I present a little project I’ve put a few hours into lately:
It’s only a rendering so far, but I’d like to build a prototype if I can get the means to do so. The main idea is to take the concept of a mini-horn and add a low-profile LED strobe to it. The result is an extremely low-profile horn/strobe that is about the size of a standard single-gang switch plate.
A few notes about the design:
[list]
Here’s a like to the SketchUp file: fire alarm.skp
Hey, I like that! I think this would be a great product if some company were actually selling it.
I don’t think that it looks half bad! Wonderful job on it!
That’s pretty neat! Do you have access to a 3D printer where you could make this a reality?
That’s a very cool concept! I agree with your comments regarding the trends of eliminating protrusion in the backbox and of overstyling devices. To me, the most attractive device is the one that isn’t noticed.
I’m disappointed by the fact that, despite their small footprint, the Wheelock Exceder/EST Genesis LED devices have a somewhat high profile. Your design, on the other hand, seems to take full advantage of the low profile offered by LED strobes.
I’m gonna try to find a 3D printer where I could print the concept at least. Also stay tuned for a pull station that I’ve been designing.
That is pretty cool; I agree. The wiring being on the back because of the small size reminds me of the LED Exceder because it’s the same thing on that…the terminals are attached to the alarm. In all honesty though I really don’t get the whole mounting plate wiring concept newer alarms are using because its not like it’s any ‘easier’ to install anyways, at least in my opinion. I could see how it could be a little bit easier, but not too much of an improvement.
i like the mounting plates, super easy to service or change a device from a strobe to a horn strobe if you just pop the old one off and pop the new one in (in some locations where an electrician is required to touch anything when it comes to wiring, being able to have anyone pull a device off is huge). from the install side you can have all the plates mounted and wired in, and any devices damaged during construction, painted on, etc. can easily be swapped out.
That’s valid. I’ve never encountered the restrictions on touching low-voltage wiring however, where would this be the case?
I like the base concept, just have never seen it applied to a device that’s not big and ugly. And I couldn’t seem to come up with a way to make it work with this concept.
in any area that’s heavily unionized, a fire alarm tech turning a screw is a big no no, they’re not even allowed to do the internal panel wiring. you get away from the unions then our techs are allowed to do complete installs themselves.
they can pop devices on and off the wall all day long though.
Here’s my next concept. I’ll post a few more pictures tomorrow.
Well I think it depends on the installation. Once I saw LED Exceders in a restaurant that had reclaimed wood walls, and when I first walked in and saw that they had an ANN-80 and BG-12LX’s I was at first confused because I didn’t see any NA’s and thought they didn’t have any. I looked around and eventually spotted them, but it was really hard to tell there were any NA’s there. They’re pretty low profile to me (I have an LED Exceders in my collection, and it’s only slightly larger than my hand). I don’t think there will ever be any ‘true’ unnoticeable NA made because these NA’s have to be pretty noticeable during an emergency situation as well as to alert the hearing impaired (and maybe even wake them up at night). I just remember that fire alarms are fire alarms and are designed to be noticeable, not to improve overall building aesthetics. My school has the super boxy 2903’s and 4903’s from the 80’s-90’s and after a while, while they’re definitely not low profile, you don’t seem to notice that they’re there once you get used to the building. So I think there’s upsides and downsides to both low profile alarms and very noticeable alarms.
Very nice! I like the fire pictographs; reminds me of call points in Europe. Definitely helps if the operator of the station in the emergency doesn’t speak English or the primary language in that location.
Maybe make pictographs of how to operate the station (for example, call points have something like this:
->•<-.
I really like the new pull concept that you have! It is very nice!
This reminds me of the Latin American version of the Fire-Lite BG-12, which has everything you mention.
Here a more in-depth look at it:
Address windows and a poll/status LED for both single and dual-action models.
Pulled condition: locks the toggle switch in the up position until the key is inserted and turned.
Turn the key 60° and push the whole unit down to reset! You don’t even need to open it.
Turning the key and pushing it down allows you to open it, giving you access to installation screws, the toggle switch, and the address dial switches.
Yeah, those are pretty cool!
I honestly have never even seen one of those before. They look nice.
The BG-12 style pull stations work well but are too big and ugly for my taste. That’s why I designed something new, that has all the same advantages:
[list]
Plus the address setting is visible from the front, the pulled state is very noticeable, it is compact and fits on any single-gang surface box, and it is just low-profile and pleasant looking. I will consider adding arrows to the “PUSH” and “PULL” however.
That actually does sound like it would be a very big improvement over what we have now and I would think that it might go popular if it was a thing.
