NFPA and NICET test 101

NFPA 72 2010 Secrets

2012-02-15T03:36:00.000-08:00

Well the title says secrets but to be honest it really is public information. However not to many readers are aware ot it. Check this out. The new 2010 edition of NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code has a few items throughout the text that can help the readers better understand the changes and new layout.

A vertical bar in the margin indicates that a change other than editiorial has been made.
A bullet indicates that one or more complete paragraphs have been deleted.
A reference in parebthesis () follwing a paragraph indicates technical committee reponsibility.
A reference in brackets [] indicates exacted material from another document.

Why Did NFPA 72 2010 Change Its Name

2012-02-15T03:19:00.000-08:00

A lot of people always ask why the new 2010 edition of NFPA 72 changed its name from "The National Fire Code" to "National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code". The answer is simple. The new 2010 edition of NFPA 72 now covers a multitude of items in addition to fire alarms. With the introduction of mass notification systems along with other means of notification and detection, the name had to change.

Some of the additional systems that NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code now covers are as follows:

Combination Systems
Video Imaging Detection
Carbon Monoxide Detection
Supervisory Service of Sprinkler Control Valves
Water Level Supervisory
Water Temperature Supervisory
Room Temperature Supervisory
Fire Extinguisher Monitoring

Click here to see some secrets of the new NFPA 72 2010 edition that may help you better understand its new layout.

NUP Connector for Notifier ONYX Panels

2012-02-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

If you are faced with the task of creating a NUP connector for your Notifier ONXY panels this follow this simple step process.

Take a standard DB9 cable and cut off the male end (end with the prongs sticking out). Now strip back the cable and use a mutimeter to vertifiy the following three pins (#2, #3, and #5). Once you have these verified, mark them down on a paper with the wire color and the pin number.

Now on the NUP connector, pull off the red and black cables as these are used for power. Simply pull them out of the NUP connector completly and dicard.

You should be left with three cables on your NUP connector. White, Green and Brown. With a soldering iron splice the following pairs togerther. The brown NUP cable to pin #2 on the DB9, the white NUP cable to the #3 pin on the DB9 and the green NUP cable to the #5 pin on the DB9.

Once you are done, make sure to seperate each splice with tape or shrink wrap and finally shrink wrap the entire connection.

You should now have a functional DB9 to NUP cable for programming the Notifier ONYX panles and NCM Network Control Module boards.

No Fishtape! Get Out the Pull String and Shop Vac

2012-02-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

Are you having trouble pushing your trusty fish tape through conduits? Try a vacuum, better yet a shop vac as they are more powerful and versatile. You will also need some painters plastic, pull string, duct tape and a device to reduce the size of the shop vac hose down to the size of the conduit in question. Don't worry about it being a perfect fit as this is what the duct tape is for.

Now take the pull a string and tie a simple knot around a piece of the painters tape. When doing this, make sure to leave enough plastic out to catch the suction created by the shop vac. Now shove the plastic and pull string into the conduit as far as you can.

On the opposite end of the conduit run, take a standard plastic coke bottle and cut off the wider end. Now place the shop vac hose into the bottle and use the duct tape to make a tight air seal. With that done simply remove the screw off bottle cap and insert it into the conduit. This is our reducing device.

Almost done. turn on the shop vac to suction mode and have someone at the opposite end feed the pull string if necessary. Once the thin pull string makes it through, it is recommend to replace it with a tougher version.

Now you are set. Go out and give it a try.

Fire Caulk the Wrong Way

2012-02-02T23:35:00.000-08:00

It is always fun to compare your work to others. Especially when you have a habit of doing things to current codes and applicable standards. Today we came across a problem seen all to often on constructions sites both old and new.

Fire Caulk.

It always seems that contractors become very lazy at this stage of the installation. 9 out of 10 times it appears that the installer just slaps some fire caulk around a penetration and calls it a day. Not realizing how important the fire caulk stage is, most people just leave it.

