ContentOffer How to Operate My Fire Panel 081814

Mission Critical Fire Protection Experts!

08152014

FIRE ALARM & SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS

How to Operate my FIRE PANEL


System Conditions & Panel Signals

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How to Operate My Fire Panel

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Many people are intimidated by their fire alarm panels.

They dont know what the signals

mean or what buttons to push when

the panel is making noise or the

whole thing goes into alarm. A simple

understanding of the signals that a fire

alarm panel can generate and what

the panel buttons do when they are

pushed can go a long way to building

confidence in your system.

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Top 7 Problems | Fire Alarm and Suppression Systems


Alarm

Contact UsSystem Conditions &Panel Signals

Trouble

Supervisory

Fire panels have four conditions

that they can be in. The best

condition is normal condition.

Normal means that everything

in the system is operating as

normal and there are no fire or

smoke conditions in the building.

If something is wrong with the

system the panel will give an alarm,

trouble, or supervisory signal.

3.3.57* Condition. A situation, environmental state, or equipment state of a fire alarm or signaling system

3.3.257* Signal. A message indicating a condition, communicated by electrical, visible, audible, wireless, or other means

NFPA 72 (2013)


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Emergency Condition... there is a fire!

Temporal Code 3 tone

Alarm

3.3.57.1.1* Alarm Condition. An abnormal condition that poses an immediate threat to life, property, or mission

3.3.257.1* Alarm Signal. A signal that results from the manual or automatic detection of an alarm condition

NFPA 72 (2013)

System Conditions &Panel Signals

A signal indicating an emergency condition or alert that requires action

American Standard for Fire Evacuation


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Alarm


When a panel generates an

alarm signal you will know it.

The biggest indication will be an

evacuation tone that will come from

the buildings horns or speakers

as well as a flashing indication

from any warning strobes in the

building. Fire alarm systems today

are required to announce an alarm

using a distinctive evacuation

signal so people know to evacuate

a building (any building) when

they hear that tone. The universal

distinctive tone is a three-pulse

temporal pattern called Temporal-3.

At the fire panel there will be a

red light lit up usually marked as

Alarm and a local buzzer or piezo

horn that operates.

The panel will also indicate where

the alarm condition is coming

from. The ability to indicate location

varies with the type of panel and

how the installer programmed it.

The greatest amount of information

comes from an intelligent fire alarm

panel that knows each device by

an address and what information

is coming to the panel from that

address. The information it then

displays on a small screen at the

panel.


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Panel Button FunctionsAlarm


ACKNOWLEDGE

SILENCE

RESET

I acknowledge the cause of the alarm event.

Only stops the panel beeping

Im certain all is safe and ready for people to stop evacuating.

Stops the audible and visual devices

Im ready to put everything back to its normal state.

Resets all devices impacted by the alarm (fire safety functions)


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The Acknowledge button is

used to quiet the piezo at the fire

alarm panel during an emergency.

The Silence button stops all the

notification appliances from making

noise and flashing. This effectively

There are three (3) buttons that are important during an alarm condition.

Panel Button FunctionsAlarm

stops the evacuation of the building and

should only be pushed if the panel operator

is certain there is no smoke or fire in the

building.

The Reset button resets the fire alarm

panel and puts it back into its normal state.

If there is a fire in the building that couldnt

be found the panel should go back into

alarm state after being reset. If in doubt,

only silence and/or reset the alarm under

the direction of the Fire Department.

Be cautious of resetting a panel too

quickly. Good false-alarm investigations

depend on finding the device that caused

the alarm and that visual indication of the

device that caused the alarm goes away

when the panel is reset.


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Fault Condition... somethings broken!

A signal initiated by a system device indicative of a fault in a monitored circuit, system or component

Examples include...

Trouble

3.3.57.1.4* Trouble Condition. An abnormal condition in a system due to a fault

3.3.257.10* Trouble Signal. A signal that results from the detection of a trouble condition

NFPA 72 (2013)


Open Circuit, Loss of Primary Power, Loss of Data Communication


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Trouble


Fire alarm systems are self-

monitoring and they can tell

when there are problems. At the

panel when there is a trouble

condition a yellow light will be lit

next to the word Trouble. The

panel piezo horn will also sound.

A trouble signal at the panel means that there is something wrong with the fire alarm system.


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Acknowledge I acknowledge this trouble exists. Im working on it now.

Stops the panel beeping Lamp remains illuminated

Scroll

Troubles clearautomatically

Trouble


Lamps turn off LCD message returns to All Systems Normal.

View multiple trouble events


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Trouble


During a trouble signal it may be

necessary to quiet the panel. That can

be done by pressing the Acknowledge

button. In some cases where intelligent

panels are used it is possible to get more

information about the trouble condition

by pressing the Scroll button so extra

information about the trouble (or multiple

troubles) can be viewed in the panels

display screen. Panels are arranged so

that once the panel has been quieted

through the Acknowledge button the

panels piezo will re-sound in 24 hours

if the trouble condition has not been

resolved.

Trouble signals clear automatically when the trouble condition is fixed.


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Supervised System has Fault Condition...

that system is impaired!

A signal indicating the need for action in correction with the supervision of guard tours, the fire suppression systems or equipment, or the maintenance features of related systems

Examples include...

Supervisory Signal

3.3.57.1.3* Supervisory Condition. An abnormal condition in connection with the supervision of other systems, processes, or equipment

3.3.257.9* Supervisory Signal. A signal that results from the detection of a supervisory condition

NFPA 72 (2013)


Sprinkler Valve Closed (Tamper), Agent Cylinder Low Pressure


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Supervisory Signal


Supervisory signals get generated

from off-normal conditions of systems,

processes, or equipment that the fire

alarm system is monitoring (supervising),

not the fire alarm system itself. It is

important to note that a supervisory

signal is different than a trouble signal. At

the panel when there is a supervisory

condition a lamp next to the word

Supervisory will be lit along with the

sound from the panels piezo horn.


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Acknowledge Im aware this supervisory condition exists and am taking appropriate action. Stops the panel beeping Lamp remains illuminated

Scroll

Supervisory Conditions clear automatically


Lamps turn off LCD message returns to All Systems Normal.

Supervisory Signal

View multiple supervisory events


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Supervisory Signal


Like troubles, supervisory signals clear

automatically when the supervised device/

system is returned to normal condition.

During a supervisory signal it may be

necessary to quiet the panel. That can

be done by pressing the Acknowledge

button. The scroll button, if present,

can be used to get extra information

about the condition through the display

screen. Panels are arranged so that once

the panel has been quieted through the

Acknowledge button the panels piezo

will re-sound in 24 hours if the condition

has not been resolved.


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UNDERSTANDING YOUR FIRE SYSTEMS LUNCH & LEARN TRAINING

For Mission Critical Fire Protection LUNCH & LEARN

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UN

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RE SY

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FIRE PROTECTION for your TEAM

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ORR Protection will host a Lunch & Learn training session for your team on any or all of your existing fire systems.

We will train you and your team how

to recognize problems, properly

respond to and operate your systems

as well as review NFPA requirements

they need to know.

Oh, and we bring the lunch!

Click here and we will follow up with

you to schedule a date that is most

convenient for you!

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ContentOffer How to Operate My Fire Panel 081814