Part1. What to do with fire alarm? When fire alarm is reported, keep calm and have someone check the alarm spot immediately. If fire is confirmed and still at start stage, use the fire extinguisher to extinguish fire immediately. If the fire has spread and hard to extinguish, People should be be organized immediately to evacuate away from the fire disaster area.Call fire police and trigger fire automatic fighting system.
Part2. Recover fire alarm devices after fire extinguishing.
1.Recover smoke detector: If the fire alarm is triggered by smoke detector, the smoke detector should be recovered after fire is extinguished. Remove the alarmed smoke detector, clean it and re-install it. Then click “reset” key on the alarm control panel and the fire alarm system will continue working.
2.Recover manual call point: If the fire alarm is triggered by manual call point, then use the call point key to reset it. Click “ reset” key on the alarm control panel and the fire alarm system will continue working.
3.Reset electric cutting switch. When fire alarm is triggered, the fire alarm system will automatically cut off non-fire power. So, after fire is extinguished, click “reset” key on fire control panel, then put the power switch off, again put the power switch on. The electric power will work as normal.
Fire alarm system is professional security equipment and should be operated by professionals. Fire security alarm system guidance, trainning or fire regulations are available at vedardalarm.
Read more articles about Fire alarm system illustration, how to set up fire alarm system, fire alarm system troubles and solution.
How to install PIR and Door Contact for home security
Infrared detector is popular motion sensor. The PIR is used for security protection of bed rooms, living room, balcony etc. It is installed with bracket for angle adjustment. The detection area may be horizontal 110 degree, thickness 65 degree of fan-shaped area.
Can you install the PIR according to the instruction manual? Below we will make clearer steps for guidance.
Step1. Using impact drill to make two holes on the wall according to PIR bracket fixing hole. Then fix PIR bracket with screws (included in the PIR package)
If there is no impact drill, using cement nail to fix the bracket on the wall.
Step2. Insert the PIR body to the universal bracket. The PIR level angle and vertical angle can be adjusted for best detection.
It is better to install PIR in the corner of wall to get best protection area. Select installation location, installation height according to PIR instruction manual. Below is the illustration of installation ways and effect.
Door magnetic contact is another essential component of home security. Door contact includes two parts: magnetic switch and emitter. When these two parts are separated by about 1cm, the emitter will send alarm signal to siren strobe or alarm control panel. Magnetic contact can be used for alarm of door windows, fence or other protected objects.
The emitter should be installed on fixed object such as the door frame. The magnetic switch should be installed on moving object such as door. If the door and the door frame is not at the same plane, you can use a small piece of wood to block up the low side.
There are metal door contact, wood door contact and rolling door contact. Please select corresponding door contact for the door security protection. You can use double faced adhesive tape to fix the door contact or use screw to fix the door contact. It is better to use screw fix it.
The alarm system installing manual will guide how to enroll the PIR, door contact to the alarm control panel. You should read the manual carefully and follow it.
7 causes for false alarm of fire detectors
Smoke detector, gas detector, heat detector, CO detector and compound detectors are used in fire alarm system. But false alarm caused by these detectors also led to serious loss. The worst is, false alarm in return caused misunderstanding of fire alarm system and people stop using it. People will remove the battery and not install it again if false alarm occurs. People may ignore real fire alarm if false alarm ever occurred.
It is impossible to completely eliminate false alarm. But we need to know the causes of false alarm and reduce the rate. The compulsory certification, ISO9001, ISO9002 standard implemented for products manufacture largely reduced false alarm rate. New technology analog fire alarm system, MCU processing detectors also reduced false alarm rate. But another main factor for false alarm of fire system is environment interference and misusing of the detectors. 7 causes for false alarm of fire alarm system are summarized as blow.
1.Non fire smoke but dust factors
A.Cooking oil fume. If the smoke detector is installed in kitchen and near the oven, the smoke detector especially the ionization detectors will make false alarm. So, smoke detector can not be installed in kitchen. Heat detector and gas sensor should be installed in kitchen.
B.Smoking. For high sensitivity smoke detector, smoking may cause false alarm. So, the sensitivity should be adjusted according to environment or people should be noted without smoking at the place.
C.Steam. Smoke detector installed in bathroom may cause false alarm by steam. So, install heat detector instead of smoke detector in bathroom.
D.Dust. Smoke detector can not be installed at heavy dust circumstance.
