Differences between the Cerberus Pyrotronics XL3, IXL, INS-2, MXL, MXL-IQ and Gamewell IdentiFire Flex 500, INS-2

[Mhgk]

@cerbpyro

All SLC loops ran on a 4-wire system: two communication wires and two 24VDC wires.

I don’t think this is true. Looking at an eBay listing of the X-series bases, the wiring diagram does not say to connect external power to the device. It is possible that the circuit connecting the main CPU to the loop cards uses 4 wires, but I believe the MXL also does this.

@cerbpyro

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.

The Flex 500 also appeared to support 50 devices on each loop, as specified on the AM-500 datasheet. The wiring diagram on this datasheet also does not show any connection of external power to these SLC devices.

@cerbpyro

The Gamewell INS-2 launched concurrently with its 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.

As discussed in this thread, Gamewell was part of Cerberus Pyrotronics between 1989 and 1990. Based on the NFPA ads, the INS-2 was first introduced by Gamewell in 1988 and was taken by the Cerberus Pyrotronics brand in 1990, leading to both brands selling the system after Gamewell left Cerberus Pyrotronics. I don’t think the INS-2 was compatible with any Pyrotronics devices.

@cerbpyro

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 system does use a 4-wire SLC for its detectors, according to this datasheet. Where did you see that it is compatible with X-Series devices? The INS-2 SLC supports hundreds of devices, while the X-Series devices can only be addressed between 1 and 30 due to SLC protocol limitations.

@cerbpyro

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 earliest mention of the IXL that I am aware of in the NFPA ads is this ad, which introduces the inteLINK series. However, the MXL was introduced in 1990 according to this ad. Do you have any more concrete information about the introduction of the IXL?

@cerbpyro

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.

Just for reference, although I mentioned that the MXL was introduced in 1990, the MXLV does appear to have been introduced in 1993 according to this ad.

@cerbpyro

I recently viewed some Gamewell INS2 product literature that was datestamped June 1998, so I’m beginning to question my date accuracy concerning the IXL/INS2.

The INS-2 is listed on this archived page but not this archived page, so it seems to have been discontinued in 2003.