Fire Alarm Computer

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Microwatt

Microwatt

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North Dakota
At one of my company's building we have a fairly large fire alarm system with 19 different panels that all report to an on-site computer that is manned 24/7. The other week this computer crashed and our IT department put a new one together. However, this new PC is not UL listed as part of the system. My question is, "Would this PC be required to be UL listed?" I've tried thumbing through chapter 8 of the 2002 edition of NFPA 72 but I'm not sure if this new PC falls under those requirements.
 
I have to agree with Ron, with the tiny possible exception if the fire alarm panels were reporting to the main computer for information only and not as part of the fire signal transmission system. Some panels talk BACnet, for example. If it is truely something like the Siemens network command center (NCC), I can't imagine how they could possibley cobbled something together. Unless the hard drive is intact, they'd never get a disk image to load, what with the hardware key and all. Or maybe they're really good at what they do, in which case I hope they have extraordinary liability coverage; they may need it.
 
It's a Simplex system and all of the panels are 4100Us. The computer does allow for acknowledging alarms / troubles / supervisory, and it allows for disabling devices and they way the system is set up, if an alarm comes into one panel all of the panels alarm and I that is taken care of by this computer. When the computer was down, each panel acted as a stand alone panel.

I'm heavily leaning toward that this computer will need a UL listing.
 
Microwatt said:
It's a Simplex system and all of the panels are 4100Us. The computer does allow for acknowledging alarms / troubles / supervisory, and it allows for disabling devices and they way the system is set up, if an alarm comes into one panel all of the panels alarm and I that is taken care of by this computer. When the computer was down, each panel acted as a stand alone panel.

I'm heavily leaning toward that this computer will need a UL listing.
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Oh yeah, big time! Siemens uses Comark for theirs. End user price is probably $10-20K without the node licenses.
 
That's cheap.

I worked for Honeywell/Notifier tech support for their networked integrated systems and their hardware is easily twice that cost, without any gateway licenses for NFN or Eschelon. Comark equipment again.

I've head of sites that cobbled a PC back together, ghost hard drives, etc. but the ruling (per Honeywell OEM) is once any component, even down to the keyboard, mouse, monitor is changed from it's OEM configuration or replaced, the UL is void.

Notifier, for example, if you have a backup and the recovery disks, you can get a default PC up and running, however it's missing that little detail of the listing.
 
del91574 said:
That's cheap.I worked for Honeywell/Notifier tech support for their networked integrated systems and their hardware is easily twice that cost, without any gateway licenses for NFN or Eschelon. Comark equipment again.

I've head of sites that cobbled a PC back together, ghost hard drives, etc. but the ruling (per Honeywell OEM) is once any component, even down to the keyboard, mouse, monitor is changed from it's OEM configuration or replaced, the UL is void.

Notifier, for example, if you have a backup and the recovery disks, you can get a default PC up and running, however it's missing that little detail of the listing.
Click to expand...

Okay, next time check the price list ahead of posting: computer with 19" touch screen and ONE node license is $29,147. For sixteen nodes, it's $39,592 and it goes up in 16 node increments. If you max out at 64 nodes, it's $81,718. Max out the WAN version at 256 connections and you're at $106,862.
 
gadfly56 said:
Okay, next time check the price list ahead of posting: computer with 19" touch screen and ONE node license is $29,147. For sixteen nodes, it's $39,592 and it goes up in 16 node increments. If you max out at 64 nodes, it's $81,718. Max out the WAN version at 256 connections and you're at $106,862.
Click to expand...

Sheesh, here I am quoting myself. If you blow up the computer, you can get a new box for about $14K. This assumes that your key is still good and you don't want a new monitor. Bare bones.
 
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Microwatt said:
It's a Simplex system and all of the panels are 4100Us. The computer does allow for acknowledging alarms / troubles / supervisory, and it allows for disabling devices and they way the system is set up, if an alarm comes into one panel all of the panels alarm and I that is taken care of by this computer. When the computer was down, each panel acted as a stand alone panel.

I'm heavily leaning toward that this computer will need a UL listing.
Click to expand...

In the systems I'm familiar with, the PC/workstaton console was a separate entity that resided on the network, but did not solely function as the fire alarm head end/CPU, and could be removed or fail without the rest of the building's system networking functions being affected. And these pc's needed to be UL listed.
 
gadfly56 said:
Okay, next time check the price list ahead of posting: computer with 19" touch screen and ONE node license is $29,147. For sixteen nodes, it's $39,592 and it goes up in 16 node increments. If you max out at 64 nodes, it's $81,718. Max out the WAN version at 256 connections and you're at $106,862.
Click to expand...

Geez, It's not a pi**ing match about the cost of the hardware by manufacturer, so I fail to understand your attitude in your post.

If trying to do a big price match, the platforms and cost/price points are exceptionally similar, depending on the license and moving from a lite version to full blown, not mentioning any gateways or any other licenses on the hasp key. Both manufacturers use essentially the same computer with the only real differences being the gateways and software.

The lite version for Notifier is at least listed for 4 nodes plus a gateway and doesn't have to be installed on a UL listed unit, as long as it meets the minimum specs, but it's also intended for a non-UL install.
 
del91574 said:
Geez, It's not a pi**ing match about the cost of the hardware by manufacturer, so I fail to understand your attitude in your post.

If trying to do a big price match, the platforms and cost/price points are exceptionally similar, depending on the license and moving from a lite version to full blown, not mentioning any gateways or any other licenses on the hasp key. Both manufacturers use essentially the same computer with the only real differences being the gateways and software.

The lite version for Notifier is at least listed for 4 nodes plus a gateway and doesn't have to be installed on a UL listed unit, as long as it meets the minimum specs, but it's also intended for a non-UL install.
Click to expand...

Hey, I wasn't trying to play "mine's bigger"; just I should have checked my own price sheets before posting.
 
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