Why where such poorly designed Safety Switches ever allowed on the market

 At top left is one of the most dangerously designed electrical safety switches I have ever worked with. By looking at this switch can you tell if it is on or off?  VS the bottom left picture .

The switch at top left came on the market in the 60's and was finally put to bed in late 90's after how many electricians including myself  when I was a rookie experienced being shocked when it looked like handle was off and also having the stab on inside breaking and not separating from the interlock insuring power to circuit is broken.

Why these style switches where ever allowed on the market and then allowed to stay on the market so long and then never recalled is beyond negligence but it is the same old story  as long as it meet minimum requirements and there only to be installed and used by professionals there will be no action. Screw the rookie electricians and any one else who may come across it and not operate it properly because it is a confusing product.

                                                    It appears the original intent of the design was the preventing of the handle getting snagged  as it did not stick out as far as the bottom switch but what a bad way to do it.

Why was This Elevator allowed to pass inspection with a Non Complying Fire Alarm

Once again Pa. Dept of Labor & Industry Inspectors prove they are totally and completely incompetent when it comes to understanding the NFPA Fire Codes when it comes to how an elevator is to be protected with a Fire alarm system.

NFPA 72 requires all elevators to have a supervised fire panel running and operating the smoke detectors used to capture and recall an elevator if smoke is present but this is not what was done with a building in Beaver county where non supervised 120 volt powered smoke detectors where used.

As per usual the Dept of Labor & industry when contacted about this elevator not complying with codes had no interest in correcting it despite the fact a state certified  elevator inspector employee  signed off on the inspection of this elevator which was installed 2 years ago and which clearly requires it follow NFPA72 rules. L&I has also failed to address the issue of the wrong type of sump pumps being used in elevator pits as well.

In the case of this elevator since the building did not have a fully functioning and programmable  fire system a separate  fire panel is to be mounted in the area of the elevator  marked for elevator use only and all smoke detectors are wired to the panel so it is known at all times the smoke detector recall system for the elevator is properly functioning . But this is not the case with how this elevator was done in Center Twp. in Beaver County  Instead they took off the shelf 120 volt smoke detectors and just wired them in  with no supervision so a fire could break out  and a smoke detector not sense the smoke and the elevator would not be recalled to first floor or designated level  should any of them loose 120 volts ac power.  A very dangerous situation. I will be correcting in next few weeks as I rebuild a fire system in this building.

Beware these Replacement Plugs being sold at Flea Markets

 If you spend any time around a Flea Market in Western  Pa. you will run across some Chinese individuals with a large white box truck they have filled with cardboard boxes of the newest arrivals from China with a variety of cheap dollar items.Unfortunately some of the items they are selling are dangerous being yellow replacement plugs and receptacles for extension cords They have shown up at Trader Jacks, in Collier , Rossie's Pop Up in  North Versailles  and Butler pa flea market on Pa Rt.8 and the plugs have shown up at a flea market on US119 in Connelsville
The Plugs and Receptacles are not  UL Listed have undersized metal in them and are of very poor construction. I have notified CPSC  about them but as yet no action has been taken these same people where the ones selling undersized extension cords several years back and had all there items seized by the CPSC.

This Electrical breaker is so Secret its Classified ?

For years now there has always been a problem with being able to stock enough breakers on your service vehicle for service calls etc. The problem even thou breakers can interchange  from one manufacturers panel to another by code this is not permitted . Only Siemens or Bryant or Westinghouse breakers are permitted to be used in there own panels there not allowed in any one Else's even thou they fit. This is because breakers are designed to work and are listed and tested only for that manufacturers specific  panel. So you could end up carrying 100 breakers on your truck in easy fashion to try and cover all the popular brands and amperage make ups.
Well Eaton  also known as Cutler Hammer has finally come out with a breaker which can be used in multiple panels . There known as Classified Product breakers  and these breakers are permitted in more than one manufacturers panel as long as there on the approved list that Eaton furnishes with these breakers. This save's considerable time and money so now you can carry a few breakers and cover many panels and not have to run to supply house or shop to get the proper breaker.  Previous to this a company was turning out a Universal breaker which had a small white LED built into top of it  which lighted when it tripped and they claimed could be used in any panel but this was never the case and they should not have been installed,but where in many panels.
They where put in by the  thousands  in 1980's till the practice was stopped and are still out there and a potential hazard, if they where not properly matched up.
Eaton has produced an excellent video available on You Tube you can view on the subject

