more old odds & ends articles



I am a Real Vampire Hunter?
Electrical Energy Wasting Vampires that is

By Nick Markowitz Jr.

I have been actively engaged in the hunting down and killing of Energy Wasting Vampires for many years now you find them everyday in almost ever business I go into and service there equipment. There tricky to find because the steal power with little sips at a time. A few watts here and there but in the long run they can add up to hundreds of dollars in wasted electrical usage for absolutely no purpose.
Take the Telephone room in a building how many times have I found plugged in and still drawing electrical power Old style Telephone Power Supplies and Key System Units
That where no longer being used and wiring disconnected many years ago some as far back as the 1980’s I have even found old telephone automated attendant units plugged in as well and not being used. All these years these units have been drawing power and wasting valuable resources into the air.
But telephone rooms are just one area I find these vampires lurking. Often times you find them hiding in electrical and utility rooms and even above suspended ceilings.
Where remodeling has been done. I often find  old Emergency lighting units above ceilings’ and no longer being used but sill active and drawing power the same goes with burglar alarms  and old weather station and other energy saving devices as well ,which never really worked right and where cut off but the main controls are still powered up and
Stealing Power. In one case I found an entire computer server setup in a closet sitting and using power and hooked up to nothing. It happens all too often because contractors come in and replace phones etc but never remove the old equipment which is something by National Electrical Code they should be doing. The average customer I go looking for  these vampires save $10.00 to $50.00 a month which adds up to hundreds of dollars in the long run every year.
How many old homes have I worked in there basements and found a small gray transformer plugged in drawing power for old style Princess Telephones which where thrown out and replaced in the 1980’s yet the little transformer is still there stealing power .Sure its only 5 watts but over 30 years it has stolen half a kilowatt of electricity.
You too can be a vampire hunter too with a little investigation and it can often payoff when you scrap items for all the copper etc in them and hard to find adapters etc which are hard and expensive to get .I stripped out an old mainframe computer system the other day and made over $300.00 in scrap for half a days work plus there are many parts I can reuse and sell plus I got paid by the owner of the junk to remove it what a deal.
Are there vampires lurking in your customers structures I be willing to bet so and when you find them and unplug and kill them you not only look like a hero to your customer who you are saving money, but your helping the environment as well.



IP This
Are we really going Backward instead of Forward?
When it comes to the use of Digital Technology

By: Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator and Researcher

As new and emerging technologies come out almost daily we have to now ask ourselves are we really benefitting from them or are they going to lead to our demise. Are we advancing civilization or hurting it.  Are we getting smarter or more stupid with technology?
Look at the latest Toyota Automotive fiasco with cars automatically accelerating and many experts pointing at the electronics and computers being used in the cars as the problem a problem not found nearly as often with mechanical systems which worked fine for hundreds of years in all types of technology till electronics came around.

Take this as a typical example Anti Lock Braking Systems.
They were billed as an end to rear end collision and other accidents being avoided and instead Anti Lock brakes have been blamed for the cause of many accidents and deaths because the driver did not use them properly.
Why because when properly applied you must put your foot down and hold it in place when you do this the anti lock system comes on but then it makes horrendous noises and some times shakes the vehicle when applied people think something is wrong and let up from the brake pedal and vehicle fails to stop or the driver instead of pushing down and holding mistakenly pump the brakes making them useless.
Before this technology was released drivers should have been mandated to attend classes where they put a vehicle into a simulated crash so they would know how there going to respond no written word or video is going to do it you must  actually experience it so you know what to expect.
But did we do this no and hundreds have died as a result over last 20+ years it has been available.

