waterfolw & tamper switch

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dhalleron

Senior Member
Location
Louisville, KY
In my experience they are mostly supplied/installed by the sprinkler contractor.

The tamper switch can be installed by just about anyone from the fire alarm tech, sprinkler guy or electrician. The water flow switch will involve cutting into the sprinkler pipe and I would leave that up to the sprinkler guy.
 

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
They're installed as part of the sprinkler system. It's up to you to get power to them.

A side note: the switches typically have a built-in delay, and require water to run for almost a minute before they trip.
 

satcom

Senior Member
In my experience they are mostly supplied/installed by the sprinkler contractor.

The tamper switch can be installed by just about anyone from the fire alarm tech, sprinkler guy or electrician. The water flow switch will involve cutting into the sprinkler pipe and I would leave that up to the sprinkler guy.

just another side note, working on waterflow devices usually requires you carry liability insurance that covers waterflow work
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
just another side note, working on waterflow devices usually requires you carry liability insurance that covers waterflow work

No more well pump connections, or lift pump connections, without looking at my insurance. Am I liable for a tripped GFCI that makes a lift pump fail?:rant:
 

satcom

Senior Member
No more well pump connections, or lift pump connections, without looking at my insurance. Am I liable for a tripped GFCI that makes a lift pump fail?:rant:

What do well pumps and lift pumps have to do with fire waterflow devices?I thhought the subject was fire alarm systems
 

Alwayslearningelec

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Estimator
In my experience they are mostly supplied/installed by the sprinkler contractor.

The tamper switch can be installed by just about anyone from the fire alarm tech, sprinkler guy or electrician. The water flow switch will involve cutting into the sprinkler pipe and I would leave that up to the sprinkler guy.

ty
 

satcom

Senior Member
Some electricians that may not understand alarm wiring could run 120v bell circuit with low voltage. The power you find may not belong there.

Quote from NFPA link " The other day while our technicians were out perfroming an annual fire alarm inspection they came across something very interesting. The BOSCH fire alarm control panel had a fault reading on one of the three waterflow switches. They went to the device and found that an electrician had pulled out the hot switch leg for the water flow switch fire alarm bell. While the hot wires were pulled through the 3/4" flexible conduit it arched and completely fried the contacts within the water flow switch.

By doing this they had back fed our addressable fire alarm panel and burnt up the D7039 addressable multiplex card. Odds would have it that we did not have sufficient stock of this part so it had to be ordered. Now the site is on fire watch and the electrician has a nice sized back charge coming his way."
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
What do well pumps and lift pumps have to do with fire waterflow devices?I thhought the subject was fire alarm systems

I know what the subject is but isn't a pressure switch or float switch for mentioned equipment a "water flow" device?

Might not be as funny as it sounds, insurance will find any technicality they can to get out of paying a claim, that is just what they do.
 

mike7330

Senior Member
Location
North America
I know what the subject is but isn't a pressure switch or float switch for mentioned equipment a "water flow" device?

Might not be as funny as it sounds, insurance will find any technicality they can to get out of paying a claim, that is just what they do.

I pay my insurance company thousands a year so they can tell me that they don't cover this or that. It's so much easier.
 

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
Power or fire alarm circuit?

Might have both - a set of contacts for the alarm system, and a set of contacts that supplies power to an alarm bell / gong.

Many times it's an 'either/or' situation ... a gong is required if there is no monitored alarm system. A similar situation arises with kitchen hoods.
 

satcom

Senior Member
Power or fire alarm circuit?

Might have both - a set of contacts for the alarm system, and a set of contacts that supplies power to an alarm bell / gong.

Many times it's an 'either/or' situation ... a gong is required if there is no monitored alarm system. A similar situation arises with kitchen hoods.

I was hoping they would read the link to the flow alarm comments, where they describe how someone connected one of these 120v bell switches in the same run as the low voltage monitored panel wiring.
 

MichaelGP3

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco bay area
Occupation
Fire Alarm Technician
I know what the subject is but isn't a pressure switch or float switch for mentioned equipment a "water flow" device?

Might not be as funny as it sounds, insurance will find any technicality they can to get out of paying a claim, that is just what they do.

Pressure switch? Sure, sometimes. Float switch? No.
 

MichaelGP3

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco bay area
Occupation
Fire Alarm Technician
Yes, there can be power on some fire circuits, here is a good link that explains more about fire water flow. http://www.firealarmsonline.com/2011/08/water-flow-backflow-osy-tamper-switch.html

I was somewhat discouraged to find mistakes in the article. One example: OS&Y valves are not the same as backflow preventers. The fact that they are present on most backflow preventers does not make them the same thing. Good luck with that kind of thinking going to the NICET test.
 

satcom

Senior Member
I was somewhat discouraged to find mistakes in the article. One example: OS&Y valves are not the same as backflow preventers. The fact that they are present on most backflow preventers does not make them the same thing. Good luck with that kind of thinking going to the NICET test.

Yes, you are correct, that test still has a lot of rough edges, they are trying to train alarm tech people with limited exposure to the broad field.
 
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