We never learn as humans once again a multiple fatality in a night club

Its been almost 10 years to day of the tragic Station Night Club fire which took  100 lives  in 2003  in Connecticut after pyrotechnics display went wrong catching the club on fire .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire

20 seconds before fire broke out

Right now in Brazil they are still counting the bodies as  a tragic toll once again caused by a pyrotechnic  incident has now killed over 200 people and the toll is expected to go much higher .

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/27/fire-in-nightclub-kills-at-least-0-people-injures-200-in-southern-brazil/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21220308

 Yes it seems we never learn just this summer exactly 100 years to the day of the infamous Triangle waist shirt factory fire in New york  several hundred died in a  clothing factory in Malaysia

with the same exact conditions . yes I could go on and on how many fires of the exact same nature have gone on with in 10 years of each other and no one notices and no one cares.
and as I have said before do not think another big multiple death fire can not happen here in the USA your dead wrong. Its time to stop making excuses and start enforcing common sense fire codes  and hiring more properly trained officials to make sure it is done right or just keep clicking the death clock day by day year by year decade by decade.

Why did UL allow this confusing 3 wire Fire Sounder from Edwards on the market

When I started working on fire alarm systems in the late 70's one of the first panels I worked on was an Edwards (EST Systems) 8500 which utilized a very confusing 3 wire set up on on there bells and horns , which could be used on AC and DC sounding circuits . While all other fire alarm bells and Horns had 4 wires  to allow for proper signal of a single wire break causing a trouble condition at the panel. The Edwards set up could allow for the bells and horns to be disconnected and not known till there was a problem as the white wire could snap off the bell   as I had seen happen at a couple different sites.

To make matters worse they had a confusing  red, black and white wiring set up white was negative and red and black wires where positive very confusing all other devices black is always negative. With only a very small tag on back of sounding device to show how to wire it properly and even it was confusing unless you where properly trained on how circuits where wired. You where suppose to read the install manual and follow it but many installers did not have a copy and none was available  on site and this was before you could just go on internet and find one  and caused nothing but headaches in the field as Edwards did not give out manuals unless you where an authorized installer . They kept this confusing  wiring set up well into the late 80's  till Strobe lights became standard on fire systems. Its was so confusing I actually saw Fire system  drawings  for the Investment building in Pittsburgh  with the drawings showing 3 wires coming from fire panel for each horn circuit  when only 2 where used and who ever designed  the drawing  had no idea they showed the horns wrong and local fire official  signed off on these bad plans as well.  Well thank god they finally did away with the 3 wire bells and horns but there are still plenty of them out there causing confusion for any one attempting to service any of these older systems or convert them to newer systems.

 Today most horns and strobes are only for DC only or AC only  circuits and the  few multi voltage fire sounders available  are easy to wire and no confusing wiring diagrams as horn automatically converts to what voltage is present .
This auto conversion circuit was not an available option back in 70's and you would have to stock separate AC and DC bells and horns etc and this is probably why Edwards came up with and was allowed to use this 3 wire circuit on there devices as they had panels which used DC  voltage sensing circuits to allow smoke detectors to be hooked to it  , but had AC powered horns I took such a panel out years ago in a school in Hampton Township.  The panel had no back up batteries and where intended to be hooked to a generator for back up power.

 I like Edwards Industrial line of signaling products- bells, buzzers, horns, notification lights etc have them in many of my customers factory's .  I have used them for over 35 years but this was one case they could have done a better job to prevent problems .

Linear VS Non Linear Power Supplys theres a Big Difference when powering up big Fire Systems

Before the passing of the ADA Americans with Disabilities act  they amount of power available coming out of a fire panel to run horns or bells was not a big deal . The few buildings like highrise buildings which needed strobe lights was small  and strobes where just small blinking white lens. Which was not a significant load on the fire systems  panels power supply.
Then ADA came along with powerful clear strobes capable of 115 and even 185 candella  power.
It became a challenge to have enough power from the fire alarm panel to power them up and the Fire Alarm Booster supply was invented . From one to as many as was needed could be added to a fire system so as many strobe lights which needed powered up could be added.
But as the ADA and off shoot state disability codes expanded the need for even more strobe lights in buildings where they where not previously required  it started causing installers to some times have to use as many as 4 booster panels  for one small job. The answer was simple change the type of power supply your using and go to lower amperage  draw strobes. Many manufacturers like Silent Knight began to offer Linear power supply's VS non linear supply's Linear supply's provide a clean level voltage and can handle initial in rush current much better than non linear designed supply's. allowing for more devices per circuit and when you size up the wiring to 14-12 gauge wire you can get even further.

