Patent ID: 7075444

Claim:
In a system of interconnected adverse condition detectors each operable to sense an adverse condition and generate both a local alarm signal and an interconnect signal that is transmitted to the other adverse condition detectors, wherein each adverse condition detector generates an alarm signal upon generation of the local alarm signal by the detector or receipt of the interconnect signal from another of the interconnected adverse condition detectors, a method of determining which adverse condition detector is sensing an adverse condition, comprising: providing a test switch on each of the adverse condition detectors; initiating an alarm locate period upon activation of the test switch on any one of the adverse condition detectors when all of the adverse condition detectors are simultaneously generating the alarm signal; disabling the generation of the alarm signal by all of the adverse condition detectors except for the adverse condition detector generating the local alarm signal for the alarm locate period, wherein the adverse condition detector sensing the adverse condition generates the alarm signal for the entire alarm locate period; and intermittently enabling the generation of the alarm signal by all of the adverse condition detectors during the alarm locate period.