To install fire caulk the correct way, follow these simple steps:

1. Cut a piece of EMT conduit long enough to penetrate the entire wall (both sides) and have the pipe stick out approximately 6 inches on each side.
2. Pull your wires trough the EMT and then place the EMT through a hole in the fire rated wall.
3. Use mineral wool to pack the ends of the EMT. Make sure to wrap the mineral wool around the wires and center the wires within the EMT as much as possible. Now shove the mineral wool inside the conduit.
4. Fire caulk the ends of the EMT (over the mineral wool) 1" deep and have the fire caulk stick out of the conduit approximately 1/2" to 3/4".
5. Now use the fire caulk around the EMT and the actual fire rated wall. Make sure to get the fire caulk in 1" and at least 3/4" all around.
6. Make sure to do this on both sides.

Using a Manometer on a System Sensor D4120

2012-02-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

A Manometer is an electronic device commonly referred to as a liquid column hydrostatic instrument. A Manometer measures pressure and vacuum within the actual System Sensor D4120 duct smoke detector. Now they can be used with other manufacturer's duct detectors but for this example we will stick with the System Sensor D4120.

The Manometer we chose to use is very simple to operate. It is manufactured by SDI. Simply connect the two provided hoses with variable size end plugs and power it on. Once on hold down the "hold" button for three seconds to zero out the machine. Sort of like a scale. Now press the "unit" button until you arrive at the selection of "inH2O" on the bottom left of the screen.

Now you will notice that the two hoses are connected to specific ports. One is marked as negative and the other positive. Make sure to place the hose end of the positive into the actual sample tube inlet. The negative tube will go into the exhaust port.

With the System Sensor D4120 duct detector you will be looking for a reading of anywhere between 0.01 min and 1.11 max.

I don't expect you will be coming across this very often as the mechanical contractor usually will install the duct mounted smoke detector therefor being responsible for testing it with a Manometer. However, now if someone asks, you can say you know what a Manometer is.

Ceiling Tiles get Cut for Fire Alarm Wiring

2012-01-30T08:31:00.000-08:00

At a recent project we can across a couple of corridors that had MDF board used as a ceiling tile above every bay of guest rooms. This MDF board was very heavy and installed in such a way that removing it would be very costly. The installer had cut the MDF board to such an exact size that with this and the low obstructions above made it nearly impossible to move.

Picture this, we needed to access above each and every one of these MDF ceiling tiles all the way down multiple corridors to fish our glow rod and pull in our fire alarm wiring. We had to also gain access to the guest rooms through these areas. So as you can see there was no way around it.

We came up with an idea to make these areas accessible but it still took some time. We marked the center of each MDF ceiling tile and used a jigsaw upside down to cut them in half. Once we had the ceiling tile cut in half, we were able to slide the boards towards the center (one on top of the other) to give us access on each side of the bay.

Once we were done we slid the ceiling tiles back in place and inserted a new piece of ceiling tile grid to hide the cut. Now the building engineer has accessible space above each guest room and we were able to complete our job in half the time.

Fire Alarm Speaker Zone with Music

2012-01-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a great idea for all of you that are installing voice evacuation systems. Install an addressable relay and control module for each fire alarm speaker zone. Once installed map the addressable relay to a function button such as the DVC with Notifier. This can all be done through the display and or laptop computer. Now make sure to label the DVC (Digital Voice Command) button with the area served as well as music such as "Stair #1 MUSIC". Once you push the Notifier DVC button it will activate the addressable relay. Hook up an addressable monitor module such as the MMF-101 for Notifier to the SLC and the class B zone leads to the normally open contacts on the addressable relay (AOM-2RF). This monitor module should be programmed to activate the music in your program for that specific speaker zone.

Did I lose you yet?
Step #1: Map a system function button to an addressable relay
Step #2: Connect the addressable relay to an addressable monitor module (N.O.)
Step #3: Program the addressable monitor module to activate a specific speaker zone
Outcome: When you push the button it activates the relay, the relay shorts out the monitor module and activates the music from your program onto that specific speaker zone.

What is the reason for this?

It is simple. Every time you perform your system testing you can do a quick functional test of the speaker zone paging and alert message and then to make it less distracting to your client, you can play soft music through the speakers while you walk around and verify audibility.

Pretty slick right?

Just make sure to have the program written to activate a system trouble at the fire control panel every time this function is in use. This will ensure that you do not leave a site with music in place of the actual alert tone.

