Fire Alarms in Buildings (2.0)

Fire Alarm General Discussion
1869
[quote=randomperson post_id=86181 time=1582014612 user_id=3878]

I was there in 2016…
All the Honeywell stuff is accurate, ranging from FS90’s (possibly even older, I don’t know much about 1980’s Honeywell panels) to rebranded EST and Notifier systems.
There are also some Johnson Controls-branded Notifier systems.
The Cabana Bay Beach Resort hotel has an “official” Notifier system. (not rebranded)
All of their newer systems are, in essence, Notifier.
It wouldn’t surprise me if some Simplex systems appear sooner than later, because there’s some Johnson Controls stuff.

Also, I know the inevitable “Did you also go to Disney? If so, what are their fire alarms?” question is coming, so I’m going to answer it.
Yes, I went to Walt Disney World every year from 2010-2016. Their fire alarm systems are mostly Siemens/Cerberus Pyrotronics (often with Gentex signals, interestingly enough), although there is some EST, and even a Simplex system.
For voice systems, the messages are the manufacturer’s defaults. (You’d think Disney, of all places, would use custom, themed messages, but apparently not…)
I know this because not only are there videos, I even heard one of their systems go off in person!

[/quote]

I wasn’t going to, as I went to disney also :lol: Yeah, I remember seeing the EST speaker/Strobes in Toy Story Land. I thought they may have been Integrities but knowing the rest of the park was Speakers, I knew they weren’t. In the new Star Wars section they just built, is an EST system with ‘Genesis’ speaker/strobes and EST 278s.

1871

Another system with Wheelock 7002Ts gone! The former Toys R’ Us location here in Brockton MA (near the Westgate Mall) was built some time in the mid-1980s with some kind of Fire-Lite system (probably a Sensiscan-series system), with 7002T horn/strobes and BG-6 pull stations. Some time in the 1990s or early 2000s, a Fire-Lite MS-4424B panel replaced whatever the old panel was. During the previous decade, a Wheelock 7002T that failed was replaced with a Wheelock Exceder HSR horn/strobe, and one of the BG-6s was replaced with a Fire-Lite BG-12 pull.
Well, after Toys R’ Us closed and it became an Ocean State Job Lot last year, the fire alarm system was upgraded to a more modern addressable Fire-Lite system. I didn’t see the main panel, as where the MS-4424B was they replaced it with a Fire-Lite ANN-80 annunciator, so its’s probably an MS-9600(UD)LS system. All the alarm signals I saw were System Sensor PC2RL horn/strobes (the ceiling-mount L-series ones), and the pulls are Fire-Lite BG-12LXs. A fairly typical direct Fire-Lite upgrade around here.
Ironically, the old Ocean State Job Lot that will soon be closing and moving everyone to the new location still has an older Fire-Lite Sensiscan system from the 80s with Wheelock 7002Ts as well, but the pulls are Fire-Lite BG-10s.

1872

Newton-Wellesley Hospital - North Wing - Newton, MA
Pull stations: Notifier NBG-12LX’s
Detectors: FSP-851’s
Signals: SpectrAlert Classic speaker/strobes

Newton-Wellesley Hospital - Surgical Center - Newton, MA
Panel: Notifier NFS2-3030 (there’s an NCA-2 annunciator and an RM-1 microphone in a cabinet near the reception desk)
Pull stations: BGX-101L’s
Detectors: SDX-551’s and a few FSP-751’s and FSP-851’s
Signals: Wheelock ET-1070-LSM-24-VFR speaker/strobes and some E70’s in the lobby.

The easiest way to tell if a Wheelock strobe is an LSM (unsynced) or SLM (synced, which is what my school has) is to look for the candela sticker, if it has an “S” below the number, it’s an SLM, otherwise, it’s an LSM.

1873

What exactly does “LSM” and “SLM” mean anyway? I mean what do the letters stand for?

1874

I was gonna post this with pictures, but since everything’s closed right now I’ve been unable to get any… A local restaurant that was built in the '70s still has its original Simplex system with two 4050/4051’s on 4050-80 light plates (w/o “fire” lettering). There are also three 4251-30 break glass pull stations and several System Sensor heat detectors. I don’t know much about Simplex’s product timeline, but what kind of panel might be installed if this was put in during the '70s?

