Let me start by saying I really hope this is just a super-incredibly-strange coincidence and/or I'm just really paranoid....

Last night I decided to recharge my Medtronic SCS for the first time. It's been 12 days since implant, and while I do still have bandages it's just a square of gauze so it's not thick, and the incision is about 90% closed up. I put the little belt on with the recharger over my incision/gauze (lower left back), got all set up in bed with my Kindle and everything was going good. I got really into my book, and my hubby fell fast asleep, until about 30 minutes later when BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP fire BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP fire BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP....I'm pretty sure I screamed a little, since the fire alarm was only about 6 ft from my head, and in our 1-storey 1500sq ft house we have 6 interconnected alarms (thanks builders) which all go off if one gets tripped, plus the one in the living room also tells you in a very firm voice "fire". Hubby jumps straight up too. Now, here's the really hilarious part (I couldn't breathe for laughing when I told my friend this morning)--I've got the belt on with the big recharger thingee dangling from it, and I'm still limited in movement anyway, AND my hubby uses a CPAP machine, so he's wearing headgear with a nose mask connected to an 8' grey tube connected to a machine on the side table, and we're trying to figure out what's going on (at first I thought my charger was making a noise) and where's the fire and how to get away. To our credit, it did only take about 3 seconds for us to gather our wits and cast away our devices. The great thing to report is, there was no fire. Or smoke. The alarms stopped after just a few minutes and we started investigating. Note that our alarms have never gone off except for when we test the batteries and once when I had a small pan fire in the kitchen; they're not at all super-sensitive. Even though they all go off together, the one that originated the alarm always has a red light blinking...and of course, when I checked, it turned out to be the one in the bedroom right next to me.

So here's my question--did I set it off by recharging? My gauze was still pristine white (inside and out, we checked) and nothing on or around me or the bed showed any sign of singing or anything else. The recharger and unit didn't feel hot or smell funny. There was literally nothing anywhere in the room or the house that should have triggered the smoke alarms. They've been fine since then, and I'm almost all the way charged so I'm ok there, but I'm worried--what about next time?

I really hope I'm just paranoid, but I wanted to see if anyone else has heard of this happening?

In a word, NO. I can't think of a single reason why a recharger would—or could—set off a smoke alarm, but that begs the question, what did?

It depends in part on the type (what it detects and the way it works) of alarm.

Smoke detector

For example, in the case of a photoelectric type, a spider, moth, or other bug, or even dust particles or pet hair may have interrupted the beam.

It could also be some kind of malfunction in the system.

Whatever the cause, for safety's sake, I think it bears checking out, lest you don't mind being rudely awakened in that way... And let us not forget the old story of the smoke detector who cried, "FIRE!"

Doc

Perhaps Hubby can get up with some canned "air" of the sort used for dusting electronics and spritz the detectors against the possibility of dust motes setting off your detectors. Also, if they have over ten years age, they can fail and require replacing as a lot anyway. This is not something which would have been triggered by your recharge sequence. Gosh, if recharging tripped them, then how about your cell phones in recharge mode or your landline phones [if you have them] which are wireless and sit in recharging cradles......

Oughta check out those detectors.....

Yup.

I will definitely try the canned air (ok, I'll have hubby get right on it )--that's a great idea! The alarms are actually only about 5 yrs old, we replaced the "contractor grade" alarms that were initially installed, so hopefully the canned air will do the trick. We do have 4 cats, and vacuuming has dropped to the lower end of the list of chores while hubby has to do it all during recovery (not that I could vacuum before, that was his, but he has some more important of my chores to take over...you know, things like laundry, groceries!).

The good news is that I tried recharging again Monday and was able to get almost 100% recharged without any further alarming incidents! I talked to the rep about it Monday and she said another possibility might be an interaction between the staples and the recharger; I looked up my smoke alarm details and it's the type that detects ions, so if there was a reaction it may not have been detectable by me but the smoke alarm may have caught it. Either way, I got a good charge session in and then they took the staples out Monday, so I should be good to go!

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for all the great info! I checked mine out and it turns out they detect ions associated with smoke/fire, so hopefully the combo of canned air to clear out any kitty hair/dust and getting out my staples to eliminate any possibility of that maybe causing weird ions with make the difference. We did go through and unplug, replace all batteries, and do a general check (and test--ugh!) every one. Thanks again!