Lets then look at Photography. We almost all have used a digital cameras there great no more film to play with but what about storing all this digital media .We are finding out there are problems with digital cameras unlike Film negatives and prints which can last for ever if properly handled and stored we are already finding out digital storage media is deteriorating and many pictures are now lost to history. The other problem 30 years from now will you still be able to view the stored media on a CD/DVD or thumb drive will these types of readers still be around. With a print or negative you can put it over or under a light and there it is no technology involved. Again are we going forward or backward are we benefitting from short term gains for long term losses.
The same can be said with  Vinyl Record Vs. CD or MP3 file  again records will last forever but not CD’s and mp3 files there is now an on going revolution that is bringing vinyl back some music groups are actually cutting new albums on vinyl.
Also do not forget high fidelity and other music technologies now all being replaced by digital but any real audiophile can tell you nothing replaces the true sound vacuum tubes produced. In fact there are various digital music production software programs which try to reproduce the sound for commercials and movies etc.
Again are we going forward or backward.
What sounds better that scratchy old 50’s rock and roll vinyl record that was recorded in mono or a newly re-mastered version in CD quality? I vote for the old record.
Again when scholars research what Elvis actually sounded like a 100 years from now and there are no more vinyl records will they truly know what he sounded like and why the entire buzz about him I doubt it. Again are we going forward or backward.
How about those old Red Gamewell Fire Boxes that you could find on the phone poles.
They always worked even when all power was out even if the phones where out even if there’s a line break on the red boxes they still worked. That’s why San Francisco still maintains them there the only thing working some times after an earthquake.
Yet every town has gotten rid of them but for a handful and as we found out after the big snowstorm of 2010 cell phones ,digital phones etc where useless because digital does not have the back up non fail design analog technology like those old red boxes did.
Again what have we gained from digital other than lower cost? Nothing we have actually put the population at greater danger. Of course had all the dangers digital phones pose been told to those getting them they probably would have thought twice before getting rid of that old reliable ma bell phone?
How about the new code all new homes must have arc fault breakers in them to prevent fires great but new homes do not need them as much as old homes and 20-30 years from now when the breakers need to work will the electronics function I wonder or will it be like GFCI- Ground fault outlets which there have been several revisions because of technology short comings.
How about all the new homes must now have fire protection sprinklers but already a fatal fire and explosion has been attributed to a fire sprinkler system because the antifreeze in the pipes to protect them was mixed improperly and exploded when the sprinklers came on to put out the fire are you still now in favor of sprinklers for homes?
Or how about Elevator shafts which they require fire protection sprinkler heads in and which they require the power to be shut off before the water flows. Unfortunately they have failed to design into elevator codes a sure fire way to know an elevator has safely gotten to a landing before the power goes off and sprinkler comes on and as a result some day some one is going to be trapped and die of smoke inhalation or electrical shock in an elevator car because engineers have failed to properly design elevator codes. Why do we even need sprinklers in elevator shafts the pit area yes but the shafts are fire proof designed.
But that’s the problem designers of technology they do not want to admit its short comings they emphasize only the good points not the bad and society is suckered into it with out asking all the questions which need to be answered. Yes I love technology and I install and repair it but I also know its dangers and respect it and try to educate those who I put it in for that’s the difference. I try to back up technology properly so it will work during power failures and disasters something many others do not do. I design back ups to the back ups but even they can fail. But how many systems are out there with no back up at all and they could very well imperial your life one of these days.
Some days you have to wonder was The Uni-Bomber really on to something when he railed against technology? Was he trying to tech us about the dangers we now face but in a vastly perverted criminal way. I bet he is laughing in his cell right now.





Dear Commissioner Mann
You where recently contacted by KDKA TV and ACFM
About Ion Vs Photo electric smoke detectors and thought you may want my 2 cents worth of input
I have over 30 + years experience installing various type of smoke detectors and Fire detection systems and the photo electric smoke is far superior when it comes to detecting
fires in residences.

I have Fire alarm systems in many apartment buildings
 Installed and I only use photo units which produce less false alarms and are more dependable. The only time i use ion are for certain applications like computer rooms etc which need cross zoning, or where flammable chemicals are present.
Among the many systems I have taken over and rebuilt over the years are many which are in apartment buildings and residential adjudicated youth treatment programs.  The Ion detectors which where on the original systems never worked or sounded properly and were a constant source of false alarms, when replaced with Photo Electric detectors they worked every time.
I have had many fires in apartment buildings which where caused by the residents and every time the Photo Electric Detectors in the hall went off before the battery ion units in the individual units ever went off.
This Ion vs. Photo problem has been known for many years
and many jurisdictions are gun shy on passing laws to ban Ion units outright becuse they do serve a purpose for certain types of fires but you have way more smoky type fires than open flame ones.
I have both types of detectors in my own house. Because they both have a purpose.