SK5495 Power Supply

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply

  Company's like System Sensor and Wheelock started to offer strobes which drew less power and  a fire system designer  had the ability to pick and choose which power supply's , panels and strobes you wanted to use on a  jpb, so you had the freedom to get more out of your products with less material and wire runs getting the best of both worlds.
With an average cost of $500.00-800.00  a booster if you can save putting in 2-3 boosters thats significant money to save on a job as well as all the extra wire not needed to be run and back up batteries etc. which just adds to the job.

But the Linear VS Non Linear  Power supply often brings up conflict on jobs because if your only  installing  non linear supply's and strobes which draw more than another popular product and are locked into an engineered product like Simplex, EST ,Siemens etc.   They often see Silent Knight as an unfair competitor and cut down on its performance because it can be put in for a cheaper price.
The truth folks is Silent Knight is just as good if not better than many of the engineered systems on the market and I have installed and serviced many different systems so I know what I am talking about.  In some cases engineered systems  are nothing more than relabeled off the shelf panels with a couple extra features.
So why would you pay all that extra money and get whacked with a $400.00 service call for an engineered system vs an over the counter product.
  As more strobes are being needed and jobs are getting bigger as buildings are growing in size some manufacturers now offer even lower amperage draw strobes by utilizing LED based  strobes   which I will be testing out and reporting on in the future.

NFPA Stay the hell out of Burglar Alarm Companys business

There is one thing I can not stand and thats when an organization like NFPA National Fire Protection Assoc.  also known as" Not For Practical Application " by those of us who have had enough of there horse shit over the years.
 Sticks its nose into other industry's business . They are Fire Protection they make rules and standards which deals with fire. There name says nothing about burglar alarm protection but they have come up with a recommendation of standards known as 730-731 in last few years no one wanted or paid any attention to, and now they want  it to be able to be enforced as a Building code standard 730 if passed and enforced by a local municipality.
In the first place building inspectors want absolutely nothing to do with burglar alarms there busy enough now as it is and do not need to stretch what little time they do have to inspect burglar alarm work. 2nd they want nothing to do with the potential liability of a burglar alarm system being breached and it was done so because of plans which now have to be reviewed sitting around there office. 3rd It is none of NFPA's fucking business how I design and install a burglar system  trapping and catching burglars takes more than a code to follow it takes stealth and out of the box thinking in the placement of sensors to detect crafty intruders secrets I am not interested in divulging to any one other than the building owner.  There are plenty of schools you can attend and plenty of manufacturers instructions and classes to teach you about burglar alarms  and how to install them correctly. many states also require license  etc  to keep burglar alarm business properly regulated  and each and every system needs to be different there is no cookie cutter pattern  viable to burglar systems  like fire systems despite what the geniuses NFPA think they have  have proven  to them selves. Maybe the SIA or Other Burglar Alarm assoc. should come up with some fire codes after all if NFPA are now Burglar alarm experts that means Burglar alarm experts should be fire experts . many individuals and companys do both types of work.

Stay out and keep out NFPA we do not want you in these matters Period.

Your not allowed to ship lithium batteries on a plane yet new 787 planes are now being investigated for there use

In another one of those amazing what the hell where they thinking cases in the use of technology the entire fleet of new Boeing 787 Jetliners have been grounded over a battery issue . But not just any battery issue it is one I have written about here before.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/18/us-investigators-boeing-staff-arrive-in-western-japan-to-inspect-troubled-787/

It Involves Lithium batteries catching fire. Small batteries which carry a very large punch of energy  and which are prohibited from being shipped in the cargo sections of aircraft .

Yet here is Boeing using them in the construction of the plane and not just one but many of them. 

But these batteries for all the fantastic power they can put out in a small package are vulnerable to overheating and bursting into fire and like I have pointed out make for a very useful tool by arsonists and pose a danger even when depleted because they still have a lot of power behind them.  I guess we will see what plays out in the future but I bet they will be replacing these batteries or completely redesigning there charging and storage containers rather than scrap an airliner.