Why do Fire Alarm Systems Work That Way?

Fire Alarm Engineers, Installers, Technicians, and Inspectors get Answers from Douglas Krantz's Technician's Corner

Do you know the rules and codes that show what a fire alarm system does? The bottom line rules and codes showing what the fire alarm system does are important, but to fix the fire alarm system, Basic Electronic Skills are needed. Required on top of the electronic skills is an understanding of the Life Safety Upgrades to the Electronics.

Basic Electrical Skills

Basic Electronic Skills are are knowing about DC and AC electricity. Ohms Law, which shows how wire carries electricity, is part of skillset; understanding the difference between electricity flow and signal or power flow is also part of the skillset.

Life Safety Upgrades to the Electronics

The Life Safety Skills, in addition to the electronics, have the goals of Supervision (self-testing and letting the building owners immediately know when something's wrong with the system), Redundancy (if one method fails, another method is standing-by to take over), and Survivability (even during a fire or other disaster, the system still works).

Learn about how a fire alarm system works by reading the blogs and articles on the website. Books are also available for greater in-depth understanding of the electronic fire alarm system.