But the problem is currently they do not to my knowledge make a dual chambered ion/photo 120 volt smoke with battery back

And most smoke alarms in new residence are the 120 volt with 9 volt battery back up
type.

The only dual chambered units I have seen so far are the battery only type which brings with it
Problems
Many fire experts I have spoken to in person and online groups including the Pa. Association of Arson Investigators which I belong to worry that mandating which type of smoke detector to be used could be opening a Pandora’s Box.
However I can tell you everywhere I have used Photo Electric Units over the last 30+ years in Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Institutional there have been fires the units have worked VS. Ion units which where late to activate or did not activate at all.
For my own peace of mind that’s why I almost always specify Photo Electric Units.
For my customers.
This is not going to be an easy issue as you can already see all the opposition to sprinklers for residential structures. Because of cost and Photo Electric and combo Photo Ion units run 2-3 times what Ion units run and I can already hear the opposition from the home builders.
Best of luck in you endeavors

Nick Markowitz Jr.
Markowitz Electric Protection
Verona pa.



Monitoring of Fire alarm Systems
As the digital age dawns it’s causing many problems.
And there’s no easy answers.

By Nick Markowitz Jr.

In the old days to get a Fire Alarm  monitored it was  fairly simple you called your local Ma Bell office and ordered a phone line which had copper pairs which ran from the Telco central office to the protected premise  also known as POTS or Plain Old Telephone Service , it was a very reliable service with few interruptions and best of all it worked even when the power was out. But then along came the Internet and telephone service has never been the same. Now telephone service can be delivered by way of .  FIOS ,T1, Digital Cable, VoIP and even Internet. And thou these new services save a considerable amount of money they all have one big vulnerability they require power on both ends to work. Where a POTS line is powered up and controlled from the Telco central Office by a large battery bank all of the modern digital and internet based services require a small wall wart transformer  or otherwise must be  plugged in to keep operating  and while some systems like FIOS and Digital Cable have a back up battery to keep customers connection up for several hours the big problem is out along the street because all of the digital services require some type of repeater or amplification to keep working and it only takes one repeater to go down to loose an entire niehborhood or street.
Which when a major natural disaster hits can create chaos. When a 90 mph straight wind hit my community several years ago myself and only 4 other neighbors had phone service and everyone else was out becuse they switched to digital cable and the amplifiers where damaged. No big deal right will just use our cell phones wrong again they were out for 24 hrs too. The other problem digital services create is the digital Hash or noise on the lines can confuse a fire systems dialer and make it think it has communicated its message when it has not. This can be overcome using Contact ID or other modern communication format but even this does not work with certain VOIP phone carriers which use an Internet connection. So now Fire Manufacturers have come out  with a IP based communicator which allows signals to go over the internet to a central station and it even monitors itself every 90 minutes compared to the once a day digital dialer but as many central stations have found out Internet services like new modern Digital phone lines have a tendency to go down overnight when maintenance etc is being done causing trouble conditions and headaches every where and any one working on the buildings network could accidentally disconnect the dialer as well if there working on the main switch or router and again all the internet components including router modem and switch need battery back up for at least 24 hrs.. So the IP Communicators as they are known are back up by being tied to a pots line which in realty is still some type of digital service in most business and if the internet is out so is the phone line.
There are a couple of other ways to assure a signal gets out many fire systems use a back up cellular phone connection but these are still not fully 100% supervised so the best way is Via a private 2 way fully supervised radio system like AES which also has its coverage drawbacks and costs
But when the signal must get thru this is the way to do it.
So what is the answer. At this point there is not one Telco’s want to get rid of copper all together but hopefully as the digital age evolves systems will become more reliable.
And there will be less dropped calls as modems ,routers and switches are hardened  battery backed up and assured .Till then vigilance in making sure systems are properly maintained and watched are the only available remedy.
So Ok you the AHJ are sitting there saying to your self wait a minute doesn’t the NFPA 72 in essence
Require copper POTS lines to a fire system. Well the short answer is no.
The code requires being connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network.
Which is guess what ,FIOS ,Digital cable phone ,T1 etc there all recognized by the FCC as Phone Carriers .
So would it be wise to require a protected premise to pay the cost of putting in and maintaining copper wires  for a fire system I think so knowing what goes wrong in the digital age but unless your a trained Telco person like I am how would you ever be able to tell it was done that way .Also you could well expect the back lash coming from the people who have to pay for those lines as well .Of course these all digital business find out the hard way when utilities go down and they can not call for help or tech support. There are no easy answers and probably will not be for at least another 10 years or so before we have a viable option. That’s the way I see what do you think.