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGPsxBfU5Aw

Thank You Eaton for making such a great time saving product

The Horrors in a Beaver County Building continue

Yes it is absolutely amazing what passes for Fire Protection In Pa. but then again no one really gives a dam they prove it every day and it has always been this way just look at the little surprise I found while working on and converting an old Faraday AC Only System
I previously talked about finding 3 live 120 circuits  and having to separate them now I am working at changing over all the bells to horns and new modern ADA  pull stations which are supervised by a modern system. Well it did not take long to find out the wiring to horns and pulls where paralleled
which means there was  not proper supervision of the bells  they need wired in series, then when I did test system half of it did not activate as you can see the broken connection at picture at left where blue wires need to be together not apart which is why bells in rear of building did not sound this pull station and bell where removed when elevator was installed and system never restored. The elevator smokes them selves do not meet code either .You are suppose to use a small fire panel to supervise them properly this is not the case they ran some smokes and powered them of a power supply with no supervision plus the wire runs all thru the building instead of up the proper chase and yes this was approved by a Pa. state elevator inspector.
Then in the front of the building as you can see in the top picture some one decided they needed to move the bell and pull stations and did so running lamp cord and again nothing supervised. Lamp cord is for temporary wiring not permanent wiring with time it will deteriorate and break as happened here.
This system is suppose to be tested and certified yearly which it has never been done since it was installed improperly in the first place in the 60's But hey this is beaver county do what you feel like its all grandfathered any ways.

Uplink Now Offers remote control capabilty

Uplink  cellular communicators now offer remote control capability similar to Tellular which works with most any alarm system so you can use a cellular smart phone to control it.

http://www.uplink.com/files/pdf-UplinkRemote.pdf

Using a key switch zone and LED outputs it allows you to remotely arm and disarm the alarm system. Great for off brand panels  and legacy panels which will not work with more modern systems like Total Connect 2,

You can use it with older Napco,, DSC  Ademco, FBI,C&K  etc. series of panels  just some simple programming and attaching a module and your up and running and it works with all the Uplink  burglary communicators .

Good Job Uplink now everyone can have remote capability.

Summer Heat brings out all the defects in Fire Alarms when they start falsing

Yes summer time can cause all kind of electrical issues especially when it comes to Fire Alarms and False alarm signals for no apparent reason.
Often times the culprit is in the picture at left. It is a simple heat detector . If you do not install the proper heat detector  for the proper purpose then a false alarm is guaranteed.
The unit at left is a 194 degree fixed detector it is supposed to be used in Attics , Kitchens and other areas where temperature gets extremely hot and air temps change rapidly.

But typically what happens is the wrong unit gets installed in these areas like a 135 degree rate of rise and fixed detector . Rate of Rise units operate 2 ways when temperature gets to the fixed value typically 135 or 194  but it also operate if room temperature changes 15 degrees in 5 minutes. So put this unit in the attic typically it does not get above 135 degrees but have an attic cooling fan turn on  and now you can have an air change fast enough you get an alarm.
The Fire Dept. arrives and starts looking can not find anything and the alarm resets. Well looks like the alarm just went off from power blink etc. Wrong it was the wrong heat detector and until some one physically goes up into the attic and checks guess what the false alarms will continue every time its hot out. and get blamed on everything except what the real cause is.
not that power issues can not be involved but most modern panels handle power imbalances well compared to the old days. But power issues can result if the Back up batteries are not in good shape. they need changed at least every 3-5 years. But I see them in there 7-10 or more years and yes when power blinks alarm false s . If the batteries are good false alarm eliminated. same thing with grounding the panels a properly sized and run ground wire eliminates issues and additional surge protection can be added as needed and problems avoided. But again why bother doing any of this
if your an alarm company ? If you want to keep a customer happy this is why, but it is very obvious too many company's are interested in your money not your safety so choose wisely who installs and services your systems.