Notifier First Vision Touchscreen Annunciator

2012-01-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

For a while now, Notifier has had a beautiful touchscreen fire alarm annunciator titled ONYX First Vision. This annunciator boasts a 19" LCD display which not only shows the system condition, but the actual floor plans of the facility and the location of each device. On top of the fire alarm devices, you can also display the location of items such as: roof access, gas shut off, locked doors, areas of refuge, HVAC shut off, etc. This tool is unbelievably valuable to the first responders as it drastically reduces research time. When the fire department responds to a fire in a facility with a Notifier ONYX First Vision annuciator they will be able to quickly and accurately locate the device(s) in alarm. With that said, the programmer and system installer can also distinguish valuable information right on the First Vision screen. Information such as what types of potential hazards are located in the rooms. Is there paint, gas, chemicals? Before it was almost impossible to know. Notifier has now outdone themselves once again with this beautiful and effective First Vision fire alarm annunciator. Two other nice features are the two USB jumpers from the Notifier First Vision to the cabinet. This makes it nice for programming. The other is the automatic locking solenoid for the enclosure door. If there is a fire alarm condition, the Notifier First Vision door will automatically unlock itself so that the fire department or first responders can easily go to work.

Here is some info to help you understand it size and current listings.

Cabinet Size: 24.63" W x 22.03" H x 3.47" D
Door Dimensions: 26" W x 22.75" H x 1.016 cm D
Power Requirements: 24VDC @ 3.0 amps, Regulated, filtered and non-resettable
UL/ULC Listed #S5697
MEA: 286-07-E
CSFM: 7300-1525:0103
FDNY: COA#6070

If you would like additional information on the ONYX First Vision touchscreen annunciator, contact Pyro-Comm Systems, Inc. They are a NESCO affiliate for Notifier with extremely knowledgeable staff to answer your questions.

Magnetic Door Holder for Fire Door

2012-01-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

Depending on your fire alarm installation, you may need to install a magnetic door holder at the location of each fire door. A magnetic door holder is a relatively simple device that when powered, typically by 24VDC or 120VAC, will create a magnetic pull. The magnetic portion of this device is installed on the wall that meets the open fire door. Now to tie this whole concept together, you will need to install the necessary hardware on the fire door itself. It is very important that you line the door hardware up with the magnetic door holder as close as possible. If the two do not meet precisely, you may not acquire the necessary contact to hold open a heavy fire door with the extra tension caused by the closure mechanism.

Now with all of that said, you need to make sure that the magnetic door holder is mounted securely within the wall. Be sure to not use cut in boxes, screw in type anchors or even toggle bolts. This device needs to be mounted to the structure. The best way to go about this is quite simple.

Step #1
Open the fire door all the way against the wall where the magnetic door holder is to be mounted. With this done, mark the wall lightly where you will need to roughly install the door holder. Door holders are typically installed towards the upper/outer edge of the fire door.

Step #2
Use a stud finder to locate a stud near your mark. Make sure to use the stud that will give you sufficient room to mount your box and still stay within the necessary area of the fire door. Cut out a section of drywall that runs between two studs. Make sure the hole is also tall enough to mount a 4S electrical box with brackets.

Step #3
Take some steel stud and cut a piece that matches the width between the two studs. Now mount your 4S electrical box to a stud of the existing frame via the brackets. This will secure one side of the box. Use the piece of steel stud you cut and place it behind your box and between the two studs. This will give your box the support it requires. Make sure to fasten the box to your steel stud and then fasten the steel stud at both ends to the existing building studs.

Step #4
Install a single gang mud ring (depth depends on your drywall application). Once installed, replace the drywall around magnetic door holder back box. Once the drywall is finished install your magnetic door holder and power it up.

Step #5
With power on the fire alarm door holder, stick the door hardware to the magnetic portion of the device and open the fire door until they meet. Here we are using the power of the door holder to hold the door hardware while we mark the fire door with the mounting holes. Most door holders come with a simple to use sticker for purposes of marking the fire door.

Step #6
Now for the magnetic door holder pictured here, we drilled two 1/8" pilot holes then followed them up with 5/8" holes. Once we completed the drilling, we screwed the door holder hardware tightly to provided bracket on the back side of the fire door.