1875
[quote=maxshaw post_id=86681 time=1585610891 user_id=2957]

I was gonna post this with pictures, but since everything’s closed right now I’ve been unable to get any… A local restaurant that was built in the '70s still has its original Simplex system with two 4050/4051’s on 4050-80 light plates (w/o “fire” lettering). There are also three 4251-30 break glass pull stations and several System Sensor heat detectors. I don’t know much about Simplex’s product timeline, but what kind of panel might be installed if this was put in during the '70s?

[/quote]

Probably a 4208, 4207, or maybe a 2001.

1876
[quote=maxshaw post_id=86681 time=1585610891 user_id=2957]

A local restaurant that was built in the '70s still has its original Simplex system with two 4050/4051’s on 4050-80 light plates (w/o “fire” lettering). There are also three 4251-30 break glass pull stations and several System Sensor heat detectors.

[/quote]

Like I said, it seems I’ve seen 4251-30 break-glass pulls used a LOT on 1970s Simplex systems with 4051+4050-80s, like one of my old schools. But I’ve also seen several 1980s Simplex systems that use 2903 horn/visual alarms and break-glass 4251-30s as well (especially in schools.) And I have seen a fair amount of systems from both eras that just use single-action 4251-20 pulls (and in one case, a school that used to have an old Edwards system from 1957 that was upgraded during a 1973 addition to a Simplex 4208 system, keeping the original Edwards pulls in the original 1957 structure!)

1877

Thanks! Now I’m starting to wonder if maybe one of those 424X panels was what my old high school had originally… It was completed in 1964 and has undergone several complete system replacements. It currently has a 4100 ES with a Truealert ES Voice Evac system… before that, it had a Siemens/ Cerberus Pyrotronics MXL-IQ installed in the mid-'90s, but I don’t know what exactly was in place before. There is an old Wheelock 34t in the courtyard, and some Chemtronics or Simplex 4255 heat detectors- some now covered trim plates suggest that the whole school had a system with Wheelock devices, which makes sense because several schools in the district were built in the '80s and had similar setups. I don’t know what was there before that though… There are several indents in the wall that have been plastered over that could have been flush-mounted horns. There are also these odd key switches below them, each with a red light, and there was a gray 6-inch Simplex bell (with the classic logo) in the gym that was removed during a recent renovation. I’ve been through all of the electrical rooms and maintenance rooms and haven’t found anything that looks like an old panel, so I don’t know!

1878

This is a rather odd one that I’m going to make, I do not remember where those two are located. Here goes.

Cash Converters thrift store (location unknown)

System might be a 80’s/90’s Cooper Nugelec (however this is raw speculation, the panel isn’t visible at all!) tied in with a unknown Aritech security system.

I presume the FACP is a Nugelec ECS 31000.

Initiating devices:

[list]

  • [*]Smoke detectors: Nugelec DOF S3000 (Optical, retrofitted) / Nugelec DIF S2000 (ionization, I presume those were the original units?)

  • [*]Manual Call Points/Pull Stations: Unknown Nugelec MCPs
  • [*] ARITECH PIR sensors (used for the security system), model number unknown
    • [/list]

    Notification appliances:
    Nugelec PAJ 30150 (presumed? Older variation of the DSB 3000/30450 sounders, they both look very similar, however the PAJ sound differently). I only saw one, the others might be concealed under the drop ceiling (judging from the speaker grilles that I saw on the ceiling, and one of the grilles was missing showing the PAJ sounder sticking out).

    ARITECH AS270 security sounders

    Miscellaneous:
    ARITECH Keypad (unknown model)
    Nugelec remote annunciator (doesn’t allow any control of the label itself, it just gives you a quick overview of the panels’ condition/status.
    Generic HVAC shutoff panel

    Unknown store, Creil, France
    This store no longer exists, as far as I know, it might have been demolished. This store had a system that would really be considered flat out unusual.

