Two Fire-Lite MS-9600 FACPs Talking Through One UDACT



Original Fire Control Panel



We have a customer in Pasadena, CA who owns a very nice self storage facility that was recently expanded by one building.  When we originally installed the fire alarm system, we decided to use the Fire-Lite MS-9600 addressable control panel.  This was the panel of choice through negotiations since our customer did not want to feel locked in with a proprietary system such as Gamewell, FCI, Notifier, Simplex, or EST.



The original portion of the site was rather large and required the use of two SLC circuits off the Fire-Lite MS-9600.  When the new building went in we chose to install another Fire-Lite MS-9600 to keep everything equal.  Now both of these buildings with completely separate addressable fire alarm systems have stand alone central station dialers.  

New Fire Alarm System

With two individual dialers requiring the use of four phone lines, costs can start adding up quickly.  This sparked my customer into asking if there was a way to avoid the second universal digital alarm communicator transmitter (UDACT).  Unfortunately for him Fire-Lite does not have a network in place.  However, we proposed the idea of running an SLC cable between the two Fire-Lite MS-9600 fire alarm control panels via an available underground conduit.  Once this cable was in place we would be able to use the three onboard relays (Alarm, Trouble and Supervisory) from the newer MS-9600 fire alarm control panel. 

It's really quite simple.  Use three Fire-Lite MMF-301 addressable monitor modules to monitor the three relays on the remote panel.  Simply program the three monitor modules for supervisory (non-latching) and give them a description for their respective zone.  Example: the fire alarm relay on the remote panel will be connected to a new monitor module set to a non-latching supervisory point which reads "Fire Alarm Remote Panel Building #2". 

NOTE:  Make sure that the central station receives this zone as a dispatch fire alarm!!!!!  

The reason you want to set all of these up as non-latching supervisory points is to get the attention of the end user at the main building without activating all of their fire alarm functions as well.  Since these are completely separate addresses we need to treat them as separte fire alarm systems.  With the supervisory event, this will make the end user aware of a condition that exists in the system so that they may respond and react as necessary.  The non-latching is nice because once the issue is corrected at the remote location, the main panel will automatically return itself to the normal operating condition.  Less running back and forth.

Now that you have this setup make sure to inform the central station of all three zones and make sure they are clear on the dispatch instructions.

• Plus sides of this setup are it is a low cost solution to systems without the ability to network.  It also will save your customer on the cost of extra monitoring accounts and phone lines.
• Negative side is the main control panel will report all individual points to the central station with their own descriptions and event codes (if setup with the proper format) but the remote system will only have the ability to report a general fire, general trouble, and general supervisory.

Now please note that with any addressable system, you can setup as many addressable control modules as you like for this purpose.  As long as you have money in the budget and room on the SLC you could potentially setup an addressable relay for each zone you wanted to report seperately.

Also make sure to get the AHJs blessing before you alter any system.  It's always a good idea to make sure they are on board with your design alterations.