Below is a picture of what happens to a magnetic door holder after repeated use if it is not mounted to the structure properly.

Sprinkler Water Flow Flapper

2012-01-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a sprinkler water flow device looked like? Well there are a few different types of water flow devices as far as looks but they all basically work the same. They mount to the outside of the fire alarm sprinkler riser with U bolts but it is whats inside that does the magic. As you probably know, water is constantly sitting in the sprinkler system. This is why it is commonly referred to as a "Wet System". On the back side of the sprinkler water flow is a flapper that fills the area of the sprinkler riser. If a sprinkler head happens to burst in the event of a fire, the water will have a place to escape the system. However when this is accomplished, the water in the system must be replaced. As water is sent back into the system it flows past the flapper behind the sprinkler water flow device and moves it up like a light switch.

With that said, the flapper switch has a retard device on it to slow down the activation time. This is required as a switch that is too sensitive may be activated with a simple city water surge. Now, the back flow preventor or OS and Y is in place to reduce back flow of water from the system thus resulting in fewer false alarms. With the retard on the water flow and OS and Y the "wet system" type fire sprinkler setup is pretty full proof.

Westin SFO Get Fire Alarm Upgrade

2012-01-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

Pyro-Comm Systems, a NESCO affiliate for Notifier just completed a rather complex fire alarm upgrade as it was for an occupied 7 story hotel in the San Fransisco area. The old Simplex 4100 was replaced with a much needed upgrade. We installed a new Notifier NFS2-3030 with 7 SLC loop cards, full voice, fire phones and all new System Sensor speaker strobe devices. Here are some pictures of the fire control room before paint. Sorry for the split pictures as the room is to small to get the shot all in one.

The cabinet in the upper center is full of 5 Notifier XP6-C addressable control module cards to control the fire phones, first floor fire alarm speakers as well as the 5 elevator cabs and 4 stairwell fire alarm speaker circuits. Below that cabinet are two battery cabinets each with 2 55aH backup batteries. One for the Notifier NFS2-3030 and the other for the amplifier cabinet located to the right. The amplifier cabinet is filled with 4 100 watt amps to power up the 7 floors. Finally to the right of the amp cabinet is three new 12 amp Honeywell remote power supplies used for both the first floor strobe circuits as well as 40 door holders.

Also not shown in the pictures are the two LCD-160 remote annuciators, the fire phone jack handset storage cabinet and one system printer. All in all it came out really clean.

We will be writing another post soon with the details of the installation as we ran into some time consuming obstacles

Become a Writer for Fire Alarms Online

2012-01-10T09:20:00.000-08:00

We are looking for great articles to publish from our loyal readers. We know you are the ones out there in the field everyday so please don't be shy and share your stories. We are looking for good installation practices, safety tips, tricks of the trade and any other item or event that can contribute to the low voltage and fire life safety field. Is there a new panel or system you are working on? Do you have a huge time saving installation tip? How about an idea for a new code, or to revise an existing one? These are all great examples of articles we want. If you want your post or article submitted right here on www.firealarmsonline.com then please shoot us over an email at info@firealarmsonline.com and we will be sure it goes live. As an added bonus we will include your name and company info if you desire. Give it a shot!! You never know, one of your ideas or stories could help hundreds of your fellow tradesmen.

Cable Toner Creates Fire Alarm Sound

2011-11-25T11:11:00.001-08:00

A cable toner can prove to be a very useful tool in the fire alarm system installation and service business. If you do not know, a cable toner is a battery operated device that places a tone across cables assisting in location and verification. You can simply connect the toner to a pair of wires and then move between junction points with the provided wand looking for the tone. Later, I may write a post on basic operation of a toner but for now, I am going to show you a little trick to help verify your fire alarm voice evacuation speakers are connected correctly.

Of course it is highly recommended to test out your fire alarm speaker circuit with a multi-meter before coonecting to your amplifiers. With a multi-meter, you can test for reverse polarity (with the diode check), ground faults, shorts and continuity with the resistance setting and fianally check for AC inductance with the AC voltage setting. Once you have verified all is good on your fire alarm speaker circuit we can move on to the cable toner test. I have included a simple video to show the connections and the tone you should receive at all of the speakers connected to the fire alarm circuit. Make sure to turn on the cable toner to the "TONE" setting and connect it to the circuit. Red to red and black to black. This will allow the cable toner to produce a tone across the fire alarm speaker circuit and pronounce it through the actual speakers. Once this step is completed, walk around the site and verify that you have a fire alarm sound or tone through all of the speakers on the circuit.