NFPA 730 and 731
If your community is enforcing them
and are they putting the AHJ and communities neck on the chopping block.

By Nick Markowitz Jr.

A bank in your community gets robbed a teller is dead 4 others including customers are shot and not one alarm has been activated or video image of the crime has been obtained.
But all you know before the crime is fully investigated you have been served notice to appear at a hearing as the community AHJ becuse of what has happened becuse of a wrongful death lawsuit which has been filed.
What’s going on thank NFPA 730 and 731 for helping to create the perfect unsolvable crime and sticking you and your community clearly in the bulls eye of the wrongful death attorneys.
NFPA 730 and 731 deal with the design and installation of Security systems they were developed over the past few years and many in the security community want them to go away and want nothing to do with them. In fact the popular acronym for NFPA in the security community stands for Not For Practical Application.
The problem starts because 730-31 requires that information regarding where security devices and cameras are located must be shown on plans submitted to the AHJ the same plans any one can walk into your office and request a copy of because the are public record. By setting such specific standards any criminal now knows exactly how a system is to be designed and implemented and in our above nightmare scenario it could happen some day and an AHJ in particular a 3rd Party AHJ which does not have all the Tariff protections a normal AHJ has could find them selves involved in a massive lawsuit for
Damages resulting from a major robbery assault or burglary. Now it is true UL already has a standard in place for Burglar alarms etc. but they are much different than 730-731
Which requires very specific locations where to install something and be on a set of plans.
Where UL says you must have a motion sensor protecting an area it does not say exactly where to mount it like the NFPA standards do.
Now I am all for standards and codes do not get me wrong but when it comes to security the only advantage we have over criminals is secrecy in how we do and place things and putting it out there for display is totally nuts ,Luckily most communities want nothing to do with 730-731 becuse they are already overworked and are worried about the potential liability but if you are enforcing it or thinking about it you really need to take a hard look at the potential liabilities you could be exposing your self to. Even if you are exempt
From a lawsuit just having to live with the fact your actions may have caused a serious incident to happen should make any one ponder.
Ok there are those on the other side who think I am nuts and blowing the whole thing out of proportion. But with all of the major crimes which have happened in the last few years
Am I really doing so? You just have to look at what happened on 9-11-2001 too see all the conspiracy rumors about inside job that the city of NY has had to put up with to appreciate what 730-31 could do to your community.





 No On Star*  For me?
And many other technology as well

Yes I think On Star is a fantastic use of technology.
It can notify authorities if you crash help you find your way, diagnose car problems, provide a high power cell phone connection help locate where you are .Even slow down and stop your vehicle when it has been stolen all of this great technology which can and has been turned against citizens completely unknown to them.
On Star has admitted several years ago it allowed law enforcement to listen into On Star equipped cars in which conversations were recorded in essence a wire tap with out notifying car owners they had this technology available.
Now if your a law abiding citizen OK so you have nothing to say criminal but what about your political views .If one group could get this info what’s to stop some one else from getting it. For that matter what’s to stop them from slowing down your car and stranding you some where, based on your political views. Or even following you and hurting you.
What protections and guarantees do you have from this type of electronic surveillance and harassment the answer is you have none.
Same with your cell phone but you can leave it behind or disable it not so easy with On Star.
The electronic surveillance which goes on in this country from just simple gathering of data to complex profiling is prolific and getting out of hand.
RFID chips are being put in many items and again it helps with inventory and helps stop theft but in the same breath leaves open easy evil temptations to those up to no good.
Imagine traveling overseas with your RFID chip in all passports now being issued.
Some terrorist with a reader could easily find Americans or Israeli Jews in a crowd and attack.