Insecticide. Aerosol insecticide and air freshener may cause false alarm.
2.Environmental factor
A.Electromagnetic radiation.
B.Airflow. Airflow may interferes ionization detectors more than photoelectric detectors.
C.Rapid temperature changes. The heat detector and compound detector can not be installed near the air conditioner or heater device outlet.
3.Quality of detectors
A.Design quality of the detectors.
Fault tolerance: the ability of system software to maintain normal operation under the action of known and unpredictable accidents.
Tolerance: the ability to maintain the system performance unchanged when the parameters of the system hardware components are discrete.
Environmental sensitivity: the ability of the system to maintain stable operation in the mechanical, climatic and electromagnetic environment which is stipulated in the national standards and is potentially used in practice.
B. Manufacture quality of the detectors.
Automatic manufacturing process, ISO processing standard implement and certification test largely increased detector quality and reduces interference and false alarm.
4.Man-made factors.
Someone smoking face to the smoke detector or push down the manual call point on purpose.
Not obey the detector using rules.
5.Engineering project design fault.
Project design engineers are not technology certificated and made improper or wrong configure of the fire security project.
A.Installation location is wrong or not suitable.
B.Improper type detectors installation. For example, smoke detector is not suitable for garage and smoking room installation.
6.Poor installation of the fire alarm system
NFPA72 National Fire Alarm Code Chairman of the technical committee Wayne.D.Moore said that the main cause of false alarm is poor installation quality and pollution during construction. The fire alarm system should be installed after interior decoration of buildings to avoid pollution. The detector cover can prevent accidental mechanical damage and surface contamination only.
A.The fire alarm system is not earthed or well earthed. It makes the system vulnerable to electromagnetic interference and cause false alarm.
B.The construction quality is poor, the line insulation can not meet the requirements, the contact pressure of the connection is not good or the wiring is improper.
7. Component aging, dust accumulation and insect invasion.
Component aging will reduce system reliability and make false alarm. Detectors with more than 10 years using time should be replaced or rechecked before use again. Detectors should be cleaned every one year. Dust proof, moth proof design for the sensing cavity.
PIR Passive Infrared Detector installing notice
Passive infrared detector PIR is a type of weak signal detection equipment. There are some notices for attention when install it. For example, the installing height and sensitivity are two key points for attention. There are three steps to prepare and install a PIR detector.
Step 1: Well understand the performance characteristics of the PIR detector.
Step 2: Correctly determine the location for PIR detector installation.
Step 3: Carefully adjust and debug the infrared detector.
Below is the details for attention.
A. Installing location:
1. Determine the correct installing height and angle according to PIR installing instruction manual and using requirement, environment. The protection area, sensitivity and pet immunity effectiveness is different with different installing height. Find out the entrance and exit of the building and intrusion routine, install the detectors at places to cover the areas.
2.Do not install the PIR detector facing glass doors and windows.
PIR detector can anti interference of white light but not 100%. And outdoor passing people and vehicle may cause false alarm. PIR and MW double technology detector can be installed at this place without interference.
3. Do not install the PIR detector facing cold and hot air outlets or cold and heat sources.
PIR detector senses object’s temperature change and triggers alarm. So the air flowing from cold or heat outlet may cause false alarm. If you have to install the detector at these places, you can choose PIR and MW double technology detector.
4. Do not install the PIR detector facing a swinging object. A swing object may cause false alarm by Microwave detector as well.
B: Detector choosing and debugging
1.Correct choosing of detector.
There are various types of PIR detector. They are wide angle PIR or curtain PIR with 6m to 60m detection distance, infrared sensor or Microwave sensor, wall mounted or ceiling mounted. It should be correctly chosen according to protection space, intrusion routine characteristics, environment features.
2.Debugging
Debugging is absolutely necessary work after installing of motion sensor. There are two ways for debugging. One way is walking test. The test person walks in the protected area with S routine to check the protected area. The microwave sensor sensitivity and PIR sensor sensitivity should be adjusted separately. Sometimes the sensitivity should be adjusted again in different season. Microwave has penetrability and the sensitivity can not be set too high.
Another way is using instrument to measure. Some detector has noise voltage output interface. Using a multiple meter to measure the noise voltage and adjust the sensitivity.
