I need two phone lines for my fire alarm system. Is this just in case one fails, the other will work? Also, can I use one of them as my personal phone line?
Excellent question, and the requirement stems from the National Fire Code (NFPA 72) which is in effect (or some form of it) in most jurisdictions across the US. The NFPA also produces the National Life Safety Code (NFPA 101), and the national Electrical Code (NFPA 70). The Life Safety Code designates what type of building need what kind of alarm, the Fire Code designates how the alarm has to operate, and the Electrical Code designates how it has to be installed (wiring, etc.).
These codes are updated every few years, so the requirements may change at some point, but for now the Fire Code calls for two independent channels of communication to the monitoring center, one channel backing up the other. What’s more, the system needs to "auto-test" both of the channels on a regular basis (at least one channel every 24 hours), and report any regularities. This is normally only a requirement for commercial fire systems, so I suspect you have an office, restaurant, or store that is being protected.
As for using the phone line for your own use, you should check with your local fire marshal on the requirement in your jurisdiction. Chances are they do not want you to use that line for personal use, but it’s possible they will allow it. By the way, NFPA 72 now allows for alternate mean of transmission, such as long-range radio and cellular, so it does not have to be phone lines.
If you were with your 14 year old son and there was a fire and you were outside and your teen said dad can I help you in anyway to get the alarm going? If you were getting ready to break the glass and pull the handle and your teen says here can I do it how would you respond? What would you say so your teen knows he can do it as opposed to you? Would you help him in anyway and if so how would you help your son? With regards to breaking the glass if there was no hammer would you let your son kick the glass?
Firstly, I would hope nobody would have a conversation about who is pulling the alarm during a fire.
Secondly, any alarm I have seen is just a tiny glass tube, what is there to kick?
Why does it matter who pulls the alarm?
This is one of the strangest questions I have ever read on here
My fire alarm doesn’t stop beeping! I pressed the test button to test it out, but that does not resolve it. I removed the battery and replaced it with a new one but it still beeps. It is connected to the electrical system so even if I take out the battery the beeping will continue. Thoughts?
I do not smoke. I tried cleaning it regardless but beeping has continued.
You *might* get it to stop if you clean it again with compressed air. If that doesn’t work, it may just be as old as me and needs to be replaced. {wink}. The link shows a bottle of compressed air you can get at home centers. They may carry different brands but air is air. Works well for several other things as well, such as keyboards.
Al
Have you ever wondered what happens when you pull the fire alarm? Here’s a perfectly LEGAL and CONTROLLED demonstration of the Notifier SFP-1024 FACP (Fire Alarm Control Panel) in Alarm Mode, being activated by an ADT (FireLite) BG-12 pull station.
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Dave keeps the message going and Revolution worships through the fire alarm at artesia high school.
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Testing my System Sensor SpectrAlert P241575 horn/strobe. The horn was set to electromechanical temporal code-3(the factory set tone). Please note: This device is an audio/visual warning devide. Even though the camera didn’t pick up every flash if you’ve ever experenced any ill effects from viewing strobes flashing please do not watch. I’m not responsible for any ill effect you experence from this video. with that said enjoy.
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This is why I’m not in my hotel room
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I’m willing to pursue my project on Fire alarm systems but I first need to know power consumed by it!
Please help, I prefer answers for industry peoples
For a typical commercial fire alarm system, the AC power will be at the control panel and it will typically need about 100W to 200W to run it. See http://www.azsecurity.net/pdf/ALARMAS%20CONTRA%20INCENDIO/PANELES/FIRELITE/MS9600.pdf
Well, what were the odds? It happened again (sort of). I was eating lunch in the food court, and then the fire alarm goes off! I scramble to get out my camera and after I turn it on, I grab my lunch and get out (forgetting my book bag was under the table – oops).
Well, after we get outside, they tell us it was NOT a drill, and they don’t know what set it off, so we had to wait for the fire department to arrive and inspect the place. After finding out there’s no fire, they silence the alarm. The system, like all the rest on the campus, is programmed for “audible silence”, so the strobes were still flashing after the alarm stopped. However, wanting to get back to their lunch (not to mention the warm building) people start to make their way back in. But, the UPD officer on the scene forces them back out. Well, as it turns out, for some reason, they couldn’t get the system to reset (it was acting funny from the start – the “Alarm Silenced” LED was on, even though it was never silenced), so they decide to let everyone back in anyway.
They fiddled with it for the next 20-25 minutes, and they even set if off again briefly (they didn’t make us evacuate, though). After finally figuring out a smoke detector was the problem (it went bad), they were finally able to get the system to reset.
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Ambulance 6-3 responding with Engine and Tower 6 to a fire alarm. Usually, we don’t go on fire alarms, but at this facility, the fire alarms and lifeline alarms are the same alarm. It’s a frequent visit, and of three of these calls since Sunday, this is the first good video. Good practice for driving, though.
Duration : 0:3:46
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