Nothing but Lies and deception
From the BSA Headquarters

By Nick Markowitz Jr.
Eagle Scout Class of 1976

In the  Boy Scout Oath a scout is to be Trustworthy, Honest and Truthful
However when it comes to how the boy scouts is run at the top it is a different story
And why I will have nothing more to do with them along with many others who are completely and totally disgusted with the BSA organization.

Here are just of the few incidents which have happened over the years and cover stories
Which went with them instead of telling the truth ,
which is something the scout council in Pittsburgh can not do.

Take the case of the Heritage Camping facility in Farmington Pa.
On Property which was donated by Lumber Baron Henry Hillman  to the then Allegheny Trails Council.
Before Heritage was donated the council had several great camps which included.
Semiconon, Little Con, Tionesta , Baker and Anawana.

Tionesta was on property leased from the Federal Government in the Allegheny National Forrest ,which is part of the Tionesta Dam and Reservoir.
The camp was closed in 1977 because the stated purpose was that the Government would not renew the lease. Then the story was the government would only do a year to year
Lease , not a long term and they did not want to invest in the camp to possibly loose it. Again more and more stories as the lies were discovered.
The real reason Tionesta, Anawana, Semiconon , little con and baker is no more was that they wanted all the money in a super camp with all the amenities so well healed BSA members could stay on the property with there families close to Allegheny County.
Where there was not the 2-3 hour trip to get to the other camps all older and in need of many repairs and most camps where very rugged too much for the well healed kids to endure.
This came out in the spring of 1975 when a BSA icon Green Bar Bill came to town
To announce a super training program to develop new leaders from the young scout ranks.
They deliberately set up the 2 week camp so that the parochial and Pittsburgh students
Would still be in school and not attend while the upper class suburb kids where able to attend ,as there schools let out earlier for summer.
Yes it seems class was everything at Allegheny trails council and still is.
And talking about camp lets talk about the new camp When heritage opened they where given the ice machines from the old Carlton House Hotel in Down town Pittsburgh and I spent an entire day of donating my time and materials including Freon , getting the machines ready for the camp only to be told a month later by a friend that the staff was laughing after I left and how they conned me into fixing the machines because they were to be sold and replaced.
Also one weekend we went to camp Anawana  for a camporee to discover no water at the campsites we had to walk a ¼ mile with 5 gallon jugs to get it at the pump house because some one had stolen the 10 hp pump used to get water to the sites ,the ranger told us.
The adults figured that some farmer in the area stole it and several of us wanted to go looking for it the council told us not to because they were worried trouble would develop from it. While  the whole truth of the matter was the pump had been removed and sent to camp heritage. Then what actually happened and who bought the camp properties has been lies and deception. We were told Semiconon was sold to a hunting organization.
Which everyone thought was a good deal but in fact it was sold to a single family who converted the large mess hall into residence .No hunting group was ever involved.
So more lies and deception. The whole council leadership is nothing more than a corrupt organization. Then lets talk about the burglary and theft from the Allegheny Trails Council  in early 80’s the alarm was supposedly bypassed and many expensive stamp and coin collections and medallions were stolen or where they. Myself and at least 2 other scout leaders who are alarm experts offered to look everything over to see what happened and  were turned away . all these years non of the stuff supposedly taken has ever turned up Except when you go into certain corporate VIP’s homes to work and you find very similar looking displays hanging on there walls. Again was there ever a theft I would really like to know I never found a police report of the theft and none of the times ever turned up in Hoc shop etc. so you have to wonder.
So what other lies and deceptions have taken place over the years it will be interesting to find out as people get older and start talking about things to get it off there chests.
Yes the well healed got there cabins at heritage and the everyday boy scouts got screwed as usual. It is a shame when I call old scout members and they have nothing good to say about the scout council old name and new. All of it happening under a national office which sat by and did nothing despite numerous complaints being filed.