Smoke Detector Placement for Magnetic Door Holders

2011-11-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Smoke detector placement is important when designing a fire life safety system for obvious reasons. In this article, we are going to focus on the smoke detector placement requirements per NFPA 72 2010 edition for smoke doors with magnetic door holders. If you are using smoke detectors for the purpose of door releasing service than the following code shall apply:

NFPA 72 2010 edition:

17.7.5.6.5.1 (A)
If the depth of the wall section above the door is 24 inches (610 mm) or less, one ceiling mounted smoke detector shall be required on one side of the doorway only, or two wall mounted smoke detectors shall be required, one on each side of the doorway.

17.7.5.6.5.1 (B)
If the depth of the wall section above the door is greater than 24 inches (610 mm) on one side only, one ceiling mounted smoke detector shall be required on the higher side of the doorway only, or two wall mounted smoke detectors shall be required, one on each side of the doorway.

17.7.5.6.5.1 (C)
If the depth of the wall section above the door is greater than 24 inches (610 mm) on both sides, two ceiling mounted smoke detectors or two wall mounted smoke detectors shall be required. One on each side of the doorway.

In the above picture, you can clearly see that the header or space above the doorway with magnetic door holders is less than 24 inches (610 mm). However, the installing fire life safety company installed a smoke detector on the ceiling on both sides of the doorway. This smoke detector placement is not required but it never hurts to have extra coverage. Just thought I would point it out.

Programming Elevator Recall

2011-09-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

Now that we know what elevator recall is all about, lets move on to programming the fire alarms system. The best way to start this process is to write down all of your fire alarm devices assocaited with the elevator recall functions. Make a list running verticle (top to bottom) of all the smoke detectors and heat detectors used for these functions. Ex:

1 - 1st floor elevator lobby smoke detector
2 - 1st floor elevator equipment room smoke detector
3 - 1st floor elevator equipment room heat detector
4 - 2nd floor elevator lobby smoke detector
5 - 3rd floor elevator lobby smoke detector
6 - 4th floor elevator lobby smoke detector
7 - Elevator shaft smoke detector
8 - Elevator shaft heat detector
9 - Primary elevator recall relay
10 - Secondary elevator recall relay
11 - Shunt trip realy
12 - Elevator battery back-up relay
13 - Elevator firemans hat relay

Now that we have all of our fire alarm devices associated with the elevator recall functions written down, its time to place them in groups or zones. This is the process that tells the fire alarm control panel what to do in the event one of these devices is activated.

As stated in our last post we know that the smoke detectors on all floors other than the first floor will send the elevator the the 1st floor. We also know that the smoke detectors on the first floor will send the elvator to the second floor. And last the heat detectors will activate the shunt trip and battery back-up and the elevator hoistway and equipment room smoke detectors will activate the fire fighters hat. To make this simple we are going to use 5 different zones (1 = general alarm, 2 = primary elevator recall, 3 = secondary elevator recall, 4 = shunt trip/battery back-up, and 5 = fire fighters hat light).

With that said, take your list above and write down the zones or groups for each point next to the device description. Also make note of which devices are inputs and outputs.

1 - 1st floor elevator lobby smoke detector (input) -------- 1,3
2 - 1st floor elevator equipment room smoke detector (input) -------- 1,3,5
3 - 1st floor elevator equipment room heat detector (input) -------- 1,4
4 - 2nd floor elevator lobby smoke detector (input) -------- 1,2
5 - 3rd floor elevator lobby smoke detector (input) -------- 1,2
6 - 4th floor elevator lobby smoke detector (input) -------- 1,2
7 - Elevator shaft smoke detector (input) -------- 1,2,5
8 - Elevator shaft heat detector (input) -------- 1,4
9 - Primary elevator recall relay (output) -------- 2
10 - Secondary elevator recall relay (output) -------- 3
11 - Shunt trip realy (output) -------- 4
12 - Elevator battery back-up relay (output) -------- 4
13 - Elevator firemans hat relay (output) -------- 5

Now that you have it all written out it makes it a lot easier to program. Hope this helps. If you have questions regarding elevator recall be sure to post a comment or email us.

