If the current fire alarm system passes inspection and is fully functional, why is there a need to replace the system?
And the backbox pictured is the SB-10 model.
Because the middle school is due to renovating its electrical and fire protection systems; sure it’s fully functional, but it was built before the Our Lady of the Angels fire changed the codes, and it has no automatic detection and can’t contact the fire department. Plus, it will tie in with the new sprinkler system they will install with it.
Plus, the K-8 school is currently having a ground fault on the 4010 (something in the modular building), and also due to the way the old classroom pods were enclosed into individual classrooms as well. Formerly each pod had one or two alarm, but now that there are hallways and doors to divide the rooms, it’d make sense to have a pull station somewhere in the “pod” too.
On top of that, my public school system is trying to do away with Gamewell and Simplex (they also don’t really like the latter anymore.) They’ve already replaced three old Gamewell systems and two Simplex systems with Notifier systems.
Will their bell/clock and intercom systems be replaced too (just wondering)…
I know the middle school will be having the bell system replaced as well. The K-8 school is probably also going to get theirs replaced as well. They both currently use American Time and Signal AllSync master clock systems, but the middle school has older Edwards clocks and bells installed, while the K-8 school has Simplex clocks and bells (they both used to have Simplex master time panels that broke down.)
I have started my senior year at Stevenson today, and noticed that there is an unprotected 641 pull in my homeroom–the room is part of a science wing, and near the pull is a door that leads to a greenhouse.
An update regarding that K-8 school I mentioned a few posts back, with that backbox picture.
They finished the classroom construction last week, and the pull stations were installed. Just as I figured, they are BG-12s. I didn’t get a really good look at them, but they weren’t addressable (they didn’t have the LED blinking in the middle of the lever like BG-12LXs do), and I couldn’t tell if the logo on the bottom was Fire-Lite or Notifier (I didn’t see “FIRE SYSTEMS” or “by HONEYWELL” underneath the logo, so they might be new-old-stock or something.) Each of the divided classrooms now have an alarm signal in them as well! They were SpectrAlert Advances, but I couldn’t tell if they were horn/strobes or remote strobes (each classroom pod has/had a 4051+4050-80 in them, so that should be loud enough!)
The rest of the Simplex system is still intact: they still have the 4051+4050-80 horn/lights and 4251-30 pull stations in the usual areas. I did not see any other Fire-Lite devices or whatever outside those classrooms, and they still had the Simplex graphic annunciator in the main lobby, so I’m pretty sure they still have the Simplex 4010+4208 panel setup (this would obviously explain the conventional BG-12s!)
HOWEVER, I learned that I am actually not sure if I will be getting parts from if they upgrade the alarm system at that school OR the middle school I went to (the ancient Gamewell FlexAlarm system with flush-mount Federal horns and Vitaguard pull stations.) I was told I am going to have to talk to the public school department about that…
Another update from Stevenson!
To start, there was some work done at the school over the summer. The work involved classroom upgrades and HVAC upgrades in some parts of the school. Over the last couple of days, I have noticed that some of the 2400 series detectors (one of which was hanging by its wires) have been replaced with these…
http://www.silentknight.com/products/SKheat.html
I don’t know if these detectors were made originally by Silent Knight, but I do not believe National Time rebrands them in any way, as they produce their own line of detectors. I am quite surprised to even see Silent Knight components in a National Time system, and it makes me wonder what could be coming to this school in the future, as more upgrades are planned next summer. Chances are, a private alarm contractor (besides National Time) was appointed to install these detectors. Also, not all of the 2400 series detectors have been replaced.
System Sensor makes those detectors, but other companies owned by Honeywell (like Fire-Lite, Notifier, Silent Knight and Gamewell-FCI) rebrand them and put their own addressable chips. Massasoit Community College has a lot of them, usually used to replace older heat sensors from the old Standard and Simplex systems, and any malfunctioning System Sensor i3s (Massasoit College mostly has Notifier systems, along with a Fire-Lite MS-9600UDLS system, a Faraday MPC-7000 system and an OLD Standard Electric Time system (IDK if the latter two were replaced yet.)
In regards to the fire drills at Stevenson today, I have a brief but noteworthy update. I originally thought the entire system was coded to continuous, but it turns out that the alarms in the fieldhouse annex (rebranded Commanders, one MT4) are actually coded to code-3! My guesses are that either there are two panels for the school controlling separate parts, or the fieldhouse annex alarms are individually set to code-3 while the rest of the alarms are set to continuous.
I have some more door alarm-related updates…
The Kroger supermarket in Northville Township has EA-500 door alarms at fire exits. In most cases, alarms like these would be mounted on the door itself, but at this store, the door alarms are mounted on the walls next to the doors.
The Big Boy restaurant (6 Mile) in Livonia has a brown Arrow 100 series door alarm on a fire door in the dining area.
More door-alarm related updates, coming from the Dollar Tree in Livonia. The store has two different door alarms; one is an Arrow 400 series push bar alarm in a back area w/ restrooms (which I believe one fire exit at the Bed Bath & Beyond store in Northville has, which I accidentally mentioned as being an Alarm Lock model), and the other is an EAX-500 door alarm in a back stockroom area.
Some interesting updates from Livonia’s Kmart…
-I noticed another one of Notifier’s old 6" bells above the interior entrance to the outdoor garden section.
-In the back of the store, I discovered that there is a really old gray burglar alarm box near the clothing department. I don’t remember who manufactures it, but it was a rare find. You usually see burglar alarm boxes on the outside of buildings.
-I also have some door alarm-related updates. There are at least two Detex devices I saw while shopping here; one is an older ECL-230D push bar on a fire exit in the checkout area (EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY–ALARM WILL SOUND–PUSH HERE), but the other one is a very, very old ECL-230K push bar (EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY–PUSH HERE–ALARM WILL SOUND) in a part of the clothing department.
First point -This topic is locked and should not be re-started. I know I am not alone within the moderation and admin team when I say that these posts are becoming simply an annoyance. This should go as a general “warning” for all other open ended, non specific threads and topics. Constant updates that really offer no benefit will either be removed or the thread locked.
Second point- Kevistic, burg bell boxes were and still are very common in commercial applications. The housing adds protection from tampering as well as a secure tamper circuit vs. a sounder simply attached to the wall where a tamper switch may be difficult to implement. You will typically find an “armored” speaker or something of the like in applications like a pharmacy.