Protecting Rail Cars on sidings

With 27,000 gallons of lubrication oil a major environmental disaster is always a worry
Away at Oil Service Inc located on Neville Island Pa. in the middle of the Ohio River just outside of the city of Pittsburgh. They specialize in custom blended oils and recycling of used oil for industry

Having a rail siding built and utilizing it took many months of planning along with meeting rigid standards of the Federal  Rail Transportation Act. To insure that while the tank car is sitting on the sidings that no problems develop.

First off once the car is brought into the siding several safety and security items must be activated to insure the car does not move .
A blue metal flag is raised which reads “ Tank Car  attached “ which warns rail crews to not attempt to move the car as the off load hoses are attached to the car next a  yellow painted derail / Re-rail  device is activated this derail device will automatically derail any  engine or car attempt to attach to and move the car. Next a set of track locks are secured on either side of one of the tank cars wheels which act like wheel chocks to keep the car from moving  then  a critical safety device a grounding wire is attached to the car to prevent the build up of static electricity while the oil is off loaded.

Next there are 2 day/ night  cameras always watching and recording 24/7  along with being remotely watchable thru the internet.  One watches the entire side while a second camera watches the hose and valve attachment at bottom of the car so that worker emptying the car can watch to make sure a fitting has not blown off.
Additionally at both ends of the unloading process there are yellow safety spill buttons which set off alarms in the plant and notify the central station if the worker activates them to warn personnel in plant and authorities a spill is in progress and help is needed.
Additionally the tank farm where the oil is held also has warning float switches should a tank start leaking and filling the dike around the tanks which is monitored 24/7
Emptying the car can take up to 12 or more hours depending on how fully it is loaded.



Residential Security Providers in
 Pa. will now have to register in new Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act.

By Nick Markowitz Jr.

If you are a Security company doing residential installations in Pa you will soon have to do an annual registration with the Pa State Attorney Generals Office  Bureau of consumer Protection.
The act  Pa 2008-132 which was signed into law on November 17th by Governor Edward
Rendell  requires any  Home improvement contractor doing $500.00 or more in business
With a home owner to register which also requires  contractors to carry a certain amount of insurance along with using proper contract documents which spell out consumers rights etc and must use the new registration number on all advertising along with several other new requirements such as revealing if they have had previous enforcement actions taken against them. Unfortunately Pa has had the reputation of being a wild west show when it comes to rules and regulations enforcing  against bad contractors and  swindlers with an ever increasing elderly population which is estimated to be the 2nd oldest in the country the need was definitely there for some type of regulation.
Although this is seen as a step in the right direction it is an indictment of the Security Industry for not policing it self that it had to be included in this legislation.
The fact Pa has also finally gotten a state wide Uniform Construction Code in place which enforces ICC  and NFPA regulations is also helping to weed out bad and just outright rip off contractors who have for years pried on Pa’s residential and commercial
Consumers.   

 



Resolving False Fire-Burglar alarm Issues
In National Retail Stores
What you should know.

By Nick Markowitz Jr.