Elevator Shaft and Elevator Recall

2011-09-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

Programming elevator recall for fire alarm systems is a fairly simple process if you know what you are doing. Most fire alarm programmers and contractors understand the principle behind capturing passenger elevators but for those of you that don't, check this out!

It's simple. You will most likely have spot type smoke detectors in all of the elevator lobbies throughout your building. Now to make this example easy to understand, we will say that our building is 4 stories tall and has only has one passenger elevator. As required by NFPA 72, the spot type smoke detectors for the use of capturing the passenger elevator shall be mounted within 21' center line of the elevator door. On top of that, you will have smoke detector(s) in the elevator equipment room and at the top/bottom of the elevator shaft (only if there is an automatic sprinkler head in the elevator shaft). All of these spot type smoke detectors will be associated with your systems elevator recall functions.

Regarding the elevator and fire alarm relationship, we have additional functions that require the installation of thermal spot type heat detectors. You will need these thermal spot type heat detectors in the elevator equipment room and elevator shaft (only if automatic sprinklers are present). No the heat detectors do not recall or capture the elevators. However, they shunt the power to the elevator controller in the event of a fire. Remember the thermal spot type detectors used for shunt trip are required to be set or programmed to a lower temperature point then the surrounding automatic sprinkler heads. The reason for this is simple. We want the fire alarm system to sense the fire before the automatic sprinkler heads. If we can tell the fire alarm control unit that there is a fire present and shunt the power to the elevator before the sprinkler head goes off then we have done our job. You don't want power present the the elevator shaft or equipment room when the sprinkler water starts pouring out. This is the reason for elevator shunt trip.

Elevator recall breaks down like this.

All smoke detectors associated with elevator recall that are not installed on the primary floor of egress including the top of the elevator shaft will activate the primary elevator recall relay. This function will send the passenger elevator the the main level (typically lobby floor or level #1 depending on building layout).

All smoke detectors associated with elevator recall that are installed on the main level of egress will activate the secondary elevator recall relay. This function will send the passenger elevator to the alternate floor of egress (typically the basement or 2nd floor depending on the building layout).

The heat detectors in the elevator equipment room and elevator shaft will activate the shunt trip relay killing power to the controller. On top of this the heat detectors shall shut off any back-up power to the elevator. The elevator hoistway and equipment room smoke detectors will activate the fireman's cap light near the elevator call buttons. This allows the fire department to become aware if there is a fire in the hoist way.

Now programming all of this might seem difficult but it is actually really simple. Read here to find out how to program your fire alarm system with elevator recall.

NFPA for NICET Certification and CBT Test

2011-09-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

Do you know how to navigate through the NFPA codebooks? As you most likely know, the NICET test is open book to an extent. The older version or "Work Element" version of the NICET test allowed test takers to bring in a lot more material. Now NICET or National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies has eliminated a lot of these books and gone to a CBT test. This new version of the NICET test stands for Computer Based Testing. NICET will now administer an exam on a computer with preset questions for the NICET level you are trsting. We have put together a DVD full of study material for the NICET test levels 1 - 4. Now this DVD contains notes, practice tests, reference material, applications and NICET forms, help with good study and test preparation, etc. We have also included cross references for all of the NFPA 72 code books 1999 - 2010 as well as what sections of the NFPA code books to study for each element. This DVD can save you a lot of time as well as help prepare you for the infamous NICET test. To be honest the NICET test is very difficult and it does not make sense to go in blind.

Water Flow, Backflow, OSY, Tamper Switch

2011-08-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, a wet system (fire sprinkler lines) is constantly filled with water as opposed to a dry system such as a pre-action system (we will talk about these later). The water in the sprinkler line is monitored by a pressure gauge usually located near the main fire riser and water flow switch.

Also you will find a tamper switch located in strategic places as to separate the system into different sections as needed for maintenance and or emergencies. These will be typically located on each level of a facility. There are sure to be additional locations but it stickily depends on the layout of the facility and sprinkler system.

