This is the kind of service you get when a major cable company hires Least Common denominator employees

I have a customer who designs builds and installs HVAC systems and has a large sheet metal shop in a former Verizon service facility.
When they first moved in they went with Verizon phone service but the lines in the area are poorly maintained so they decided to switch to Comcast who provide digital telephone service over there cable network. What a mistake I drew a print for the tech doing the conversion how to pull off the 25 pair amphenol connector and hook the new lines to the 66 block making a nice clean install I also left my cell number. Did the installer follow my instructions . No he did not he pulled all the wires off the 66 block tied them to his interface unit and then half the lines did not work alarm was showing line trouble and loud speakers used to ring shop phones so foreman can here the ring over the machines did not work and made a total mess then he leaves saying everything is working.
Obviously my customer upset calls Comcast who sends out a second installer who looks at everything says he does not do commercial work and walks out they send 2 more techs things are still not right I get called go down and connect wires correctly and everything is working but theres still problem with the interface they send another tech who brings a new interface box which corrects the noise and works if power is out. Needless to say my customer paid me and will be taking it out of there Comcast bill and it cost Comcast how many hours of wasted wages to send a bunch of idiots out and show how great there service is they tout everyday on TV commercials Yea right. But this is what you get today for service. The least common denominator and incompetence and nothing but apologies what a hell of a way to run a company.

What goes on in Exit -Delivery Hall ways in malls May get you trapped during an Emergency

Your shopping in your favorite mall when all of a sudden the fire alarms come on you start towards the entrance to find smoke so you start looking for an alternate exit you see a sign and double doors which lead to long corridor when you open it . Unfortunately for you a Book store has just gotten a big order in and has not removed it from the hall way completely and the hall way is blocked and very narrow will you and the others make it the 150 feet to safety and outside?
Well this exact scenario plays out every day in every mall every where. These long narrow hall ways are used for the delivery of packages which are to be immediately brought into the back of the store and put away unfortunately It does not happen this way and you often find hall ways jammed because over-sized pallets of materials have come in.
Even in this hall way there is a sign posted no storing of materials any time but as you can see this manager choose to ignore the sign and hold an employee meeting instead of clearing the hall way.
These Hall ways are an essential emergency path to get out of malls be it a fire, air plane crashing into the mall a terrorist attack etc you name it these hall ways could be the difference between living or dying . While the malls take it serious and fine store managers who do not keep them clear as you can see some do not get the message and this manager was in deed put on notice. So what is going on behind the hallways in the mall you shop in.

Fire-Lite Pull Station Recall notice

This is one of the very rare times System sensor has had a recall and I am glad to see they are taking care of it immediately. Unlike other irresponsible manufacturers of life safety equipment.



http://image.exct.net/lib/feef1078766c0d/d/1/SSD%20Pullstation%20Bulletin.pdf


Product Notice
If you have any questions concerning System Sensor products or their applications,
please contact Technical Services at 1-800-SENSOR2 (736-7672), extension 2.
3825 Ohio Avenue • St. Charles, IL 60174 • Phone: 800-736-7672 • Fax: 630-377-6583 • www.systemsensor.com
Issued: 10/3/2011
Summary of issue: Dual-action pull station activation handle
Level of urgency: Medium
Model numbers: All dual-action type pull stations
Manufactured date range: July 2007 to January 2010 [date codes 7071 to 0011]
System Sensor has been made aware of the potential for an issue with certain pull stations that were
manufactured at our St. Charles, Illinois facility between July 2007 and January 2010. The affected
models are of the “dual-action” type. These are clearly identified by the marking on the activation
handle which reads “Push In - Pull Down” as shown in the drawing below. Single action pull stations,
marked “Pull Down” only, are not affected.
The activation handle on these models made use of a molded-in tab that creates the need to push the
handle in before pressing downward. Some customers have reported to us that the tab can become
bent in such a fashion as to inhibit movement of the handle and inhibit activation. After review and
investigation, it appears that the bent tab is the result of improper installation/operation and should be
apparent during normal testing and inspection per NFPA. The incident rate is extremely low and does
not appear to be tied to any specific material lot or environmental condition. A design change was
made to the handle component in January of 2010 that eliminated this issue.
As a part of your annual inspections and system commissioning, inspection and testing of each pull
station must be conducted in the manner in which it was designed to operate and as described in the
installation manual: push in and pull down on the handle. As stated in Table 14.4.2.2, section 14 (e), of
the 2010 edition of NFPA 72®: “Manual fire alarm boxes shall be operated per the manufacturer’s
published instructions.” This manner is consistent with operation by a typical building occupant. The
pull station must not be tested in a fashion outside of the operational design. Opening the door of the
pull station and manually activating the alarm switch does not meet the intent of NFPA described
above. If the pull station is not tested in the proper manner, a bent tab could be overlooked.
If the pull station actuates normally and a visual inspection of the tab shows it to be straight, then the
pull station does not have this issue. System Sensor will, free of charge, replace under normal warranty
terms any pull station exhibiting the condition described and manufactured with a date code range of
7071 through 0011.
General location of the four digit
date code (???? on this example).
Location varies slightly model to
model
standard bent