There’s that new dollar store which opened up last year and you have just been called
By the communities fire dept there to check out a fire alarm signal which proves to be false . A pull station has been smacked into by a stocking cart and broken and needs replaced . You talk to the store manager who puts in a request to there district office to get a tech on site ASAP.
That afternoon or next morning a tech shows up and replaces the station and resets the system.
Well that’s at least how it is suppose to work.
The realty is more like this 3-7 days later or longer a tech finally shows up while system kept false alarming or had to be kept on hold.
So what’s going on is the store manager being a jerk or upper management or the company coming to fix the system being lax.
Most times it goes back to how a work order is handled as it goes up the food chain to be completed. The store manager calls and notifies there district manager who is then to notify either the regional or corporate office of the problem. Typically it is the Loss Prevention Dept who actually then gets the request and contacts the national accounts alarm company who arranges to get a contractor on site.
Now no one alarm company can have a technician in every city so what they do is contract smaller alarm companies to do there service and installation work for them when it is out of the area they normally handle.  Again a work order is issued and a dispatcher prioritizes the order and gets a technician on site as soon as possible. The technician repairs the problem gets it signed off by store manager and is on his way problem solved.
Most times ,but if there is still problems the whole process needs repeated.
So how do you get a retailers attention. Ask for the district managers office number if that does not work get out your citation book and start writing every time a false costs $500.00 that will get there attention sooner or later .Worse case scenario shut them down
If a hazard exists when there pocket gets hit they usually pay attention.
No fire jurisdiction should ever have to get that drastic but this is some times what is needed. Most retailers try to be good neighbors and get a tech on site ASAP while others can care less. With as bad as the economy has gotten you can believe maintenance and security are two areas seeing cut back in stores as they are not seen as profit making centers with in the business unfortunately though most bean counters never take into fact that security and maintenance make sure profits come in the door and should be a first priority. I recently talked with a store manager around Christmas who  needed  there cash register check out monitors repaired to be able to make sales flow better. After all you want to keep customers happy with fast service and instead of getting a new monitor  they let them all go bad to point she brought one from home and on top of this they cut staff hours as well at what is normally there biggest sales time of the year. Result long lines do to one register open instead of 4 and mad consumers and profit fall.
Some times you just have to wonder who has control of the switch at these stores and it is no wonder we are seeing so many fold up do to string of bad decisions which ultimately effect first responders .Which also includes all the garbage ,shut off sprinklers, un repaired and inoperable fire alarms etc  and other hazards they leave behind when the go out of business.


Taking Over a Factory Authorized Fire System
Are you leaving your self open to legal exposure.

By Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator /Alarm Installer

There’s that customer out there with an Addressable Simplex ,Notifier ,FCI ,Gamewell  EST etc. Proprietary Fire system who has called you to come and service it because they are fed up with the company they are using who currently services it. You agree because most times it simply needs cleaned or a smoke etc needs replaced. But then comes the day the customer either wants to add to or delete part of the system and this is when you need to go into the systems software and change it.
And this is when the system goes from just maintaining it to actually servicing it and many questions start coming to mind. First off the software you have is more than likely not an authorized copy and has been illegally booted by an employee and since you are not authorized by the factory to service and program there system are you leaving your self open to possible problems if for some reason the system would fail?
Unlike the over the counter type systems, Fire-Lite, Silent Knight etc. any alarm dealer
can purchase with out questions.
This is where things can easily become very sticky. First off since you are not authorized.
You may not be aware of all technical bulletins issued by the company  and there could have been a flaw discovered you missed and are now responsible for because you are not Authorized for to work on this system. Well this may be true with Simplex because it is its own stand alone manufacturer but what about Notifier it is basically a beefed up Fire-Lite system after all isn’t and you went to the various Fire-Lite schools and knowing one very well it should be no problem working on the other. Well again not so fast you are still not authorized by the factory and again could be sticking your neck out.
I can tell you that working for insurance companies etc. they take a very dim view when it comes to individuals working on products they are not authorized for. In fact the way some insurance polices are written by performing unauthorized work on a proprietary system could result in not having insurance coverage.
So lets say that system you worked on failed and is not your problem but the insurance investigator pins it on you. Are you prepared to go into court and justify your actions as to why you are not to blame and the minute it comes up your not authorized what will be your defense.
You can cite the other guys are overpriced , monopolistic ,poor techs etc. etc. but it still does not matter You are unauthorized. Now what.
Better be ready to shell out big bucks for a defense and be able to show the proprietary guys are so bad the customer had no choice but to seek you out ,and be able to clearly show you are not responsible despite what the factory is going to say.
Good luck on that one.

So what can we do to encourage people  from using proprietary systems is education and it starts with the engineers and architects by letting them know there are other systems out there with all the bells and whistles and A&E specs etc that can help with the customers bottom line .It also takes talking to and convincing the end users and contractors to allow comparable bids. I have been able to do it several times when it comes to the bottom line
And you can answer all questions and fears they might have . It takes selling your self.
And when it comes to taking systems over when a proprietary system panel does finally die  you can usually pull out and replace that overpriced proprietary system for what many want for just the new board.






 

 



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