FALSE ALARMS
DRAMATICALLY CUT BY NEW CIRCUIT
The Problem
of
false fire alarms
is an increasingly paramount issue to the
electronic security industry. Police
and Fire Departments are simply being overwhelmed, not to mention, distracted
from real emergencies, by unnecessary dispatches from the growing number of
installed systems. A single false
fire alarm disrupts the daily routine of numerous firefighters (usually
volunteers), and also is assigned one or more regular Police Officers and often,
the Fire Police as well. These
dedicated people all place their safety and that of the general public at risk
while responding expeditiously to potentially life threatening emergencies.
At
Reliance Alarm Company, we realize we must take every available measure to
eliminate false alarms. Unless we
do, eventually the industry will face a self-made crisis: Authorities will finally be unwilling or unable to respond,
and the escalating charges for their response to excessive alarms will
jeopardize the current affordability of electronic protection.
In
our efforts to eliminate unwanted fire alarms, we identified and classified many
obvious causes. Design issues
include detector misapplication and poor placement. Training and experience count best against these causes.
Avoidable
"User-provoked" incidents include cooking accidents (not only in the
kitchen, but smoke from backyard barbecues [and also burning leaves] drifting in
through windows), shower mist, chimney down drafts and artificial smoky
conditions including incense and fog makers.
(A new nightclub had six detectors trip their first night open, because
they did not foresee an interaction with a fog maker, and didn't mention it to
the Alarm Company!)
Environmental
issues include spiders and silkworms in smoke detectors (newer smoke detectors
have finer bug screens), pipe and roof leaks above detectors, dust accumulation
in smoke chambers and lightning damaged detectors.
Maintenance
and construction incidents include soldering pipes, extermination mist,
wallpaper removal, drywall sanding, spray painting and wires being moved and
reconnected, to name a few. User
education, preventive maintenance and better equipment are some of our best
weapons against predictable causes.
Unfortunately,
there remains a certain percentage of alarms whose source can not be readily
identified. They result in a major
contributing factor to false dispatches, REPEAT OCCURRENCES.
Here's how they develop: When
a fire system trips without obvious explanation, the subscriber typically will
attempt to reset it on his own, wishing to silence the unnecessary noise
as quickly as possible. Because
these incidents are not an everyday thing, the subscriber will probably not
remember that with conventional systems, you need to examine every detector
until you find one with its LED latched on, identifying it as the offending
unit, and you have to go look before you
reset the system.
Unenlightened
users experience the most repeat dispatches.
They too readily write off the first incident as a fluke.
They put the system back in service without consulting a technician.
Many building managers are justly fearful of liability in case of a real
fire, and are anxious to get things back to "normal." They may also be concerned about the cost of service.
They don't realize that if the offending detector is not identified
immediately, additional unwanted dispatches are likely.
The zone may have to be put on "No Action," anticipating a
repeat occurrence.
A
secondary inconvenience results when a fire detector is reset and trips
repeatedly on real smoke (typical of a burnt toast or cold fireplace flue
scenario), sending multiple extraneous signals and tying up the phone line
unnecessarily with alarm messages. If
numerous successive alarms are transmitted, the probability is high that one
of those signals will not be screened out by the callback process.
(Some jurisdictions do not permit a callback or "verification"
sequence, further increasing the likelihood of an unwanted dispatch.)
We needed a way to allow the subscriber to silence a known false fire alarm, without losing the indication pointing to the offending detector. That is why Reliance Alarm Company developed a special circuit that does just that.
Our advanced circuit was an immediate success, identifying the cause of what had been a very persistent problem in a large Fairmount Park mansion, on the very first activation after it was installed! The caretaker called me with absolute glee in his voice: "Lou, I think we finally found it!" (It was a roof leak that allowed water to short out a detector.) Sure enough, the culprit was still lit up solid when I arrived to check it out.
Since
then,
our circuit has saved subscribers much unnecessary worry over possible
repeat alarms. It has clearly
prevented numerous repeat dispatches, and best of all, it slashed
troubleshooting
expenses dramatically.
The new circuit was developed and adapted for Napco panels including the Magnum Alert 1016e and MA 3000 (original 1016's without the "e" can not be adapted) and the Napco Gemini panels P-1632, P-3200 and P-9600.
If
your
fire
alarm
triggers,
don’t sit
back and wait for the Central Station Operator to call you. Several things can interfere with the Operator’s ability to
get through to you, including among other things, Answer Call, alarm restore
signals, additional alarm signals from other zones and excessive noise from the
fire alarm. If you know your alarm
has tripped and it is a false alarm, call the Central Station yourself.
Know the phone
number for the Central Station or at least put it where you can find it quickly.
Know your Pass
Code or at least put it where you can find it quickly.
This is the name, number or word you must give to cancel a dispatch.
It is not necessarily the same as the Keypad Code you use to silence or
reset the system.
Talk to the
Central Station Operator first, to cancel the dispatch.
If the cause of the alarm is unknown, put the system on “No Action”
for a period of time. Then talk to your
Dealer Technician.
Don't attempt to reset the system if there is a prevailing smoky condition. It will just trip again and again until the smoky condition finally clears up. All of our systems have a timer that will stop the alarm, usually in five, ten or fifteen minutes. Let the sounders run their course.
We have developed a new circuit that eliminates the need to wait for the sounders to time out. Click here to learn more about it.
Don't reset the system if the cause of the fire alarm activation is unknown. Let the sounders run their course. When you let them time out, the locked-on LED indicators on your smoke detectors will help us pinpoint the cause of the alarm. If you reset the system before the LED's can be examined, we will have no clue what caused the alarm, and we'll have to wait for another false activation to find out!
We have developed a new circuit that eliminates the need to wait for the sounders to time out. Click here to learn more about it.
Know
the reset procedure for your system. You should have it in
writing. If you don't have it, please ask. A copy of the procedure
should be kept at the alarm control box, and another copy should be in your
system records file.
Have your system serviced on a regular basis.
Smoke
Detectors of virtually all brands from all companies will
eventually cause false alarms if they are never cleaned.
Some detectors can be cleaned by a skilled end user. Ask us for information if you feel inclined to attempt it. Also consider updating to newer detectors that have removable smoke chambers that a trained end user can replace easily, and to detectors that have a built-in early warning technology called "Clean Me."
Don't take anything apart until you have consulted with us and have been briefed on the complete procedure!
Be alert for
conditions that can provoke the fire alarm to trip. An occasional review of this page by all system users may
help to keep your awareness up.
Drywall sanding, plastering and painting with spray or rollers will drastically sensitize your detectors by depositing white powder or paint mist inside the smoke chamber, which is supposed to be pitch black. Use dust covers or tape a plastic bag over the detectors before starting, or move the detectors to a safe location if they are moveable. Don't forget to restore things to normal later!
Spiders and weevils can get inside a smoke detector any time, causing false alarms, even if we were just there to service the system. Knock down any cobwebs you see around smoke detectors using a broom or stick. Use a paper towel to dab some Ant and Roach killer on the wall around the detector. Don't spray aerosol cans near the detectors - the mist may trigger an alarm!
Consider a
Repair Agreement that will alleviate concern over the cost of unexpected service calls.
Do you have a tip of your own that belongs here? Please pass it along.