Automatic fire alarm system terms of manual and automatic control
On the fire regulation, there are some equipment should be automatically controlled by fire alarm control center. They are fire pump, smoke exhausting fan, fire proof door and fire curtain. The fire pump and smoke exhausting fan can not only be automatically controlled by fire alarm control center, but also be directly controlled manually at spot. Manual control buttons should be set on both sides of the fire rolling curtain on the evacuation channel.
Why do these devices so important for fire fighting? These devices can extinguish early fire and prevent fire spreading. So, these devices should be automatically turned on or shut off immediately when fire occurs.
On the fire regulation, other devices are not required to be set as automatically controlling. For example, fire bell horn and fire broadcasting etc. should be manually triggered or linkage output triggered after confirmation or other signal is found. If fire bell and fire broadcasting goes off without confirmation, it may cause unnecessary fear for people if false alarm occurred.
In the water extinguishing system, the fire hydrant system is controlled by the fire hydrant button, the start button on the control center linkage controller and the pump button on the pump control box of the pump room. Any button of these three ones is pressed, it will start the fire hydrant pump. It is manually controlled and not automatically controlled. There may have automatic and manual mark on the state switching switch of the control cabinet in the pump room. The automatic here means started by remote controlling and manual means started by local controlling. In an automatic sprinkler system, there are automatic and manual mark on the control cabinet of the sprinkler pump in the pump room. “Manual” means “on-site start” and “automatic” means manual start-up of the pump or pressure switch on the wet alarm valve of the control center. For the whole sprinkler system, “automatic” refers to the pressure switch start-up, and “manual” refers to the control center remote control start-up.
For pipe network gas fire extinguishing system, the release of fire extinguishing gas must be confirmed by people on the scene. Automatic state of fire identification is equipment confirmation. Its general practice is two sets of detectors at the same time issued alarms, can be considered as a fire start signal. When the first set of detectors alarm, the personnel on duty should immediately rush to the scene to make a manual confirmation on the spot to decide whether to start the fixed fire extinguishing system. Although there are automatic and manual start-up modes in the design, manual start-up mode should be the main one when someone is on duty.
So the fire control center panel only displays the manual automatic working state of the system. It monitors the system of alarm and injecting feedback signals at various stages, and controls other linkage devices such as fireproof doors and windows, air conditioning and fireproof valves. But it is not required to immediately start off the fire extinguishing system. This is to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the system.
Is Burglar Alarm System useless?
A survey of housing safety said burglar alarm system is useless. A good lock and scheduled house lighting is more important for home security. Is that right? Will theft pass a well locked and light house without thinking it is occupied or empty?
How can a burglar alarm system well prevent burglary and stop crime? Actually, there are many functions of burglar alarm system people doesn’t know and doesn’t use. Fox example, the linkage output function. When a burglar alarm system is triggered, it can trigger alarm siren strobe and camera recorder or house lighting. So, not timer lighting but scare lighting will be turned on to drive out the theft.
You may do not need a good lock but you can install a door windows barrier to block the burglary before they come near the entrance. Of course, the sensor can turn on the light indoor or outdoor with linkage function of alarm system.
The linkage function is a simple port built-in for easy connection with any equipment which need to be triggered. For example, the FOCUS security has this function named PGM output. The FOCUS PGM output can be programmed with some event for selection. They are alarm, password change, AC power fault, communication fault, arm, disarm. That means you can select the event to trigger siren strobe or other device. For example, you select AC power fault event, then if the AC power line is cut, it will trigger the device immediately. The selection will be made according to your alarm system installing and environment features.
When a CCTV system is connected as the event following device, the defined security camera will make video record as crime evidence and help finding the criminal.
A professional alarm system can well prevent burglary cause the burglary crime will be noted immediately and be recorded. It does not only scare the theft but also stop the crime by warning the theft with listen-in and intercom function. More over, it records the crime scene and punish the criminal if the crime is not stopped.
How to well use the burglar alarm system? Read the alarm system instruction manual carefully and understand the functions. Then enable and set the functions according to your home security needs.
Of course, planning and making a suitable home security solution is the first step.
You can easy add more sensors detectors to your exist alarm system. For example, solar power wireless infrared beam sensor can be added for perimeter security. Smoke and CO detector can be added for home environment safety. Some special detector such as outdoor curtain PIR is used for balcony, door, windows entrance detection and alert. All products are with tamper resistant function and anti destroy.
You are welcome to contact us for free security advice.