Why you should invest in an
ECS Fire Management System

Building Fire Management Systems (FMS) provides life safety solutions for building occupants. Now that security and access control functions as well as other building systems are sharing resources with life safety systems, it is no longer possible to design and install building systems in isolation of one another. In order to better serve our customers, ECS Controls is committed to understanding the laws that govern building codes, federal regulations and life safety standards for the integration of fire alarm applications and how each building system requirement fits together.

The most significant changes in today's fire and life safety systems are computer logic, building automation and tel-data for advanced communication systems. Most equipment now is linked to an Ethernet or a phone line and all communication is streamlined to go to a person of responsibility who can be reached 24/7. The result is improved safety; response times are much shorter to minimize fire damage; and someone who is responsible knows what's going on with the building any time there is a problem. The systems today notify authorities, building managers or anyone on the list who needs to know about a trouble scenario.

ECS Controls offers a wide range of quality fire alarm and detection systems to safeguard business continuity and protect critical facilities against the ravages of fire. The following frequently asked questions are provided to help you learn more about our fire alarm systems.

Explain conventional vs. addressable technology?
Before addressable technology, we had conventional systems. Instead of each detector having a specific address, we'd have a string of detectors on one loop. If any of those smoke detectors went off, it would set off the whole zone. You actually wouldn't know the exact spot-just a general area. You'd get feedback like corridor 45, level two, east wing-much more generic than the information we receive today.

Addressable technology has really taken off in the past few years, and the price has come down too. So there's very little use for conventional systems now. Residential is probably one of the few areas where conventional is still acceptable.

How do these new systems communicate with the fire department?
There's a couple of ways you can do communication. Right now, they're testing whether they can do it over the Internet. Some facilities and jurisdictions will allow you to do that. But the typical way is having a fire alarm master box.

The way that works is there's a line that runs through the city or campus and a facility's master box is tied onto it and each master box has a unique address. If a station is pulled or the fire alarm control panel tells the master box to go off, it automatically notifies the fire department. Another way is to have the system report to a central station-like an ADT-and sometimes there's even a hard link between the two. When the system goes into alarm and it's reported to the central station, they call the authorities.

What happens when there is a trouble scenario?
If there's a trouble signal, the building manager can just dial in on a computer to see what's going on. But if there is an alarm, the manager is alerted to get to the site and the message is sent to the fire and police departments immediately.

Trouble can result from shutting off a supervised valve for maintenance or if a smoke detector is not functioning properly. If a supervised circuit is monitoring a fire alarm system that is not picking up any signals, a trouble signal will show up on the control panel.

How can you tell the difference between a trouble and alarm scenario?
Systems today are fully addressable. That means each detector is identifiable by its signal so you know exactly what's happening at that location. If a detector does go off, it doesn't put the whole building into alarm right away. But if the same detector goes off again in a certain amount of time or if another detector in the area goes off, the system will put the building into alarm. That's what's called alarm verification-it's one of the biggest advantages of today's systems.

Let's say there's a bad detector and a loss of signal. The system tells you exactly where the problem is so maintenance personnel can go to the location and check the detector by blowing canned smoke into it to test it. If the detector doesn't pick up the smoke, you'll know it's not working properly and change it out right there. Once the new detector is installed, the system will pick up the input.

How do you prevent unwanted alarms?
A potential industry-wide problem with smoke detectors is unwanted alarms. Improper placement of detectors is one of the major causes of unwanted alarms. Most other cases are caused by improper applications, installation and maintenance of smoke detectors.

Unwanted alarms can result from a wide variety of causes:

• Improper locations are environments where they will not operate properly because of temperature extremes; excessive dust, dirt, or humidity, excessive air flow rates, or the normal presence of combustion particles in the air streams surrounding the detectors.
• Improper installation can occur when detectors and their wiring are not protected from interference from induced currents and noise in adjacent wiring systems, radio-frequency transmissions, and other types of electromagnetic effects.
• Inadequate maintenance can result in the accumulation of dust and dirt on the detector's sensing chambers over a period of time.
• Seasonal effects such as the reactivation of a building heating system after an extended summer shutdown can cause alarms.
• Building maintenance issues, such as accidental triggering of a detector's magnetic test switch, or the introduction of plaster dust from drywall repairs into a detector's sensing chamber can cause unwanted alarms.
• Induced current effects from lightning storms can cause alarms.
• Infestation from insects small enough to enter the detector's sensing chamber can cause unwanted alarms.
• Vandalism or mischievous acts can cause alarms - detectors set off as a prank have been found to be a problem in dormitories.

While no detection system is impervious to unwanted alarms, the best way to avoid unwanted alarms is to install detectors specially designed for those environments.

What are good maintenance practices?
Good maintenance practices can help eliminate bad performance.

• Make sure that all the detectors in the zone or pinpointed devices that show an alarm are checked before deciding that it is a false alarm. If a fire does exist, more than one detector may be in the alarm state, although no signs of fire may be evident in the vicinity of the first activated detector. The fire could be overlooked.
• Isolated alarm incidents, such as a maintenance person accidentally triggering an alarm by touching a detector with a magnetic screwdriver, can be ignored except to periodically remind maintenance personnel to
• be careful when working around detectors. Steps should also be taken to protect detectors from dust whenever maintenance requires sawing, sanding, drilling, or other dust-producing operations in the vicinity of the detector heads to prevent false alarms.
• In new construction applications, drywall dust contamination affects all types of smoke detectors. To help overcome this problem or to protect detector heads from dust contamination, installation of detector heads should be delayed until after drywall installation is completed.
• If alarms occur whenever the heating system is turned on after an extended shutdown due to the accumulated dust burning off as the system components heat, the detector system can be turned off for a short period while the heating system is activated and checked out. Or the start-up of the heating system can be scheduled for an evening, weekend or other off-peak period to minimize the effects of alarms on regular daytime activities.
• Dirt, interference or other effects on the detectors do not cause all unwanted alarms. If the control panel shows an alarm but no detectors in the zone are indicating an alarm condition, the possibility of interference or a failure of a control panel component should also be investigated.
• In the event of a series of unexplained, unwanted alarms, a review of the Alarm Log can indicate that a problem situation exists, and the owner should conduct the initial investigation to find a solution. If the owner's personnel are unable to determine the cause for the alarms, the installer or representative of the manufacturer should be contacted to help pinpoint the problem.
• Detectors should be given a visual inspection at installation and at least once a month thereafter. This ensures that each detector remains in good physical condition and that there are no changes that would affect detector performance, such as building modifications, occupancy hazards, and environmental factors.

When you choose ECS Controls, you can expect easy installation, programming and maintenance. We offer a full spectrum of fire alarm and life safety emergency protection products to be innovative, reliable and very cost-effective. Whether your installation is as simple as a single room, or as complex as a large office building, our fire and life safety team has what you need to bring bug-system features to even the smallest installation.

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