The last agent I chatted with blamed it on a software issue with my 11 detectors from 2018 though his reasoning seemed inconsistent and I was not provided a copy of the diagnostics report. His suggestion was to replace all 11 devices from 2018.

Replacement can't possibly be the answer here. I'm open to all ideas and suggestions. HELP!

[code_]

Hiya!

It could be due a faulty carbon monoxide detector on the nest protects so it could indicate a hardware fault causing potential false alarms from the basement detector. I would highly recommend maybe swapping a nest protect in the basement to see if the issue still flags up. Before you do anything be sure to get the house checked for any carbon monoxide leaks to be sure it isn't a false alarm with the relevant people. Better to check than not.

I would try the following:

• Swap the nest protect with a known working one you have to see if carbon monoxide alerts still pick up in the basement.
• Get the house checked for any signs of carbon monoxide.
• Ensure all devices are on latest software.
• Run a diagnostic test to see what results come back.
• Ensure nest protect is clean and dust free (also dust maybe in the area could trigger the false alarms)

But again, before anything does get the basement checked for carbon monoxide to rule things out before a faulty device/software issue. (That's if your boiler is located in your basement).

If you have to replace the detector, find one off place such as eBay as you can probably pick up a good discount for a known good working one. 

Let me know how it goes!

- Autumn

I hope this helps!

[Lance_L]

Hi everyone,

@dustl82, thanks for reaching out to the Community. Because you can't smell or see carbon monoxide (CO), when Google Nest Protect alerts you that there is carbon monoxide in your home, immediately move to fresh air. If an alarm signal sounds:

1. Operate the silence/reset button (press the button on Nest Protect).
2. Call your emergency services (the fire department or 911).
3. Immediately move to fresh air—outdoors or by an open door or window. Do a headcount to check that all people are accounted for. Do not reenter the premises. Move away from the open door or window until the emergency services responders have arrived, the premises have been aired out, and your alarm remains in its normal condition.

Important

• After following steps 1–3, if your alarm reactivates within a 24-hour period, repeat steps 1–3 and call a qualified appliance technician to investigate for sources of CO from fuel-burning equipment and appliances and inspect for proper operation of this equipment. 
• If problems are identified during this inspection, have the equipment serviced immediately. 
• Note any combustion equipment not inspected by the technician and consult the manufacturers' instructions, or contact the manufacturers directly, for more information about CO safety and this equipment. 
• Make sure that motor vehicles are not, and have not been, operating in an attached garage or adjacent to the residence.

This information is also available as a label provided in the packaging. Stick this label in a spot where everyone can see it, like the refrigerator.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I appreciate your help, @code_.

Best,

Lance

[dustl82]

Appreciate the concern, there is no carbon monoxide. It's important to note that the device only creates an alarm when it is paired with my account. If the device is powered on and left unpaired it does not alarm. 

[code_]

You're welcome and thank you for explaining what to do in more detail 🙂 

[dustl82]

All devices are updated to my knowledge. I believe they auto-update so I'm not familiar with a method of manually checking for updates. They've all been on an active wifi connection for years though.

All diagnostics on my end came back as operational and good.

[code_]

Hmm that's strange.

If the alarm is still going off it could be a issue with the carbon monoxide detector inside the nest protect itself. But again, best to get 911 involved for someone to come out be sure it isn't carbon monoxide but if you already done that, it could be a fault with the nest device itself hardware wise with the sensor maybe? Again, I can't be sure exactly what's causing it.

I imagine it's an annoying problem but again do get the devices serviced to ensure there is no defects, even though the diagnostics come back good on the app.

For now, avoid using the nest protect in the basement and get the basement next protect serviced or get a replacement device (and get the basement checked for carbon monoxide if you haven't done already with Larence's advice). Also, it may be worth getting a hold of nest support again to see if you can get a copy of the diagnostics report they did. but It's a really strange issue, It could be a hardware issue. But again, as advised from Lance get it serviced first if no carbon monoxide is present after the check. (he's a better expert than me on it)

[Lance_L]

Hello folks,

@dustl82, thanks for circling back. I wanted to check in and see if you still needed any help. Have you had a chance to review code_’s response above? If yes, how was it? Also, is the structure already cleared by emergency personnel for any carbon monoxide?

If the premises have been cleared of carbon monoxide, perform a safety checkup with the Nest Protect that sounded the unexplained alarm. Once done, please document the results with these questions:

• Did the LED activate as expected?
• Did the alarm activate as expected? 
• Did the voice activate as expected?

Thanks for the assistance, code_.

Regards,

Lance

[dustl82]

I know everyone is concerned about the basement. Please consider this, I removed all devices from the account and readded only the devices NOT in the basement. When I did this all the devices started saying there was carbon monoxide in the basement. There were no devices in the basement. 

When I chatted with the customer service rep he indicated that the new basement devices were good but all of the original devices in the home needed to be replaced. I asked if the account might have been corrupt and he said no. 

I gave up for a bit and left all the devices plugged in but not associated with any Nest account. No alarms during this period.

This past Friday, I created a new Home in my account and added the basement devices. I waited 24 hours with no alarms and slowly added more devices until as of yesterday, Tuesday, they were all added. So far, there have been no alarms with the devices on the new home. This certainly sounds like a corrupt home account to me.

[Lance_L]

Hi folks,

@dustl82, thanks for your updates and sharing your experience with the Community. We’re delighted that this has been resolved despite the initial challenges. If you have any further questions or need assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to us at the Nest Help Center.

All the best,

Lance

[dustl82]

I wouldn't personally call this resolved. As a customer/user I now have to remove every device from my existing home and add it to a new home. This is a really awful customer experience and I believe something a knowledgeable customer service rep could have solved in a better way.