I haven’t really found much of anything on here concerning these systems, so I feel like this is important information to share. This post concerns the 1980s-1990’s Cerberus Pyrotronics XL3, IXL, and MXL addressable systems and the Cerberus Pyrotronics manufactured Gamewell IdentiFire Network System 2 addressable systems. This post has taken me almost two weeks to complete.
Cerberus Pyrotronics XL3
The XL3 was the first addressable Cerberus Pyrotronics system, and was launched in 1981. The system supports 30 devices per SLC and could accommodate a maximum of 50 SLC loops, which utilized the Cerberus Pyrotronics X-Series addressable devices. All SLC loops ran on a 4-wire system: two communication wires and two 24VDC wires. The loops were called “zones” and set up in a manner that divided the loops into sections of the building, similar to a conventional system. This allowed for zoned LED and graphic annunciation of alarm events. The main control interface provided the addressable interface console and allowed the user to perform the “self-test”, which allowed the user to access and print smoke detector sensitivity levels, as well as disable any SLC loops they should choose to disable. The system used filtered DC outputs for all SLC, NAC, and auxiliary functions. The XL3 ran until about 1993 when the MXL launched.
(http://firealarmresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cerberus-Pyrotronics-XL3-Operation-Installation-Manual.pdf)
Gamewell IdentiFire Flex 500
The Gamewell IdentiFire Flex 500 launched in the early to mid 1980’s, and is essentially a rebadged XL3. The system uses the same SLC design, but uses a different protocol to only accept Gamewell addressable devices. This system also did not come equipped with an LCD display, but used “conventional” LED zone indicators on the main interface. However, an on-board printer was offered. This system used modified addressable Cerberus Pyrotronics bases and Gamewell F7/F9 smoke sensor heads, as well as the first-generation addressable Century pulls.
(http://firealarmresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gamewell-IdentiFire-1986-Ad.pdf)
(Refer to Cerberus Pyrotronics XL3 link above for tentative information on this panel.)
Cerberus Pyrotronics INS-2
The INS-2 launched somewhere around 1990 or maybe a little before then. This system launched the IXL motherboard and cabinet design, but retained the 4-wire SLC design of the XL3 and used the X-Series devices. This was Cerberus Pyrotronics’ first incarnation of a dedicated small-to-midsize addressable panel. The system could be expanded to 4 SLC loops maximum, and could support 64 initiating devices and 32 control elements per SLC, for a total of 96 devices per SLC. This system introduced the following modules: CZI Collective Zone Interface, CE Control Element, LAN/RAN/LPI/RPI Local and Remote Alphanumeric Annunciation and Printer Models, RemCon Remote System Control Interface, INS-EVI CPV-90 Voice Evacuation Panel Interface, INS-AUX Auxiliary Relay Interface, GenCon Generic Switch Interface, RemSwitch Remote Reset Key Switch. This system was discontinued in late 1993/early 1994 after the successful launch of the IXL and MXL lines.
(Refer to Gamewell link below for tentative information on this panel.)
Gamewell IdentiFire Network System 2
The Gamewell INS-2 launched concurrently with it’s Cerberus Pyrotronics counterpart. Gamewell’s version basically introduced all of the Cerberus Pyrotronics accessory devices to the Gamewell lineup and these devices were modified to operate on the Gamewell SLC protocol. The addressable Gamewell pulls and detection sensors carried on. This system ran until about 1996/1997, when the Gamewell in-house-designed IdentiFlex 600 systems launched and Cerberus Pyrotronics discontinued the INS-2/IXL components.
(http://firealarmresources.com/gamewell-identifire-network-system-2-ins2/)
Cerberus Pyrotronics IXL
The IXL launched concurrently with the MXL as the small-midsize addressable system from Cerberus Pyrotronics. This system retained the INS-2 physical design, but the SLC was significantly revamped. The IXL introduced the ICon Addressable Device Interface and Control Module from Cerberus Pyrotronics. This module connects to the main 4-wire SLC, but provides its own 2-wire SLC to connect the Cerberus Pyrotronics I-Series addressable devices to the IXL. This allows for interchangeability of addressable initiating devices between the IXL and MXL systems, and for one universal line of Cerberus Pyrotronics addressable devices (I-Series). This system ran until the 1996-1997 launch of the MXL-IQ small-midsize MXL panel.
(http://firealarmresources.com/category/cerberus-pyrotronics/cerberus-pyrotronics-ixl/)
Cerberus Pyrotronics MXL and MXLV
The MXL launched in 1993 and was available for new installations until the mid-late 2000’s following the successful mainstream marketing of the FireFinder XLS, which originally launched in 2000. MXL then went into a maintenance and expansion only service period, and will be completely factory discontinued by Siemens at the end of 2016. This system is ridiculously expandable and can be completely customized for the customer’s needs. The ALD-21 Analog Loop Driver modules support 60 I-Series addressable initiating devices per SLC, totaling 120 devices per ALD-21. The MOM-4 Option Module Mounting Base mounts two ALD-21 cards, and a maximum of three MOM-4’s may be installed per MBR-2 standard-size MXL cabinet. This allows for 360 addressable device support in a single MXL cabinet. The XLD-1 card allows the MXL to replace an existing XL3 system by allowing MXL to interface with and power the X-Series addressable devices MXLV is the voice-evacuation equipped version, and supports up to three separate audio channel inputs as well as the entire host of features that MXL comes with in it’s non-voice form. The most common accessory I’ve personally seen is the RCC-1 Remote Annunciation and Command Center. MXL/V supports decentralized network infrastructure, but all MXL/MXLV/MXL-IQ systems on the network can be connected to the Cerberus Pyrotronics FireFinder Network Command and Graphic Control Center. FireFinder NCC is basically Cerberus Pyrotronics’ version of Notifier ONYX FirstVision, as it allows the user to pinpoint the activated device(s) on an interactive floorplan of the building.
(http://firealarmresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/50591.pdf)
(http://firealarmresources.com/category/cerberus-pyrotronics/cerberus-pyrotronics-mxl/)
Cerberus Pyrotroncics MXL-IQ
The MXL-IQ launched in 1996 to replace the IXL and the dated IXL/INS-2 physical design and electronic/electrical configuration. MXL-IQ was basically a cross between the IXL and MXL. The system carried the MXL design and interface, but retained the 240-device SLC capacity of the IXL. MXL-IQ came in a smaller MXL cabinet, and used the same accessory devices as the full-size MXL. All IXL accessory devices were put into service period, and ultimately discontinued several years later (not sure when though). MXL-IQ also had the ability to interface into the FireFinder NCC system. MXL-IQ was discontinued in the mid-2000’s after the successful launch of the Siemens FireSeeker FS-250.
(http://firealarmresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/50542.pdf)
Signals used in all of these systems until 1996 were rebranded Wheelock devices. In 1996, Cerberus Pyrotronics acquired Faraday, and began using Cerberus Pyrotronics-labeled Faraday devices. However, the Gamewell brand continued to use and rebrand the Wheelock signal line until the Gamewell-FCi-Honeywell merger in 2005.
Dang…that was long.
I appreciate any positive input from collectors and technicians on this thread!! If anyone knows were I can find the missing Gamewell IdentiFire Flex 500 and Cerberus Pyrotronics INS-2 manuals, please let me know! The included links are all of the sourced I have used, and I give credit where credit is due to the people who uploaded these documents onto FireAlarmResources.com.
I hope someone finds this thread helpful!