4 Volts DC exit lights causing confusion and putting lives at risk

The standard batteries used in most exit lights and emergency lights
are either 6 0r 12 volts with some 24 volt systems out there where 2 -12 volt batteries are tied in series to produce 24 volts.

But what some manufactures of emergency and exit lighting have put on the market in the past are 4 volt DC systems and the average handy man etc changing batteries in these units can easily make the mistake of putting a 6 volt battery in the unit which will work and show it tests OK but couple weeks later the battery is dead.Due to the wrong charging circuit.
The big problem these 4 volt systems are not well marked look at the battery on the left no voltage marking compared to the battery on right .So the battery changing person opens the unit up sees the smaller battery and sees there is room to put the bigger battery in thinking he is doing a good thing giving longer run life during a power outage when all he has done is created a unit which will not work. Of course trying to see what voltage the unit is in the first place is a task because of how small the printing is on the labels . Then again maybe this was deliberately done to keep handymen from servicing them so you had to buy the overpriced 4 volt batteries. Once again a very bad decision by UL to allow these units on the market knowing the confusion it would cause. Why are these units not better marked ? well there suppose to be for professional installation only . Yea right you could open up any supply catalog and find them and describe professional for me when you see all the hacks working in the field for company's and calling them selves professional techs when they have no such training.

A look at the First Ademco Burglar Alarm panel which started the Industry

I came across this little piece of history of a Burglar Alarm 20+ years ago it was one of the the first panels produced by Maurice Coleman who founded ADEMCO or Alarm Device Manufacturing Company in the 1950's from his hardware store in NY. He bought his original parts to hand make these panels from Sterling electric Supply.
Known later as the model 110 it was powered by a 3 volt cylindrical dry cell the kind you found in science labs and a 6 volt lantern battery. the panel had a closed circuit which when the panel was ready to be armed would read between 5-10 milliamps on the meter which the 3 volt battery energized and you would then turn the key to arm the panel upon the loop being De- Energized the relay to the 6 volt battery would close ringing a bell till disarmed or the battery was depleted. Prior to this time alarms where very expensive and where mostly for banks and jewelry stores Mr. Coleman brought a product to market for the common merchant who needed protection though still not as affordable as today this was the panel which started it all Mr. Coleman sold ADEMCO to Pittway Corporation which stood for Pittsburgh Railways(trolleys) in 70's and it is currently held by the Honeywell Corporation which has had a long time partnership with Ademco for several decades. I think Mr. Coleman would be very surprised how things have changed but also very proud how the product line has evolved to today's modern digital systems.
This panel still operates to this day any time I fire it up as it is mostly all mechanical and some early 1000 series panels are still out there on barns etc still working every day thou they are 40 or more years old.

If your still using one of these Moose Panels know that it has a serious security flaw which could allow it to be defeated

The MPI 25 and 50 Burglar/ fire panel by the former Moose Products Inc.
In the 80's they where known as the work horse of the security industry many thousands where installed they where so good I installed well over 100 of them and have since replaced every one of them because there is a secret flaw in these panels I discovered one night when trying to figure out why a MPI 50 panel I installed at a Super Market in Bethel Park Pa. kept disarming by it self.
It ends up we traced it to the on board auxilary power supply when we discovered a wire going to a motion sensor was abraded and when we bumped the wire the panel disarmed when the panel was armed a short across the aux power terminals would cause the panel to automatically disarm. We saw this same problem with the 725C panels which came out after the 25-50 series as well the 725 only stayed on the market for a year when the z1100 came out another excellent panel Needless to say I notified Moose which at that point had been bought and resold several times and they where of the opinion that the panels where old enough that they should be replaced with a newer product as they where no longer making the 25 or 50 how ever they never ever told the installers and dealers about the problem which a few years earlier ended up with me being sued because a system failed which at time we could not explain how it had happened. Needless to say I was not very happy with Moose's explanation and after that and never again bought there product especially in the light of the fact it had been bought and resold how many times in 10 years time and is now out of business when GE bought the line. But despite the fact this flaw exists there are still hundreds of these panels still being used in homes and business who do not want to upgrade there systems and who could end up paying the price for it.
If you still have one of these panels and are using it you have been warned.

