ASHRAE Journal - July 2019 - 80

A New Solution for the
Challenges of Testing and
Maintaining Life Safety Dampers
By Kent Maune, Life Safety Product Manager, Ruskin¨

acility managers recognize the significant life and property protection fire smoke and combination fire smoke dampers can
provide. Building owners and local authorities are realizing the International Fire Code (IFC) requirements, to be operationally
tested and maintained on a regular basis, help ensure the dampers will function when needed.

Testing and maintenance challenges
With a dynamic fire damper or a combination fire/smoke
damper, an operational test is conducted after the HVAC
system is balanced (NFPA 105, 7.4). This verifies the damper
functions properly under airflow and can be incorporated into
acceptance testing. But ongoing fire damper testing can present
challenges. First, fire dampers are often installed in areas that
are not easily accessible above the ceiling in penetrations of
fire-rated walls and floors. Second, the design of fire dampers
can make them extremely difficult to test and reset. On the
other hand, motorized fire dampers or combination fire/smoke
dampers have accessibility issues, but testing can be performed
through simply disconnecting the power.
In addition, testing needs to be performed by qualified
personnel with knowledge and understanding of how dampers
operate as well as the system in which the dampers are
installed. This ensures proper operational testing and helps prevent
injury to the person doing the testing and/or damage to the system
(NFPA 80, 19.4.1).

The ADC105 removes the challenges of accessibility and difficulty testing.

An innovative, approved solution
Ruskin¨ Addressable Damper Controller ADC105 meets the NFPA 80 and 105 life safety remote damper testing requirements and
addresses both the challenges of regular monitoring while also removing the challenges of accessibility.
The ADC105 is a 5x6 in. control box with 3-foot power and blade indication switch leads. Designed for easy installation within 3
feet of a motorized fire, smoke or combination fire/smoke damper, the ADC105 can be used with any local power supply to operate.
The ADC105 can be used with new construction or be retrofitted onto existing Ruskin dampers.
The ADC105 allows for the periodic testing required by NFPA 80 and NFPA 105 and works directly with both new and pre-existing
Simplex ES addressable fire alarm panels. With the ADC105 connected to a Simplex fire alarm system, it allows continuous
monitoring and alarm capability should something go wrong. Since the Simplex ES Fire alarm system is already part of a
building's automation, adding the ADC105 to any fire, smoke or combination fire/smoke damper makes this a low-cost addressable
controller and can save thousands in testing and maintenance costs. The Simplex ES system supports the supervision, reporting and
control of the fire/smoke dampers. This data is available at the local panel and across the ES Network, including connected TSW
workstations. The entire system is supervised, providing increased reliability versus legacy system solutions.

ruskin@ruskin.com | 816-761-7476 | ruskin.com

http://www.ruskin.com

ASHRAE Journal - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - July 2019