Another key item to point out in wet system installations is the Backflow Preventer also known as an OS&Y (outside screw and yoke). This contraption reduces the city back pressure from causing a false alarm signal at the water flow device.

To make things simple for this post we will assume we have a water flow switch on each floor off the facility. The water flow device is mounted onto the main portion of the riser before any sprinkler heads. Attached to the water flow switch is a large flapper that is inserted into the riser pipe. Once the system is filled with water and is holding pressure, the water flow paddle holds firm.

How it all works:

Once a sprinkler head reaches its destruction point it pops and opens up the valve attached the the fire sprinkler system. Now that the stored water has a place to escape it pours out with extreme pressure to suppress the fire. While this water is pouring out, it needs to be replaced. With the water pressure coming into the sprinkler system the water is replaced one for one. Once this cycle starts, the flapper behind the water flow switch is activated just like a light switch. As required by NFPA 72 the Water Flow switch shall initiate an alarm within 90 seconds. This adjustment can be achieved by tuning a small dial on the water flow device itself. In case you are wondering, the 90 second delay is to help prevent nuisance alarms from leaks, water surges, city back pressure, etc. Also located on the water flow switch is two sets of dry contacts. One of these sets will be used for the 120VAC switch leg to the sprinkler bell and the other is to be used for the connection to the fire alarm control panel for the purpose of alerting the occupants and central station dispatch. This is a very simple explanation of how a wet fire sprinkler system works. Let me know if you would like more details. It is also nice to note that the movies always have it wrong. They seem to think that if one sprinkler head bursts that they all go. Nothing could be further from the truth.

How to Reset a Shunt Trip Breaker

2011-07-14T23:07:00.001-07:00

Okay this may seem like an easy task and for all of us that have been around long enough it is. This quick post and video is more for our end user type readers who may own a building with a fire alarm system and cannot seem to figure out why they cannot reset their shunt trip breakers even though the fire alarm panel is back to the normal condition.

Just a quick explanation of a typical scenario. During a routine annual fire alarm test a heat detector in the elevator shaft or elevator equipment room is activated. The fire alarm panel goes into alarm and the elevator shut down. Great!!! Once the heat has dissipated and the fire alarm panel is reset you can now return the shunt trip breaker to the normal on position. However, the breaker just springs back into the off position. Naturally it is confusing to those not familiar with the application since the switch on the breaker rests in the center between the "off "and "on" positions.

Now to return a shunt trip breaker back to the normal on position you must first throw it all the way off (until it locks off) and then throw it all the way back to the on position. That's it!!!! Watch the video for a quick demonstration.

HyperTerminal with Gamewell IF602 FACP

2011-07-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

As we all know, HyperTerminal is a great program that came with Windows based PCs prior to Vista. HyperTerminal is a great program to assist with programming and capturing data for specific fire alarm control panels via their SIM 232 connection port.

In this post we will explain how to properly connect your laptop computer running HyperTerminal to a Gamewell IF602 addressable fire alarm control panel. First of all as with all Gamewell and HyperTerminal connections, make sure to disconnect the Remote Annunciator (RAN) and/or SAN cards.

Next you will notice two phone jacks at the top of the motherboard. These are labeled as J5 and J6. When programming via SmartProgram or HyperTerminal make sure to connect to J6 as shown in the picture. Port J5 is used for firmware updates.

Once you have connected your programming cable to the Motherboard via J6 and to your computer's serial port open the HyperTerminal program.

After you have completed the above steps be sure to view my HyperTerminal for Gamewell 600 Series video for a complete walk through on the HyperTerminal settings and usage.

Pre Alarm Fault on Gamewell 600 Series FACP

2011-07-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Have you ever replaced an Apollo XP95-P or XP95-I addressable smoke detector on a Gamewell 600 series fire alarm control panel? If you have been in the industry for a while, then chances are that you have.

