Previous in Forum: Why 4~20mA?   Next in Forum: Orifice Plate
Close

Comments Format:






Change Mode
Close

Subscribe to Discussion:

CR4 allows you to "subscribe" to a discussion
so that you can be notified of new comments to
the discussion via email.

Close

Rating Vote:







Add Vote
6 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
enkays
Active Contributor

Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 21

Fire Control Panel

02/03/2011 7:23 AM

We have PLC based Fire alarm and control panel. We want it to be operated through a Remote control. We have 12 Zones and Motorola GP 338 handsets. We want the system to be remote operated through handset and also to be interfaced with a PC for system healthy indication. kindly suggest the method
Register to Reply
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive votes to make them "good answers".
3
redfred
Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - Been there, done that. Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 15600
Good Answers: 981
#1

Re: Fire Control Panel

02/03/2011 10:44 AM

Let me think a minute. You have an unknown PLC system that is providing building safety and (to a lesser extent) personnel safety. You already have some intelligent handsets made by Motorola for Asia and the Pacific rim. You wish to interface these two likely proprietary systems together while maintaining the exact same reliability and safety levels you had before. That seems like a good summation of your scenario.

The liability issues alone tells me that you need to find a local fire alarm professional. I recommend that you identify first the PLC installer and see if the PLC will accept RF remote commands itself. I would then approach them to see if they have a license for doing the interface programming of these handsets. If you cannot identify who installed the PLC, I would next contact the PLC manufacturer to find a local representative/vendor approved for installing this system to your local fire code standards. You have many hidden concerns here like failure modes, reliability, interface security and building standards that must be properly assessed by an experienced individual on site. Most importantly this individual must be knowledgeable of your local building fire safety standards and be able to meet the appropriate liability in doing this work.

I'm certain that there are people here that could meet this criteria, but right now we do not even know where on the largest continent on this planet this PLC exists. Actually we don't even know if you have the correct Motorola handsets for your region.

__________________
 "Don't disturb my circles." translation of Archimedes last words
Register to Reply Good Answer (Score 3)
No more Good Answers.
fixitorelse
Guru

Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 687
Good Answers: 21
#2

Re: Fire Control Panel

02/03/2011 12:56 PM

Not sure just what to make of this one. I would be very careful not to go very far with a system as you describe. It, from the sound of it does not meet National Fire Protection Codes or any other code such as Factory Mutual Etc. Contact a proper Fire safety alarm professional and install correct equipment before someone gets hurt.
Register to Reply
tpiecora
Active Contributor

Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 18
Good Answers: 1
#3

Re: Fire Control Panel

02/04/2011 7:50 AM

hmm...I am a bit unsure as to what you are trying to do. Are you trying to activate the alarm system with the radios or are you trying to annunciate through the radios?

I could see the benefit in certain situations of trying to annunciate through the radios...not so sure about activations...

They do in fact make wireless networkeable fire alarm systems. They have been around for years. If you are trying to use these radios AS a fire alarm system, I can't say I would recommend that. If you had a real fire alarm system and were somehow trying to interface the radios to annunciate an alarm over them as a supplemental form of notification, then I could see the benefit.

If you have many locations over a large area (>km) it is quite feasible to install multiple wireless panels and network them to a master panel. The entire system can be activated, even with network wide voice annunciation. If the radios have an audio line input then I dont see why you couldn't also annunciate over the radios as well. This is called a Mass Notification System.

www.monaco.com - wireless fire alarm systems

http://www.coopernotification.com/content/public/en/safety/notification/brands/waves.html

- wireless mass notification solutions.
Register to Reply
WJMFIRE
Guru

Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA, Florida
Posts: 1595
Good Answers: 125
#4

Re: Fire Control Panel

02/04/2011 12:10 PM

Redfred is dead on here. The best that you can hope for is to have the control panel "annunciate" alarms and troubles to your radios. The control panel has a reset button for a reason....so someone standing on the other side of the plant cannot reset an alarm or a system disabling trouble without actually investigating it's cause.

__________________
 An obstacle is something you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#5

Re: Fire Control Panel

02/04/2011 2:17 PM

You can do this but it needs to be thought out well. I think what your saying is you want to monitor the system not actually control it from a remote location correct. I had a system that was setup to my office in order to monitor more than one panel. The software maker was intellution it is good but exspensive. In fact it has been quite a few years I do not even know if they are still in bussiness good luck.
Register to Reply
enkays
Active Contributor

Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 21
#6

Re: Fire Control Panel

04/05/2011 10:37 AM

we have the approved motorola handset for our region. we have also got fire safety and other safety approvals for our plant. we only want to annunciate an alarm by remote operation from a motorola handset.
Register to Reply
Register to Reply
Have a Different Question?
6 comments

Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive votes to make them "good answers".
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Poster (1); enkays (1); fixitorelse (1); redfred (1); tpiecora (1); WJMFIRE (1)

Previous in Forum: Why 4~20mA?   Next in Forum: Orifice Plate

Advertisement

Got Something to Say?
Ask a Question
Start a Discussion

Search this Forum
Instrumentation:
Go

CR4 Sections
Aerospace
BioMech & BioMed
Chemical & Material Science
Civil Engineering
Communications & Electronics
Education and Engineering Careers
Electrical Engineering
General Discussion
Instrumentation
Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineering
New Technologies & Research
Software & Programming
Sustainable Engineering
Transportation

Site Directories
Forum Directory
Blog Directory
User Group Directory
RSS Feeds

CR4 Rules of Conduct
CR4 FAQ
Site Glossary

Who's Online (58 right now)
Show Members
Advertisement