io64 Help

Good day we have just installed an io64 panel with 32 devices attached. The system comes up and works then 10mins later 9 sensors on different floors give errors/reading dirty, (the system and sensors are brand new.) We cleaned the sensors with the EST provided cleaner with a vacuum and the sensors still read dirty (64-100%). The other sensors are saying “amp value too low” does anyone know what this means? The system has us at a lost.

It means they are receiving too little electrical current. There’s probably something wrong with the wiring (ground fault, too small gauge, wired wrong, etc) or the control panel/power supply.

This is an actual life safety system right? Was it installed by an authorized EST dealer or did you just get the hardware and had it installed by non-professionals? (Bear in mind that just being an electrician doesn’t automatically qualify you to install fire alarms.)

we were trained by a est certified technician, this was our first installation. The wiring is all fire grade wiring 18g, I will check the connection at the points. It’s class b wiring, so it’s odd that different sensors on different floors are having the error.

18 AWG is the thinnest allowable gauge for fire alarm wire, so if the building is large enough there could be a voltage drop issue.

The building isn’t that big, used the same cable in a larger building with no issue.

Are all your modules and detector bases wired properly, e.g. for bases with terminal 4 facing the panel and 7 toward the end of line? Have you checked voltage and/or resistance at the end of SLC line and compared it to the panel specs? Have you called tech support? I would focus on the “amp value too low” trouble, this indicates a poor wiring condition which can lead to extraneous troubles like dirty detectors.

Also check that insulation is not under terminal screws , this is also common with Simplex , that little bit of plastic keeps from a solid connection and causes troubles

Hi all, we check the wiring and the bases are wired correctly, the voltage on them is fluctuating between 12-19 volts, one thing we noted was we changed a smoke in one area to a brand new sensor and 20 mins later it read the extact same level of dirty and the error of the previous sensor, we checked to make sure the serial number in the panel matched the new sensor. We are going to call tech support Monday to see if they can help.

I am way late to the party because I haven’t been on the boards in quite some time but the question I would ask you is… What is the model number of your detectors? Are they the SIGA2 variant?

I have had ALOT of trouble out of the SIGA2 devices. I mean, ALOT. To the point I have had installations w/ 300+ of them be RMA’d out and all changed back to SIGA-PS. There is an issue with them and EST doesn’t want to admit it, but it’s there. I see internal faults often and the query low in diagnostics means yes they are not getting enough current for the photoelectric beam. Ironically, the SIGA2 devices, are no more. Not even a year or two into production - they’re gone. They don’t even want them back for failure analysis. They tell you to junk them or in my case they DO take them back but only so they will send us all new heads.

The replacement is now the SIGA-PD. The SIGA-PS is also still available but I think they have raised the price and are trying to only use them in SIGA-DH applications.

These are the IPHS they said to try the phs and see that happens