    Control panels:
    [list]

  • [*] Sicli TSI (4-zone, which was totally overkill given the size of the store) FA/Security combination panel.
  • [*] Universal DET EUROPA 246
    • [/list] [u]Notification appliances:[/u] [list]
  • [*] Unknown SICLI sounders
  • [*] AE&T T100 (rebranded E2S) sounders
    • [/list]

    Initiating devices:
    [list]

  • [*]Sicli MCPs
  • [*]Universal DET "Silver cone" smoke detectors
    • [/list]

    Miscellaneous:
    Nothing more to add. Except a weird “XGT TyphoonGuard T6i” contraption that did God-knows-what. There was only 3 buttons (one red, one white and a yellow one) on it with a LCD that was blank most of the time.

    I presume the “XGT” contraption had something to do with the cold chambers used in the store’s backroom. Of course there is NO information on it.

    1879
    [quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=86587 time=1585110563 user_id=18]

    What exactly does “LSM” and “SLM” mean anyway? I mean what do the letters stand for?

    [/quote]

    Older Wheelock strobes. The “SLM” is the synchronized version.

    1880

    OfficeMax (Farmington Hills)

    There was only one device of any kind I saw inside the store, and it was a Wheelock 7002T-24 horn/strobe in the northwest corner. Outside, however (in the same corner), there’s a second 7002T-24 next to a System Sensor MASS-series horn/strobe (ADA version); the latter device is directly above a sprinkler connector. Both outside alarms can be seen in Google Street View.

    United States Postal Service (Farmington)

    Pull stations:

    Fire-Lite BG-10 models

    Notification appliances:

    System Sensor MASS-series horn/strobes (ADA version) on flushed trim plates

    1881

    West Oaks Mall (opened 1984)

    It’s actually been a while since I’ve been to this mall, though based on Google images the mall’s main alarms still seem intact, though the mall is pretty much dying(if not already dead).

    Main halls
    Red and white Wheelock 10in motor bells (some of them painted brown in the food court)
    White Wheelock WST strobes and RSS’s (some of these also painted brown)
    1 Wheelock WM strobe
    Wheelock bell strobes (WS) in the hall leading to Dillards.
    Restroom area has a Wheelock MT-LSM with U-HN-MCS horn strobes in the restrooms (lmao)

    Dillards (now a clearance center)
    Ceiling mount Amseco BZ-54VT horn strobes
    Ceiling mount Spectralert Classic horn strobes replacing a few Amsecos

    Linens and Things (now a Palais Royal)
    White ceiling mount Wheelock AS horn strobes and RSS’s
    White Wheelock NS by the restrooms
    The store has been replaced by Palais Royal and the alarms has been replaced by Wheelock Exceeders

    1882

    A new police station was just built near my house. The building, unsurprisingly for my area, has a Siemens FireFinder XLS or similar panel with voice-evac capabilities. Notification appliances are Siemens LSPSTWC speaker/strobes. There may be some wall-mount speaker/strobes as well, but I didn’t see any. I didn’t see any pull stations but my assumption is that if there are any they’re probably HMS-series devices. Smoke detectors are Siemens FP-series.

    1883

    The Memorial Hermann Medical Hospital in Cypress that I used to go to had Simplex bells on 2903 light plates in the vision center. One section had ceiling mount TrueAlert speakers and wall-mount strobes. One TrueAlert horn strobe can be seen in the children’s playroom. Another section had Wheelock chime strobes (ws). The restrooms in this section had Wheelock WMT-24’s. The pulls are Simplex 2099-9754’s.

    A Studio 6 in Sugarland used Faraday 6226-W’s and remote horn (both in continuous) variants and Wheelock NS’s (code 3) for replacements. The motel had federal signal 4050-001t pull stations and First Alert smoke alarms.

    1884
    [quote=Lj195 post_id=87224 time=1592981266 user_id=6144]

    Dillards (now a clearance center)
    Ceiling mount Amseco BZ-54VT horn strobes

    [/quote]

    I want to point out that these are actually Amseco BZ-50P’s after looking at the grill. :oops:

    1885

    im really bored so its time to document a ton of schools around my area lol

    Round Lake High School has a Simplex 4100ES system with Simplex TrueAlert ES horn/strobes and still active Wheelock 7002Ts! All smokes are Simplex TrueAlarm and pulls are 4099-9003 assumingly w/ the new logo.

