Prevent Fire Alarm Trouble Signals

Prevent Fire Alarm Trouble Signals 

An alarm meant a warning of fire danger. A trouble signal was an indication that some part of the fire alarm system was broken or off-normal. There are three basic categories for fire alarm panel signals: trouble, supervisory, and alarm.

A trouble signal is typically designated by a yellow light and means that there is an operational issue. For some more advanced systems, the panel may indicate the kind of problem and where it is located. Your fire protection company should be notified of these alerts.

• Power – Does the alarm system have power or did the power recently black out? Make sure that the breaker did not accidently shut off, as it is a commonly overlooked issue.
• Batteries – If the fire alarm batteries have not been changed in the last 3 to 5 years, they may be below capacity and should be replaced. Their connections should be checked as well.
• Voice Over IP Switch – Recently, facilities have been upgrading from copper lines to voice over IP. It is sometimes forgotten that the fire alarm is connected, which then does not allow the system to complete its daily test. This also means that no one would be able to dial out in the event of an emergency.
• Ground Fault – There are a few different reasons why a ground fault would occur. A bare wire could be touching something in the junction box, a wire could have been cut or loosened, or a lightning strike could cause circuit issues.

Fire alarms are a system of multiple devices working together to detect and warn people through visual and audio appliances when smoke, fire, carbon monoxide(CO) or other emergencies are present. The fire alarm panel is the electrical panel that monitors all components of the system. It also sends trouble signals for problems found within the fire alarm system, problems which may cause the system to not work properly and put your people and assets at risk. Regular maintenance can also limit the number of trouble signals you receive each year as your Fire Safety Service provider will inspect and service the devices to keep them running properly.

A trouble condition or trouble light on a fire alarm or security system indicates a condition that might adversely affect the proper operation (or actually compromises part) of the system. The loss of primary power, back-up power, or a wiring problem (such as a cut or an abrasion which might ground a circuit in a back box) are all common trouble indications. Trouble conditions usually self-restore (that is the system returns to a "normal" state once the trouble has been cleared). A trouble on an input zone may prevent detectors in the circuit from functioning. It is extremely important that system TROUBLES be corrected as soon as possible.

Fire alarms need to be able to work during an emergency, and since emergencies can cause power outages a battery back-up to your system is an important component. When your battery power runs low, your fire alarm system will send a trouble signal to the central monitoring station, who will then call the system owner. The fire alarm panel will also beep locally at the panel and annunciator if one is present.

Trouble signals from your Fire Alarm system won’t wait for a convenient time; whether you are in a meeting, out of town, or sleeping at 2 a.m. you will be receiving the alert and need to address it immediately. By pro-actively replacing your system batteries every two years, you can limit both the number of trouble signals you receive and the increased costs of emergency service from your Fire Safety Service Provider.

Parts of the Fire Alarm System:
Fire alarm control panel (FACP) – also known as the Fire Alarm Control Panel, is the brain of a system. It monitors inputs and system integrity, controls outputs and relays information.

Smoke Detectors – smoke detectors have built in sensors, and when smoke is found in the atmosphere, they send information to the fire alarm panel. The two most common types of smoke detectors are ionization and photoelectric. The sensing chambers of these detectors operate differently to sense visible or invisible combustion particles from developing fires. Currently ionization Smoke detector is Ban due to use of radioactive substance.

Primary power supply – commonly the non-switched 120 or 240 volt alternating current course supplied from a commercial power utility. In non-residential applications, a branch circuit is dedicated to the fire alarm system and its constituents. “Dedicated branch circuits” should not be confused with “Individual branch circuits” which supply energy to a single appliance.

Secondary (backup) power supplies – This component, commonly consisting of sealed lead-acid storage batteries or other emergency sources including generators, is used to supply energy in the event of a primary power failure.

Initiating devices: This component acts as an input to the fire alarm control unit and are either manually or automatically activated, such as pull stations, heat detectors or smoke detectors or multicriteria detector. Heat and smoke detectors have different categories of both kinds. Some categories are beam, photoelectrical, aspiration, and duct.

Notification appliances: This component uses energy supplied from the fire alarm system or other stored energy source, to inform people of the need to take action, usually to evacuate. This is done by means of a flashing light, strobe light, electromechanical horn, “beeper horn”, chime, bell, speaker, or a combination of these devices. GSM or IP dialer also used in current notification system.

Building safety interfaces: This interface allows the fire alarm system to control aspects of the building environment and to prepare the building for fire, and to control the spread of smoke fumes and fire by influencing air movement, lighting, process control, human transport and exit. Building safety interfaces include magnetic door holders, duct mounted smoke detection, emergency elevator service, and public address rack.

Do remember “Trouble” word you can find only on UL listed FACP. A Trouble signal will also have a yellow light or LED on the UL fire panel and there will be a slower beeping tone sounding from the panel. With Trouble signals, you will want to call your service provider, but it can wait until normal business hours. There is no need to spend extra money for an emergency after hours service call. In case of EN54 listed FACP, then you will find “Faults” indicator. Working principal is same.

Can you ensure each device in your fire alarm is being inspected and tested? Your inspection report should list the results for each device, as well as the date/time stamp for when it was last inspected. These details will provide you with piece of mind and your AHJ inspector with full system information. If not select authentic fire Safety service provider to service your system. Basic criteria like, Should Member of FSAI, NFPA, National Safety Council of India, Should certified from Fire Panel OEM (Fire Panel Make). Expert company who can show past few years appreciation letter. Do not repair your Fire Detection System, highly recommended to change parts with consulting Certified Engineer/ Factory certified person. Just remember no one 3^rd party agency is Authorized / certified for Fire Alarm repairing from any OEM (Edwards, Autronica, GST, Kidde, ESSER, Notifier, Morley, Apollo, Cooper etc).