If you have one of these Edwards EST panels in Place you may want to concider replacing it.

The Edwards also known as EST 2500 series panels where marketed to the Electrical Contractor market and ended up in the D.I.Y. market as a result. in the 80's to 90's so installs go from excellent to extremely poorly designed. An economical panel it could be ordered as a complete system with smokes, heats, bells ,horns and pull stations. The brand has been sold and resold several times GE had it at one time and now it is owned by United Technologies.
While they initially served the purpose the design was not user friendly and frequently results in panels not being restored properly and constant trouble lights due to the fact it must be powered up and restored in a proper order do not follow it and nothing but headaches. Not a good situation for a life safety system. I am not the only tech who does not like these panels you can find plenty of complaints about them. Another major problem I have had with them is there stopping work all together and never giving any kind of trouble indication there not working
which I have seen a couple of times.
But the bigger problem is when they age as you can see in the middle photo the calcium like corrosion deposits around the terminals which then causes the panels to go off all by them selves.I have replaced more than 20 of these panels with the exact problem.
This panel was in a personnel care home a place it never should have been used. Knowing the history of problems these panels cause.
When I find one of these panels I always recommend pulling it out of service and replacing it before problems develop as there now in many cases getting well over the15- 20 year service life. But there are thousands of them out there.
Some panels just seem to have trouble written all over them and this is one of them. When a manufacturer no longer makes a certain panel and no longer supports it. Then its time to buy a new panel as the one you have is now obsolete.

Heat detectors a source of False fire alarms when not maintained

Heat Detectors
They sit there on the cieling in Kitchens , Furnace/ boiler rooms
and in Attics and other places you need fire protection but a smoke would not work due to the environmental conditions.
they come in several different models including fixed temp such as 135 or 194 F models which activate when a room gets to that temp and also in Rate of rise models where when a room changes 15 degrees in temp increase in 5 minutes time as well as the fixed temp. Normally they can operate for many years with no problems ,but when placed in bathrooms and kitchens steam can cause the units to start rusting over time and if not replaced the rust can become so bad as to cause the units to false alarm as you can see in these pictures. and when this happens it can be a real challenge to figure out what is going on. When I get a system that starts to malfunction and not giving a visual indication what caused it I always open up all the detectors and start looking for possible water damage due to a water pipe or roof leak or from steam building up and rusting them. While weather proof heats are made for out door use they are several times the cost of normal heats and look really industrial and so you guessed it the wrong heat gets installed as you can see here where these where installed in a small shower room in a personnel care home. Another big NO and code violation with these heats some one put paint on them despite labels saying do not paint which can stop the element from operating properly as well These where put in 10 years ago and you can see how rusted up they are. For a guide on proper heat detector placement and use plus models available go to www.systemsensor.com

Retrofitting Large Apartment Complexes with Fire alarms check out this product

When I think of all the Fire alarms I have installed in Apartment buildings in 80-90's I wish a product like this would have been available at the time.
It utilizes the buildings existing AC wiring to send signals to remote sounders in individual apartments so you do not need to bother tenants
other than to plug in and secure unit to wall. Great for use in apartments
where you have an elderly population who have a hard time hearing signals.
it works basically like the old fashioned X-10 systems where you send a radio signal thru the house wiring to turn on lights and appliances.
But this is much more rugged and reliable and is fully supervised to meet fire codes. Next big fire job you get check it out. I will be.

National Account Alarm System Servicing Companys mostly nothing more than confused idiots.

I have spent a considerable amount of time effort and money in my Education and specialty tools to be a top level troubleshooter and installer of Fire, Burglar , Card Access and Camera systems Etc.
So at least twice a week I get called by out of state National Accounts alarm servicing outfits who need some one local to handle one of the dollar or other retail stores security needs. I turn 99% of them down .Unfortunately most of these company's are run by a bunch of ill informed idiots.
or I have already gotten the word from other dealers there lousy company's to deal with.