    Mundelien High School has a Simplex 4002, with what im assuming in the main building are 4903-9256 horn/strobes and matching strobes, some remote horns are in the Gym. Ceiling mount AVs are found in the classroom. In the STEM lab extention, almost every device is a Simplex TrueAlert. Both wall and ceiling mount versions are in classrooms, and for some reason Wheelock exceeder strobes are in smaller areas, huh. Some Federal Signal Vibratones are in the Pool room. Smokes are both 2098s and TrueAlarms and pulls are a mixture of 20/4099s.

    Lake Zurich High School has a 4100U System with ALL TrueAlert wall mounted speaker/strobes. Smokes are TrueAlarms and pulls are 4099s.

    Bradford High School has a 4100ES with TrueAlertES ceiling mount speakers and speaker/strobes! Initiating devices are the same as above, though the pull stations are the new grippy ones.

    1886

    I think I may have talked about my church’s system here before but I just found some interesting documentation on it while looking through some files in the church office. Anyway, here’s a brief history: the church was originally built sometime in the early 1950s, and I have no idea what (if any) the original system was. After several small additions, a larger addition was put in some time during the late 80’s, and an Edwards 6616 was installed along with 270-SPO’s, 892’s (I don’t know if they’re the electronic or electro-mechanical variety), and a few 6200 series smoke and duct detectors. In 2004 the largest addition was made, and a Silent Knight 5207 was installed along with a 5230 annunciator, Gentex Commander 2’s and 3’s, Spectralert Classic strobes in the restrooms, Firelite BG-12’s, and a few System Sensor I3’s and duct detectors. Sometime in the early 2010’s, the 5207 failed and was replaced with a 5208 and 5235 annunciator. The 5208 and 6616 are both tied together, as seen in the diagram below. I was curious about what PAM stands for? Is it some sort of relay or module? I’ve always wondered how they keep the systems from reactivating one another when they’re reset here. I also found it interesting that, according to this diagram, the sprinkler tamper switch sets off the NAC’s when it goes into alarm… I don’t know if this is actually the case!

    1887

    Katy Mills

    Main Halls has U-MMT’s with fire lettering on the sides and MS-51 pulls. Stores/outlets have red and white U-MMT’s (MCS and S17 variants) and S17 strobes. They are slowly getting replaced by red and white Siemens ZH horn strobes. Ross has the ceiling mount versions of the Wheelock NS. There are two stores with red and white ceiling/wall mount Spectralert Classics. Rainforest Café has white Spectralert Classic speaker strobes (one of them mounted sideways for some reason) and FCI MS-6’s. The Mall’s AMC has CP SM70-S17S’s, Siemen’s branded E-50’s and one random white Gentex Commander 3 strobe.

    Walmart near Township Square had Wheelock MT-24-LSM’s (LSM strobes in the back restrooms) and vertical Wheelock AS horn strobes on one side of the store and ceiling mount Spectralert Classics in the grocery section; wall mount horn strobes by the exits, customer service and deli with strobes in the front restrooms. All the alarms seem to have been replaced by Spectralert Advances.

    1888

    CVS Pharmacy (999 Watertown Street) - Newton, MA
    Pull stations: Fire-Lite BG-12LX’s
    Signals: SpectrAlert Classic horn/strobes and one Advance.

    1889

    Copley Place Mall & Towers - Boston, MA
    Panel: Simplex 4100U (there’s an annunciator at the Neiman Marcus entrance. I couldn’t get a look because Neiman Marcus was closed at the time of posting.)
    Pull stations: 4099-9003’s
    Detectors: TrueAlarms
    Signals: TrueAlert speaker/strobes
    Some large areas have white Wheelock STH-15S speakers.
    The Neiman Marcus store has generic speakers behind SAE AV32 strobe plates.
    There’s also a Marriott Hotel. According to images online, the rooms have Atlas Soundolier speakers, and the pool area has Wheelock ET70WP speaker/strobes. (pulls in that area are 2099-9138’s)