Firelite 9200UD Transformer Question

Recently I was on Ebay when I stumbled across a listing for a Firelite 9200UDLS board. I purchased it do to the fair price, however I needed to buy it a transformer, so I did. The manual online said an XRM-24b transformer is what it needed, thus I purchased it. Low and behold, the panel showed up today and when I looked at the print on the circuit board I discovered it was actually a 9200UD. So my question is am I able to use the XRM-24b that’s coming in the mail or do I have to buy a XRM-24 which is listed in the 9200UD manual?

According to this manual, yes, you should be able to use your XRM-24 transformer.

I currently have the XRM-24b coming in the mail. I compared the two transformers and the XRM-24 which is the one listed in the manual is rated at 3.6 amps. The XRM-24b which I’m getting is rated at 6 amps. Both transformers go down to the same voltages, I just want to make sure that the extra 2.4 amps won’t damage the panel. So I guess I’m asking, will the extra amps kill my panel, I don’t think it would I just want to be sure.

Oh! I misread your post.
The manual does say 3.6a maximum, so I’d imagine it isn’t designed to work on the XRM-24B. I’d be safe and get the standard XRM-24, and try to sell your XRM-24B unless you end up buying another panel that takes it.

I’m not sure though, it might work but I’m unsure because you are given the option of buying a second transformer for extra power which would put the panel at 7.2 amps, but I’m not sure if it is a 3.6 amp max on the circuit.

First thing, you almost certainly have the MS-9600UDLS. I have one and it only says 9600UD on the board. I don’t think an MS-9600UD without the LS was ever manufactured.

Second thing, the transformer you are getting will work fine. All the transformers for these panels are more or less the same. If you want to draw more than three amps for your NACs and accessories (way more than you would need for a hobby system), you will need to add a second transformer.

Third, I thoughtfully suggest studying some elementary theory of electronic principles, starting with Ohm’s law. There’s plenty of tutorials out there, and you will gain that much more from your hobby by having this background. You will learn that voltage in a circuit is the product of the power supply or battery providing it, where current is the product of the load, like a fire alarm panel on a 120V circuit, or a horn/strobe on a 24V circuit. There’s no such thing as a transformer “feeding too many amps” to a circuit. In the case that too many amps are flowing, and you are sure your power supply is providing the right voltage, that is the fault of the load.

Thank you, I will definitely try to learn more with circuitry and electricity.

I was and am still doing quite a bit with Firelite and while I cannot say for certain that the XRM-24B is electrically incompatible with with an older 9200UD (or whatever it is you have) I can say that it is physically incompatible. Firelite used a different pin configuration with the XRM-24B (probably in an attempt to dissuade this exact scenario).

I don’t have the time currently to get into a whole lot more but I did want to mention the pin outs being different, you can’t just connect an XRM-24B to an older Firelite panel that uses an XRM-24.

If you have the knowledge and ability, you may be able to meter it out and verify connections/parameters and then rewire the connector and make it work. I never had the time nor inclination to dig any deeper as I would always opt to use the proper transformer.

Ok, it turns out I was way off in my original response. Here’s what I get for trying to go on memory. I also somehow misinterpreted your question as being about the MS-9600, not the 9200. Just as a note, the MS-9600 does NOT use a plug-in transformer, but has a separate FLPS-7 power supply.

It appears the last poster is right, there is a difference between the two transformers. XRM-24 is for the earlier versions, XRM-24B for the more recent. From looking closely at images online, they use slightly different pins and won’t plug in if you don’t have the right one. They seem to have almost identical electrical specs, but I’m not sure I would take the chance since they intentionally made them non-interchangeable. According to this manual:

[quote] Note that the XRM-24B and XRM-24BE are only suitable for use with MS-9200UDLS(E) with a main circuit board assembly number 9200UDLS-PCX Rev Y, where “X” and “Y” can be any letter or number. This circuit board can also be identified by using the software revision of #9200UDV4.0 (meaning version 4.0) or later. [/quote]

You can also look at where the transformer plugs in. If it looks like the top diagram below then it uses the XRM-24. If it looks like the bottom then it uses the XRM-24B.

<i> </i>XRM-24: | ·· · ·| XRM-24B: |· · · ·|