I have researched into ISA fire and security which supplies all major fire alarm brand products online including proprietary Simplex, EST, Notifier, Siemens smokes, pulls, cpu cards .etc. They have a Youtube channel and make videos of various systems saying they’ll supply any parts you need for your alarm installation. Do you think i’ll have any luck buying an EST system from them and installing it myself. The only tough part is the software. I would buy an Io 64 system. They list the SIGA-PS and SIGA-270/278 on their website for about $106 each (which I found is normal pricing). The panel and software is the questionable part. I really have no need calling them yet as I wouldn’t be able to install my system until June or July. What are your inputs? Does anybody have experience with them?
If you have no way to program it, I think it’s a massive waste of your time and money. As for ISA, we’ve used them for a long time with success for EST modules and the occasional panel part. I’m sure they’d sell you an entire panel if you were willing to pay… they aren’t cheap though, they’re simply a means to an end.
You’d probably be better off contacting an EST dealer and getting a “parts and smarts” quote, you’d be responsible for install but they would sell you the parts, program it, and test and inspect it. All of that would probably cost similar to what you’d end up paying ISA for a complete panel.
Thanks for your input! I just wish these alarm systems weren’t so “proprietary”. Is it possible to buy a license to the programming software or will that require more thousands of $$$$ and training classes? I heard Simplex will give you the software if you sign off on liabilities according to thealarmtech.com forums. What would an EST dealer charge for programming?
Another question is how does this differ with Simplex, Notifier, and Siemens? I would think Notifier and Siemens is similar to EST.
I’m guessing you would have to become a licensed dealer and if there is already one or two in your area, good luck.
It’s the same with Simplex, Siemens, and Notifier, the larger panels you won’t be able to come by the software easily or cheaply, which means you’ll pay someone else to program it. An EST dealer would probably charge you a day in labor just to cover all of their bases, I think the guys we use charge like $150/hr… still cheaper than getting setup to program it yourself.
There’s smaller addressable panels that have free software (if you can find it). You could also get literally any conventional panel and not have any issues.
I’ll keep this in mind. I don’t think the iO64 and the iO500 need software to read device addresses and register them. Correct me if I’m wrong. I looked through the technical manual and that’s the impression I got.
You can technically program an IO panel from the front panel. Being a field tech having the software, no thanks. I couldn’t imagine doing a system with even 30 or 40 devices by hand.
All I will say in regards to the software, is this. If you look hard enough you can find it. I know of vendors who are not EST distributors that have it. There is no software key for the IO-CU.
You could also consider the Vigilant line which is the same thing but can be purchased via ADI. You do have to become a distributor for them to sell it to you though. The EST version is there for the strategic partners with EST. Think Firelite to Notifier.
Any company can be an ADI distributor, it’s just a parts house, very easy to do. They carry fire lite and system sensor as well.
No. You have to become a distributor with EST on there Vigilant line in order to buy the product from ADI is what I am saying.
If ADI will only sell to distributors then how can ISA sell to anyone. I find proprietary parts like Simplex addressable detectors, pull stations, modules .etc that they just hand out after a swipe of a card. Anybody can order a 4010 on E-Bay and order the addressable modules through ISA? ISA gets their parts from Simplex, Notifier, EST .etc and they stock from reconditioned parts as well. Why is ADI closed to consumers and ISA just wide open?
because that’s ISA’s specialty? they are really the only ones i know of that carry fire alarm parts like that, they do have some restrictions, i couldn’t get gamewell from them, they directed me to a local distributor.
i assume for a lot of their stuff they buy through another distributor, not directly from the factories. or possibly someone like simplex sells them parts because they’re an excellent source of third party parts for simplex themselves?
also i’m guessing it’s easy to become a distributor for EST’s vigilant line. i think firelite (might have been someone else) required an online training course to get factory certified, after that you were allowed to buy everything you wanted from adi. it’s a way to make sure people have at least some training i guess?
I don’t think it’s complicated, no. I am not sure of the process involved for the smaller VS (which is basically an IO)panel. I csn tell you for the larger Vigilant panel (VM-1) they require you to go through training just like you would for EST 3. Only difference is they fly around offering those 1 week classes at places like local ADI’s or what not. That class is around $3,000 and that system requires a HASP just as the EST3 does.
I’m not trying to be combative about it just pointing out you can’t just walk into ADI (even if you have an account with them) and buy Vigilant. I found this out because I had a friend who runs a hotel in Kentucky put his alarm guy on the phone with me and his SLC card was blown. He had told the customer it would take a while to get the card but I was like “I just called your ADI in Louisville and they have 9 on the shelf”. The guy drove to Louisville (2 hours away), wasn’t a distributor with EST (I didn’t know that), and ADI basically said “Sorry”.
I was trying to say that If I called my local EST distributor (System Sales Inc a.k.a Redhawk Fire and Security) or Simplex and ask them to sell me a whole panel or a module .etc and no other services, either they wouldn’t budge or mark up the price x1000s. However ISA will sell to anybody for the most part? I’m guessing EST, Simplex .etc doesn’t really care and the distributors make their own rules or ISA has a special contract?
Money is Money. My guess is EST just turns a blind eye, but I can’t speak for certain?
Can you buy a say… EST3 from ISA? THAT would surprise me.
Yup.
They only sell hardware though, you still have to hire out an official dealer to come by and program it.
Interesting.
I wonder how many strategic partners would be willing to come out and program the system and slap a warranty on it when they didn’t sell it. I know my company wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing we didn’t provide the equipment.
you wouldn’t warranty the work, whoever bought and installed the parts would. you guys would just program it and walk away, probably charge t&m to do it so you wouldn’t care anyways.
we have a few customers with EST systems we do this for, it’s never a problem getting an EST dealer to do some programming for us. we’re normally adding a few modules or something… it’d be way cheaper to buy an entire panel from an EST dealer, but for a few parts it’s a moot point.
I guess it’s just a different game where I am. Not sure where you are but we are the only strategic partner within a couple hundred miles in every direction. Stuff like that just doesn’t happen here.
well, i guess a big difference is we used to be a strategic partner. 
we do have multiple EST dealers in the area though.