What Is a Fire Alarm Annunciator?

The fire alarm controller is the heart of the automatic fire alarm system and can supply power to the detector. It has the following functions ^[1] : 1) It is used to receive fire signals and activate the fire alarm device. The device can also be used to indicate the location of the fire and record relevant information. 2) The fire alarm signal can be activated through the fire alarm sending device or the automatic fire extinguishing equipment and fire linkage control equipment can be started through the automatic fire extinguishing control device. 3) Automatic monitoring of the correct operation of the system and giving sound and light alarms for specific faults.

Fire alarm controller

The fire alarm controller is the heart of the automatic fire alarm system. It can supply power to the detector and has the following functions ^[1]

The selection principle should consider the following conditions:

The fire alarm controller can be divided into regional type and centralized type according to the monitoring area.

The capacity of an area alarm controller (that is, the number of parts it can monitor) also varies depending on the product model, which is generally dozens of parts. The area alarm controller regularly inspects the working status of the detectors in various parts of the alarm area, finds fire signals or fault signals, and issues sound and light alarm signals in time. If it is a fire signal, while the sound and light alarm, some area alarm controllers also have linkage

In order to reduce false alarms, facilitate installation and commissioning, reduce installation and maintenance costs, reduce the number of connecting lines, and accurately know the exact location (part number) of the fire detector that issued the alarm in time, pulse code control is commonly used. The system constitutes a bus structure with few wires. A microcomputer or a single-chip computer is used as the main control core unit, and is equipped with a memory and a digital interface device. Therefore, modern alarm controllers have strong anti-interference ability and flexibility.

This area alarm controller continuously sends coded pulse signals to the coded detectors at each detection location. When the signal is the same as the detector code of a certain part, the detector responds and returns a message to determine whether the part is normal. If it is normal, the host (CPU) continues to inspect the detectors in other parts; if it is abnormal, it determines whether it is a fault signal or a fire alarm signal, sends out corresponding sound and light alarm signals, and transmits the alarm signals to the centralized

Modern fire automatic alarm systems have two basic forms, namely coded switch addressing alarm systems and analog software addressing alarm systems. Our country generally adopts the coding switch addressing alarm system. The analog software addressing alarm system does not require the encoding switch to set the encoding address number, but the computer system software to set the addresses of peripheral components such as detectors, alarm buttons, etc. Therefore, the system can conveniently name or modify the addresses of peripheral components according to requirements.

l Early warning light: Red. In the state of early warning permission, when the controller detects that the external detector is in an alarm state, this light is on. For details, see the LCD display. The warning turns to fire or the warning clears or resets the controller. This light goes out.

l Supervision light: Red. When this light is on, the controller has detected a supervision signal from an external device, and the system is under supervision. This light goes out after resetting the controller.

l Shield light: yellow, when external equipment (detector, module or fire display panel, local alarm) fails, it can be shielded, and after repair or replacement, the equipment can be restored by using the unshield function. This light is on when there is a shielding device.

l Alarm start lamp: red, when there is an alarm in the start state, this light is on, when the alarm is stopped or the alarm is silenced, this light is off.

l Fire alarm transmission action / feedback: Red, the light flashes when there is a fire alarm transmission in the system, the light is always on after receiving a feedback signal from the fire alarm transmission device; when there is a new fire alarm transmission, the light flashes bright. This light reflects the latest status of information transmission.

l Work light: green, this light is on when the controller is working.

l Main electrical work light: green, when the controller is powered by AC220V power supply, this light is on.

l Standby power work light: green, this light is on when the controller is powered by backup power.

l Debug status light: green, this light is on when the controller is in debug status.

l Self-inspection lamp: yellow, this lamp is on when some devices in the system are in self-inspection state.

l Siren silencer light: yellow, when the controller emits an alarm sound, press the "siren silencer / start" key, the light will be on, and the alerter will stop issuing alarm If you press the Alarm Silencer / Start key again or a new alarm occurs, the alarm silencer indicator goes out and the alarm sounds again.

l Start lamp: red, the lamp is always on when the controller issues a start command; when the required feedback signal is not received within 10s after the start command is issued, the lamp blinks; after resetting the controller, this lamp is off

l Delay light: Red, this light indicates that there is a delayed start device in the system. For details, see the LCD display. This light goes out after the delay expires or the controller is reset.

l Feedback lamp: Red. When this lamp is on, it indicates that the controller has received feedback from external equipment. For details, see the LCD display. When the controller is reset, this light goes out.

l Auto-Allow Light: Green, this light is always on to indicate that the system is in a full-allowed state; this light is flashing to indicate that the system is in a partially-allowed state; this light is off to indicate that the system is in an auto-disabled state.

l Spraying permission light: green, this light indicates that the controller is in the spraying permission state, and the gas fire extinguishing equipment can be manually started or automatically linked; this light is off, the controller is in the spraying prohibited state, and the gas fire extinguishing equipment cannot be manually started or automatically linked.

l Spraying request light: red, when the gas fire extinguishing equipment in the system is in the delayed start phase, this light is on. When the controller sends a start command to the gas fire extinguishing equipment, the light is off.

l Spray start light: red, this light indicates that the controller has issued a start command to the gas fire extinguishing equipment.

l Gas spraying light: Red. When this light is on, the controller receives the feedback signal from the gas fire extinguishing equipment.

l Fault light: yellow. When this light is on, the controller detects that the external device (detector, module, or fire display panel) is faulty, or the controller itself is faulty. For details, see the LCD display. After troubleshooting, press the "Reset" button and the light will go out.

l System fault light: yellow, when the system memory fails or the system program cannot run normally, this light is on to remind the user to repair the controller immediately.

l Sound and light alarm fault light: yellow, when there is sound and light alarm in the system in a fault state, this light is on.

l Sound and light alarm shielding light: yellow, when there is a sound and light alarm being shielded in the system, this light is on.

l Fire alarm transmission fault / shielded light: yellow, when the fire alarm transmission equipment in the system fails, the light flashes. If the fire alarm transmission equipment is shielded, the light stays on.