So it’s been a long time… but about 10 years ago I was quite active on this forum when it was still under the umbrella of the Schumin Web… and now it seems I am back.
In an unexpected turn of my life, I have taken a job as a fire alarm installer with a small company in New Mexico. It is unrelated to my previous work or education, but something that I knew I could do well and I was needing a change, so here I am, climbing ladders most of the day to pull wire, hang devices, clean detectors, and troubleshoot systems.
Most of our work is on construction sites, and it seems like more than half our labor is pulling wires in the frames of new construction buildings. I have been learning how to work with our team to do this as efficiently as possible. Most of the time, we have 3 to 4 people, so one can start feeding the wire from the box, and the others can pass it along to the next person. Usually there are a number of holes we need to drill, if we’re lucky, they’re only through wood. We’ll often attach glow rods, 5-15 foot long fiberglass rods, to the end of the wire we’re pulling so we can push it further along more easily.
I promise to add more updates, pictures, and videos as I progress through the job. I have already acquired a decent collection of old devices that we’ve removed or replaced, so I’ll share some of the more interesting ones.
For now, you can ask me any question you like about my work, our systems, or anything related, and I would be more than happy to answer in detail.
We get to do that too! We’ve done it on a few buildings where we’ve worked on the system, and some just for an inspection. Though the panels that we’ve checked don’t have a walk test mode per se, we first activate the alarm and go through to check that all the horns and strobes are working. Then we will disable the NACs and go through and test all the smoke detectors and pull stations. Between every few devices, we check back at the panel to make sure it identifies them correctly.
It can be quite fun when it gets to testing duct detectors, because they are usually not where the plans indicate, if we even have plans to help us out. It involves a lot of poking into the ceiling and looking around. In one building, I was unlucky enough to have to climb up twice for each detector, because I did not realize that they did not reset with the panel.
More often than not, we find a few devices that don’t work. Last time, there were a number of outdoor Spectralert classic horns that did not work, so we quoted a replacement for them. Then we had a whole NAC circuit not sound, even though there was no trouble before the alarm. We ended up pulling down each horn/strobe and tying the circuit through with wire nuts. After that, we added each device back in, one by one, until we found the faulty device and replaced it.
Welcome to the world of fire alarm installation! I have been doing it for about 10 years now and I hope you can stick with it and make it to lead technician down the road! I would say you should master the art of pulling wire, as it is vital to having a properly working system. And not only should you make it look neat, you should learn what kind of wire goes to each device you are installing to avoid issues while commissioning (it is easy to assume that a power supply can be a source for SLC, for example is a common one that I have run into). And label your wires always! Learn your device heights and measurements from NFPA 72. And don’t turn down an opportunity for equipment/code/NICET/state training. Those courses are invaluable even if sometimes you come away with more questions than answers! Sorry if I sound like the old grumpy lead tech that seems like he knows it all, but those will all help you in the future, sometimes you will learn things the hard way. It is just part of the job.
Usually I am sure you guys are subbed to an electrician. Usually they do all the conduit, supply 120v power where necessary, and supply boxes and hangars for ceiling devices. Make friends (or at least make nice, sometimes they act like fire alarm doesn’t matter) with them, especially ones you work with a lot and figure out where your compromise line is on helping them vs them helping you. Same with mechanical guys. And suppression guys. Find the ones that know their respective trades well. If you call them they can usually get you out of a jam. Most of the time other trades act like you should already know how to tie into their equipment and won’t be of any help to you.
I’ve been in the shoes as a helper/apprentice for about 2 years have been a lead for about 8 years. And over the past couple of years the jobs I have been working on have gotten larger and larger. I ran a large 4 story renovation of an old factory to a hotel from beginning to end last year. And don’t let people walk all over you, as you may find people try to do on jobsites. Don’t let people try to make you take shortcuts that are against code or try to delete anything without AHJ approval. I am not sure if you have to have an individual license in your state, but once you become a lead you should start being more comprehensively responsible for jobs. With that the job gets a little bit more challenging as now you are the one in charge of crews and hours and such and when you are trying to make things work on a tight deadline with new helpers working with you it can be frustrating. but once you master it then it is worth it in the end. Having a good rapport with the AHJs is a rewarding feeling. So, the TL;DR version of this is stick around. It will be worth it in the end.