Security Sales & Integration February 2022 - 17

SMARTS & PARTS
Fireside Chat by Shane Clary
smclary@bayalarm.com
Using Your 'Thinking Hat'
to Diagnose Issues
Not only
should those
who work
on fi re alarm
systems
be factory
certifi ed on
the systems
and equipment
they are
working on,
but they also
need to be
competent
on resolving
issues not
associated
with the
equipment.
Shane Clary, Ph.D., has
more than 45 years of
security and fi re alarm
industry experience. He
serves on a number of
NFPA technical committees,
and is Vice President of
Codes and Standards
Compliance for Concord,
Calif.-headquartered Bay
Alarm Co.
securitysales.com
▶ THIS MONTH'S COLUMN IS MORE OF
an opinion than of reviewing a code or standard.
I spend a lot of my time out in the fi eld, going to
project sites, new installations and existing systems.
I also go out on a number of inspections
and tests.
I am fi nding that technicians have been welltrained
on a product line or a particular control
unit, as well as how to program the system. Depending
on the requirements for the completed
system this can be an involved process that can
take a lot of time to complete. After the program
has been uploaded into the control unit, there
then is the checking of the system to verify that it
performs as per the sequence of operation.
Th ere are times however that the system may
not be performing as expected, or has experienced
a fault that prevents the system from operating
as intended. Th e system may also be producing
unwanted alarms. Th is is when the installer, service
technician or inspector needs to also become
a detective. For a new installation, the problem
is generally not due to a part being " bad out of
the box. "
Th is, however, does appear to be a trend that
if the system is having failures there must be
something wrong with the equipment. While
this is not to state that this does not happen on
occasion, with all of the quality controls in place
within the manufacturing process, equipment
typically does not leave a production facility in a
nonoperating condition.
I spent more than seven years as a service technician
when I fi rst entered the industry in the mid1970s
and early 1980s. At that time there were
no addressable systems, systems that provided diagnostics
(other than an open or ground fault) or
other features of the systems we have today. Th is
was for both fi re alarm and intrusion detection
systems. An entire building would generally be on
a single circuit, or if you were lucky " zoned " out
per fl oor. As a service tech you had to know how
to use a multimeter to isolate where the fault was.
Over time, you remembered where all the " snake
bites " were in the system wiring that were used to
pinpoint where the fault was located.
If the issue was with a " swinger, " you may have
been forced to zap the circuit with 120VAC to
break open the circuit. Th is was always a " fun "
process with a system that contained a lot of
windows with foil. One also needed to know
how to determine if the issue may be AC induction,
high resistance, wiring that was shorting at
times or a ground fault. You may also have had
low end-of-line batteries.
My point is that you had to fi nd the problem.
With the systems of today, every point is on its
own address or point. Th is is for both fi re and
intrusion detection. When a system is having
a problem, the system will generally advise the
technician as to where the fault is located. Th e
technician will then go to the device and generally
replace it. Th ere are times, however, in which the
device - be it a smoke detector, module or door
contact - may not be bad. Th ere can be issues
with the conductors, or with the environment that
the system is in.
One should not assume that fi ve separate input
or relay modules are all bad from the factory, or
that an OS&Y tamper switch is bad and needs to
be replaced. After replacing an annunciator three
separate times, the problem may be more than just
faulty annunciators from the factory. Not only
should those who work on fi re alarm systems be
factory certifi ed on the systems and equipment
they are working on, they also need to be competent
on resolving issues that are not associated
with the equipment:
▶ Opens
▶ High resistance
▶ Grounds
▶ Shorts
▶ C induction
▶ Cross talk
In the end, the entire system may need to be
looked at to solve and restore a problematic system.
With the release of the 2022 edition of
NFPA 72, my next several columns will be on
the changes found between the 2019 edition and
2022 edition.
FEBRUARY 2022 Security Sales & Integration
17
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Security Sales & Integration February 2022

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