I was doing some wiring for my next system test, and it turns out I had some wires touching when the panel went into alarm. With a pop and a puff of smoke, NAC 2 went into NAC fault. I feel like I am screwed… I mean, I am screwed right? There is no way to fix this I would assume. If this is the case, anyone know of a place besides Ebay I could get a conventional, decent panel for maybe about $200 give or take? I am not looking to put a lot of money into my system, but would like to finally have a working panel. I knew I should have purchased that Simplex 4006 while I had the chance…
Sadly, this has happened to many people before.
Do not attempt to wire anything to your panel while it is powered up. I suppose you learned the hard way, but for future reference, don’t do that.
You can find an MS-4 for around $200 if you dig deep enough. Just be more careful with your panels; they’re life safety devices, not toys.
In any case, it sounds like you might have blown a fuse on NAC 2. I’m not familiar with the fuses Fire-Lite puts into their panels or where they’re even located on the board, but if you really want to resurrect that panel, you could try replacing it.
Did not try to do that yet. I was testing a strobe when this happened. I knew it was a dumb idea, but went for it. Never again will I do that. Sounds like I’m screwed, and I guess Ill keep my eye out for a cheap, but functional panel. I had the opportunity to do a buy it now for $225 on a Simplex 4006. Would have been nice cause it probably would have gotten here right after this incident happened. I then would have used this crappy MS-4 for testing only, and then I wouldn’t care what happens if something goes wrong.
I guess there is a good side. The panel was free, so I didn’t lose money, and NAC 1 still works. For what I am doing, that is all that matters for now. But I was waiting until I could get that darn thing out of troubles for the bad batteries I had inside, and now I will have nothing to do about this. But hey, I learned from my mistakes. You would think a technician who works with small electronics for a living would have more common sense!
Does anyone know a link for a decent panel by any chance? You know, one that works 100% and is affordable?
Yeah if the panel was free then you basically got a free learning experience that some of us had to learn the hard way. You may want to check the fuse for NAC 2 but yeah as I and others have said, if the magic blue smoke is released, something will never work again.
I know Andrew is selling a Fire Lite panel for 100 dollars shipping included.
Looks like it’s already been reserverd. Sounds like a good one though. Luckily, I reached out to another buddy of mine who has one they have had sitting and doing nothing for years. It’s not super intuitive, but it doesn’t need to be. I mean, let’s be honest, the MS-4 isn’t necessarily intuitive itself. As long as I have a fully functioning panel, I’m happy!
Maybe later on down the road I’ll get one of the newer, addressable Fire-Lite panels. I’ve found some for surprisingly cheap on eBay, so maybe after my next paycheck, I’ll snag one. I’ll keep you all posted if I have more information on the subject!
The MS-2 and MS-4 have non-replaceable (at least not field-replaceable) fuses which are soldered to the circuit board. Since the MS-2 and MS-4 are considered a “cheap” panel, that’s all that is done now, just a board swap and nothing else.
You may want to check the fuse for NAC 2 but yeah as I and others have said, if the magic blue smoke is released, something will never work again. 