Take Wednesday I get a call from a outfit that needs some stores Fire and Burglar alarms taken over downloaded and completely tested. for new tenants taking over this bankrupt stores spaces . OK no big deal 1 store in Butler Mall and 1 in beaver Mall about a 100 + mile trip so I get to the Butler mall to find no one on site and get security to unlock the space I walk around and no security system and fire alarm is handled by mall a wasted trip. then off to beaver I find a ADT panel hanging on wall and nothing else. So once again a wasted day yes I get paid for the trip but it does not cover what I would have made normally for the day.

How many times this has happened go there to find No store or alarm was never shipped or wrong stuff was shipped or alarm is already installed etc etc etc.
I drove over to E.Liverpool Ohio to wire in a newly installed outside door at a game/CD store it was never put in. Yet it was an emergency They needed it that day.

Then it takes for ever to get paid they always loose paper work etc etc.

Then the newest one it was not done properly? WTF another ploy at a Large electrical distributor where we had system tested and signed off by state fire marshal. So Fire Marshal is wrong?

yes nothing but excuses it seems bigger these companies get the stupider and more incompetent they become. All these company s want to do is hire the lowest common denominator employee they can find pay them $7.00 an hour no benefits give them a fancy name and uniform and fill there brains with how great they are when they are worthless.

Which is why I have been turning down more and more work from them and once again another company on the shit list. But remember you the consumer pays for all this incompetence every time you walk in a store and buy something. between theft, and Incompetence prices could be 50% lower in most stores .

Lock Out Tag Out Play this game wrong and you DIE!

Lock Out Tag out its not a game its an OSHA Law it protects employees from accidental electrocution and other injury's .

Introduced a dozen years ago LOTO as it is some times known is a rule which requires the shutting off and verifying that electrical and other energy's like Steam air and hydraulics are properly shut off so a maintenance project can be safely completed . It is required to be followed by each and every employee covered by OSHA rules which is just about everyone.

As you can see from the picture a padlock has been attached to a shackle device which allows more than one individual to lock out the item .This way power can not be turned back on till every one has there hands etc clear and out of the area before restoring power. There is also a tag affixed with an employees name and why this lock has been deployed.
fail to properly make sure the power is off which includes making sure the stabs in the switch are clearly pulled out etc. can result in instant death with 480 volts 3 Phase - delta which vaporises screwdrivers and pliers with no problem.
Following Lock out Tag out requires several steps you can find out more information on this subject at www.osha.gov
If you are responsible in any way with any source of energy above you are required to know and utilize lock out tag out this even includes the use of power tools so you could very well be in violation of Lock out Tag out and not even know it which can bring fines of $23,000.00 per incident.

A new concept in Fire Protection Smoke Detectors which shut off power

I have been doing Electrical work for over 30+ years and have seen more than my share of Tragic Electrical fires and injury's .
Well an inventor has come out with a new product a Smoke Detectors that shuts off the power to an electrical circuit .http://www.firebreak1.com/ Which shuts off and trips out a GFCI breaker.
While this concept is not new We have been using smoke detectors tied to shunt trip breakers to turn power off to critical computer server rooms and elevator shafts using shunt trip breakers for some time now this uses a GFCI breaker.
One of the big problems when fighting fires is always the utility like gas and electric being on and feeding the fire this prevents it and helps stop a fire from spreading Check it out.
and see what you think he may be on to something.

Fire Dampers an item often abused because its hiding above the ceiling tiles

We have a Big Mid regional Alarm dealer whose home base is here in Pittsburgh and There technicians go around telling every one " There the Fire Alarm experts of Pittsburgh"

Well Mr Experts explain this picture where you installed a fire Alarm system in an old City of Pittsburgh School now in private hands .

What you see in the picture is a Automatic Fire Damper in what is known as a Plenum Ceiling where the entire area above the ceiling is used as a air return duct
instead of running a separate metal one. Which designers claim save significant money but brings with it many many code issues which must be followed and where not done here.

First off the damper works by heat activation the small link you see when subjected to the heat of a fire melts away and the damper closes stopping the fire from getting thru the Fire Wall.
Well most times it does but often times installers run wires thru the damper preventing it from closing .
So what did Our quote Experts do they drilled a hole below the duct and feed the wire thru and violated Fire and Electrical codes. First off the wire being used is the wrong type its just normal red fire wire not plenum rated which is required by the National Electrical Code . 2nd they did not use a proper sealing off method sending the wire thru the fire wall to prevent fire spread they either need to use a special intralumensant putty or a self sealing pass thru tube as you can see they did neither . But remember now these are the fire alarm experts of Pittsburgh.