Let me paint a scenario for you. You receive a call from a customer or your central station claiming that their Gamewell 600 series fire alarm control panel is displaying a missing fault for an addressable smoke detector. Your technician responds and replaces the device one for one. (of course this is after he or she troubleshoots the other probable causes for a missing device) Now if you have determined that the device was bad and needed to be replaced then there should be no issues with a one for one swap, "right?'. Well the anser is yes and no. Most of the time the panel will poll the SLC (signaling line circuit) loop and find the newly installed XP95-P or XP95-I. On some occasions the fire alarm control panel may display a Pre-Alarm condition for that brand new device.

According to Gamewell's technical support department, this is caused from the panel's internal memory for each device's status. So theoretically the fire control panel is still finding the status of the old device for that particular address. Maybe before the device went missing it was dirty to the point of no return. Now the panel is showing a Pre-Alarm due to the mistaken identity of the old vs. new device.

With that said, have no fear there is a quick fix. Simply enter programming mode through the front display and select #1 for "Circuit Programming" then select #3 for "Initialize Circuit". Once the panel finishes scrolling through a few items enter the circuit number that the particular device is on and hit enter. This should re-poll the entire loop and reset the panel's memory for that device. To exit programming mode continue to hit the "enter" key until the panel displays "Commencing System Reset".

This should take care of your fault. If not read my article on Gamewell's 600 Series Soft Reset.

Direct Burial Cable for Fire Alarms

2011-07-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever used direct burial cable in your installations? Typically in fire alarm you will not see much of it as most of our outdoor work is typically in Rigid conduit or schedule 80 PVC.

Direct burial cable is a cable that is designed and U.L. approved to be installed directly in trenches without the need for conduit. The wires themselves are encased with what is known as a thermoplastic sheath that seals out moisture to help protect the wires.Direct burial cable often referred to as UF Cable and commonly ships with a grey jacket. However, there are some wire manufacturers such as Beach Wire and Cable and Arrow Wire and Cable that make their own listed direct burial cable and it comes in black. Please note that this type of cable is only listed for this use if it is installed at the proper depths.

An easy way to notice the difference between standard non-metallic sheathed cable (NM) and underground feeder cable (UF) is the coating around each cable within the jacket. NM cable is simply a jacket to house multiple conductors whereas the UF cable separately coats each conductor.

Fire Alarm Underground Conduits

2011-07-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

A common task when installing a new fire alarm system is undergrounds. Typically when a C-16 or fire protection (fire sprinkler) contractor installs their incoming lines they will at the same time install the necessary fire alarm underground conduits for the connections to the backflow preventer and PIV (post indicator valve) switches. However, sometimes this task could be a part og the fire alarm contractor's scope of work. If you find yourself installing underground conduit or direct burial cable make sure to follow all of the national codes and regulations.

Some contractor's may choose to use direct burial cable also referred to as UF Cable commonly identified by its grey coating. Direct burial fire alarm cable not protected in conduit must be installed at a depth of 24" below grade with either schedule 80 PVC or Ridgid conduit stubs up to your box. When fire alarm cable is installed within plastic conduit it must be 18" deep and installed with schedule 80 PVC. This is a more durable plastic conduit (grey color) than the common household irrigation lines. The best way to install these conduits or cable is with a Ditch Witch. Simply set the depth and go.

Junction boxes that are run out into the middle of a remote area without an anchor point must have the schedule 80 PVC embedded in the concrete to support the box. Another method is to attach the box to a post that is either driven or buried in the ground 18" and connects directly to the schedule 80 PVC conduit. Junction boxes should be installed at least 12" above grade but not more than 18" for the unattached method.

See also conduit bending tips.

Gamewell IF610 vs. Lightning. Got Surge Protection?

2011-06-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

We just pulled out a Gamewell IF610-504 at a military base in California. Now they claim that lightning is the cause of the damage and from the looks of the board I could definitely agree. The fuse located directly to the left of the incoming 24VDC from the transformer was not blown which is a good indication that the surge was extremely powerful and quick. This power surge blew out the main board, the CPU, the display and the 4 SLC loop card even though the only visible damage was on the main board. It appears that the power surge was so powerful that it burned a hole through the Gamewell IF610 board. This is why it is so important to have Transient Surge Protection for your fire alarm systems.

Unfortunately for our customer these boards are not readily available from the Gamewell factory so the down time is about two weeks.Check out these pictures.

Tags: TSP, transient surge protection, lightning, Gamewell, gamewell IF610, SLC