Cloud Computing proved very cloudy this week precautions you must take before concidering using cloud services

     

Things got very hot and very dangerous all at the same time this week  as violent storms  crisscrossed the East Coast during record breaking heat for late June of 2012 and knocked out power to millions and took a dozen lives.  radar maps like the above example you can find on the weather channel where solid red in some areas the storms where so violent .The result Cloud computing started crashing as server farms started going down everywhere. Flickster, Amazon ,Pintrest etc. all went down and in some cases may be down for a week for smaller outfits. With this in mind imagine now you where sold on a package of goods by a computing firm who have put all your business records on the cloud.
Now what do you do you can not access any thing? I saw this happen to a furniture store client 6 years ago when they first went on the cloud.  They could not view any records or contacts or previous sales or make sales etc. it was a total and complete logistical night mare.
So before you go signing up with a cloud based server program for your business . Ask your self if the cloud goes down can I still operate? Do I have files backed up some where? are they accessible ?
Who has access and how do I get to them? 
If you backed up to some one like Carbonite and can not now get to them your basically screwed.
This is why it is always important to have a local file back up so even if Internet service is down you can still operate be it limited capacity but your business will not suffer .You will also want to back up files more than one place have one copy at business another in a bank deposit box etc. It is amazing how many businesses have absolutely no back ups in place and when cloud , internet or even a single computer goes down there goes all there files.
Back up systems today are simple plug in USB  units which can store several terabytes and for under $300.00  and self install with there own software all you do is plug it in and answer a few questions.   Keep in mind also how you store your digital media
store it in a combination  Fire Proof and  Data Safe   lock box or safe  a standard fire safe is not acceptable and data could get destroyed. thats why more than one location for back ups.
Otherwise be prepared to spend thousands of dollars recovering data which may or may not be recoverable. the cloud is not a safe and friendly environment they make it out to be you must take precautions or be prepared to loose your business.  Even just simply backing files to a flash drive could mean success or failure. just do not think about it do it I have.

Simple 1 cent plastic spacer difference between false alarm or secure alarm

It is amazing at left is a simple set of magnetic switches sold and installed by the millions every year in the US  for the protection of doors being opened by burglars which opens or shorts the protective circuit activating the alarm  .It consists of a reed switch ,magnet , cover cap and in bottom of photo a spacer plate.
Up to 70+%  of all alarm installers and technicians can not properly tell you the purpose of the spacer plate and why it is in the package .
most will tell you its used to help align the contacts on the door WRONG.
Yes it can be used for this purpose but its real purpose is to be used behind the magnet part of the switch when it is used on steel doors to prevent the magnet from weakening over time as it attracts towards the steel door. Do not use the spacer properly and fail to install it and you will with in a few years start getting unexplained false alarms  as the magnet weakens.

Why do Installers and techs not know this? Very simple the same old answer  total and complete lack of training and education in our industry. Had any of these individuals bothered to go onto the manufacturers web sites and read the manufacturers instructions or go to a alarm system class you will find this is what this plate is intended for.
But how many times as I work on and take over systems the spacer plate is missing on a steel door.
Sad but true. Yet another example of why learning on the job is only beneficial when person teaching actually knows his stuff otherwise he is just turning out one dumb shit installer after the other.
Having false alarms from doors and no answers check to see if spacer plates where installed . If not remove the contact set and install a proper one with spacer plate.