Do us all a favor G-uys and learn how to do fire alarms correctly and to code and stop tooting your horn. I see plenty of this type of slope all the time from you and it needs to stop.
Should we talk next about the horrific job you did at a Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh Next.
I think so.

Why you should not store Garbage Containers and other items under Stairwells and Fire Escapes

What you see here in an alley way of a Group home is a major Fire Code violation which can get a home shut down. But with the way things go on in Pa. forget any one ever enforcing it with out some one like me putting some steam on them and having to embarrass them here on this blog.

The storage of items under Fire Escapes is PROHIBITED PERIOD.
Not only is this dumpster a fire hazard should it catch fire not allowing people on the 3rd floor to escape it is also blocking the stairwell from 2nd floor.

But no one ever thinks about this its just put the dumpster some where and it could get people killed. In fact this exact scenario has killed many tenants of apartment buildings in years past. When sick individual thought it was funny to catch a dumpster on fire or it started from what was thrown into it by spontaneous combustion.

It is also illegal to store items under stairwells inside buildings as well in most cases and where it is allowed the area must be sprinklered, with a water based fire protection system.

Knowing this how many property's I can go onto just around Pittsburgh and find this exact problem. Its a shame why do people not use there brains before doing something like this? But it is the same old story it will not happen to me. This line of thinking gets people killed everyday.
and it proves itself every winter time in Pittsburgh area when you have a dozen or more fires every week during winter time do to people who do not think or just care less about there fellow man.

WTF !! In Pa. Group Homes, Personel Care Homes and Day Care Centers are not inspected for LIFE SAFETY ISSUES By State inspectors Who Does?

Coming to a national newspaper some day soon
22 killed 17 injured in Pa.Personnel Care Home Fire, 7 Toddlers severely injured in Pa. Day care Explosion and collapse. It could happen right now as you read this article.
How could this Happen ? it is very simple.
I found out the answer today while working at a Personnel Care Home when two state inspectors where there today. They walked around checked couple things and then sat down and all day went over paperwork and records. They never checked on Life safety or fire issues.
When I Identified myself and asked why they had not done a fire or life safety inspection I was told.We are no longer responsible for it. it is the local Community fire Marshal / Official or Fire Dept who now does the annual inspections for us and signs off on it.
OK Well is there a certification or check list etc. that is to be followed no that's up to the local people to do it. Its out of our hands that goes for Group homes and day cares as well.
So I called one of local fire marshals I know and mention it to him and yes he says last few years he has been getting requests to do this only problem in his large community there are 117 licensed locations which means he can not get to each one and has to have local volunteer fire depts do it. which most depts do not even know its now there responsibility let alone have a clue as to what code to follow let alone all the liability they are taking on if they do a bad inspection.
While some depts have people very capable of doing most do not and when it comes to areas with volunteers many have to work during the day so they get all the old retired guys to go around and do it less they lose a days work.
Nothing wrong with that if they know what there doing but how many really do it all depends. Especially when it comes to knowing what is or what is not correct and proper fire door exiting hardware etc . etc. or if the fire alarm is even working properly because all too often they are relying on the word of the local fire alarm tech that the inspection was done properly and that it is actually being monitored and it is a well known fact just how badly fire alarms are installed and maintained For that matter if a fire dept does not keep track of what is going on in there community whats to keep a licensed facility from just filling out the paper work and use a fire company's name and say it was done by them . You better believe it is being done.
So what we have is one big mess and the door open to a major catastrophe at any point in time . It gets even better Pa. passed the state wide Uniform Building Code several years ago which is suppose to follow the ICC IBC and IFC Codes The International Building Code and International Fire Code. how ever they never passed the IFC fire code now what . Well there answer is use it as a guideline where it is referenced in IBC code. Great so we have nothing to fall back on or really enforce other than NFPA codes.and some areas there are no codes to reference to.
So annual inspections are now all based on paper work which has been signed off by a local firefighter who may or may not be properly trained following a code he is not sure to follow and taking the word of sprinkler and fire alarm technicians that everything is fine with the life safety systems which none of the techs need licensing or certification to boot. But as long as its all signed everything is fine with the state.
No wonder insurance carriers are so gun shy to set up shop in Pa. and why our premiums are so high in this state.
Every night I go to bed wondering what will the news be like because I know that a major catastrophe is coming soon in this state and elderly or at risk youth or the young will be dead from it and no one gives a good damn about it. and Pa. will continue to deserve its Hooterville ,wild west reputation .
Pray with me the headlines above will never be fact in Pa. or any state.