This is something I've never seen before, although I'm not experienced in residential-type medical and safety equipment.
Instrument: Kidde model KN-COPP-B-LPM carbon monoxide detector, manufactured 03 Oct 2014 , three original Kidde-brand AA cells, device expiration date("Replace by") January 2025 (That suggests a radioactive sensing mechanism, like in a smoke detector.)
See Attachments below.
The issue: Pop-up barriers in battery compartment to prevent closing the battery compartment without replacing the three AA batteries (cells).
I got the thing in about 2015 (?) when they did a remodel of the apartment building's HVAC system and they moved the furnace stacks from the roof to the side of the building. I, in my ever-present paranoia, thought I kept smelling incomplete combustion , so I got this thing "just in case." (Hey, I'm paranoid, right? I mean I even own GUH-UH-NS, right?)
Anyhow, it gives a nice pleasant little green blink every minute or so to say, "Hey, I'm OK, boss, right here on duty." It never gave an actual warning alarm despite my hand-wringing paranoia.
But about 4:00 AM this date I was awakened by a loud chirping every minute and it was a low battery warning ("L b") from my little carbon monoxide guardian.
So I opened it up and pulled the three AA cells and tested them and indeed they were pretty damned low, not surprising, since they were original to the day I got the detector. Like wow, right?
I wondered about the red arms that popped up when I yanked the batteries, but soon discovered they prevented closing the lid without putting new batteries back in.
I thought you folks might be interested in this little fail-safe mechanism and wondered if this was some kind of standard procedure for "medical" or safety devices.
Terry, 230RN