Fire Alarm Tools – Past, Present and Future
Pery Zerbinos Fire Technical Support Supervisor, Chubb Canada
When we talk about the fire alarm industry, we tend to focus on the codes and standards or different manufacturers' fire control panels, and we forget to talk about the tools technicians use every day to do their jobs. I started in the industry in the year 2000, and looking back, we still use some of the same tools we used then. Things have obviously evolved over time, and I sometimes wonder how we completed some of our everyday tasks with what we had. Where we are today, and where we were 24 years ago, seems so far away. But as innovative technologies and advancements arise, so do the tools we use every day.
There are simple tools we use every day, like screwdrivers and wire strippers (if you have a screwdriver that you received from a trade show or conference, do not use it on a fire panel. Please use something that is insulated). Some tools that we might not consider tools – like the 25 keys on your keyring to get you into every fire panel, and somehow, we all have that elevator key on that ring as well. Other obvious tools might include your voltmeter, dB meter, and laptop. Some tools are not obvious at all, like access to fire panel manuals, or codes and standards. I consider anything that helps us complete our day-to-day tasks a tool.
I remember before smoke detector testers were widely available as they are today, people were using coffee cups as a protector for the smoke released from the smoke can to test the detector to avoid airflow blowing the smoke away from the detector. What seemed like a normal testing procedure probably reduced the life expectancy of that smoke detector by years. This testing method of having the aerosol can so close to the detector would fill the smoke detector chamber with oil and residue. I really hope no one is using a coffee cup as an accessory for the smoke testing equipment anymore. Also, what worked better, the Tim Hortons cup or the Starbucks cup? Today, there are a variety of smoke detector testers with various built-in technologies like the ability to transfer testing data to your phone once the smoke detector is in alarm. There are even manufacturers out there where the smoke capsule is built right into the detector. Imagine being within Bluetooth distance from the smoke detector and being able to test it from your phone.
Continuing with the topic of smoke detectors, CAN/ULC-S536 and S537 require each smoke detector to have its sensitivity measurement recorded on the Individual Device Record. In the year 2000, there were not too any addressable smoke detectors. Getting the sensitivity for some manufacturers' detectors required you to carry a briefcase with a meter specifically manufactured for a certain model of detector. To get the reading, you had to climb a ladder, remove the detector, attach it to a base that was connected to the meter, then with that connected, reconnect to the fire alarm base and test. Rise and repeat. Today’s standards offer three acceptable methods of determining the smoke detector sensitivity, which to me is fantastic. Smoke detector and fire alarm technology has advanced to the point where smoke detectors now utilize a supervised microprocessor that can monitor the sensitivity of the detector. This feature can cause the detector to trigger a trouble signal when it is out of its sensitivity range. Therefore, rather than needing a sensitivity test tool, you now just need to get the spec sheet of that device and record the range. Even better, most addressable fire panels and addressable smoke detectors will provide you with that value from the fire panels display.
One of the hottest topics in the industry right now is the 2019 standards and the reports and how hard they are to complete. I would argue that it was a lot harder when I started when technicians were still using pen and paper to complete verification reports. Not only was this an administrative nightmare, but imagine after a new install, the following year you go back for an annual inspection, and you get handed a photocopy of a handwritten report to work with. As computer technology advanced and programs like Excel and PDF readers became more common and easier to work with, reports started to transition to computer-based data entry models. This gave companies better tracking capabilities and the ease of updating building inventories. This reduced errors and inefficiencies with the paper-based documentation of the past. Today, companies have developed cloud-based reporting software. This allows for instant changes to building inventory, less room for errors, and quicker turnaround times. There is now a shift towards instant reporting from smoke detector test equipment or from fire panels themselves. I believe in the future, any intelligent panel that is being tested will have the capability to automatically check off the devices linked to your company’s reporting software.
In the summer of 2001, I remember being put on a service call on an Edwards 8500 system. If anyone has worked on one of these panels, they know the struggles were real. The options were to phone a friend, if you had a cell phone, walk away from the call, or grab the 20lbs binder with all the information you might need to troubleshoot the panel. One of the most important tools then was having the manuals for the manufacturer's fire panels. It is crazy to think that 24 years ago, half of your work vehicle was full of manuals. As technology evolved and USB drives became the norm, old manuals started to get scanned. What would take up the back of your van can now fit in your pocket. Today, we don’t even need that USB stick or hard drive space on your computer. The same data can now be on the cloud, and if you have an internet connection, you can get access to these manuals. There is also something called the World Wide Web, that if you try hard enough, you can find manuals for almost all Fire Alarm Manufacturers. As we move forward with technology and we get into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), we can use these tools in the palm of our hands to get access to information instantly. The technology is there now and improving every day. The ability to ask an AI program a Building Code question and get the answer instantly is here. Learning how to ask the proper questions and having to look in the right document is another story. Soon we will have the ability to get help from AI in programming our fire panels for us. Imagine having the engineer specs, and just telling AI with these specs to write the programming for your fire panel. It might be scary for some but exciting for others. Learning to use AI and evolving with it is one of the tools of our future in all industries.
These advancements have and will continue to improve the fire safety industry. I encourage everyone reading this to stay updated with technological advancements and not be afraid to adapt to new tools. This article was written with my opinions and experiences in the fire alarm industry. The tools we use are what get the job done. For instance, I utilized AI to assist me in writing this very paragraph.
Pery serves as the Fire Technical Support Supervisor for Chubb Canada, supporting technicians, sales representatives and so many more across the country.
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