It is a violation of building code requirements to leave your fire alarm system in ground fault mode, as this can leave your building and occupants unprotected from reliable fire detection and warning.
Ground Fault Warning – What Can Go Wrong?
When a ground fault occurs, it can affect the operating voltage, resistance or current of your fire alarm equipment which may not operate as intended. In most cases, the ground fault itself will not affect the fire alarm circuit, although a multi-ground fault can disable the alarm and/or the notification circuit, hindering either detection or notification in case of fire.
Multiple ground faults must be diagnosed immediately as this can affect single or multiple zones, or may indicate a system wide failure. While equipment is in ground fault mode it is vulnerable to future electrical surges that can damage fire alarm equipment including CPUs, Microprocessor Power Supplies, Addressable Loop Boards with signaling line circuits (SLC) and Addressable Field Devices.
An external voltage surge can occur for a wide variety of reasons, including:
- The utility company changing a Transformer
- The utility company repairing service lines
- A brown out and voltage system trying to regulate
- A power surge, a day or night of storms with lightning
- Electrical mechanical equipment shutting down and starting up
- Careless contractors working on other systems (Elevators, HVAC, Sprinkler System, Fire Pump, Dampers)
- 120VAC power touching a conduit or building structure, or another low voltage system grounding to same conduits or circuits
With the vast number of things that can go wrong to damage your equipment while in ground fault mode, do not take a chance and leave your fire protection system in a vulnerable state. Only certified fire alarm repair technicians can diagnose and properly repair your fire alarm system.
Repair Fire Alarm System Faults
Fire alarm systems that experience a ground fault can be tricky to fix, thus only a certified fire alarm repair technician should attempt to diagnose, locate and repair your fire system ground faults. Certified fire system inspection can reap big cost savings by correcting ground faults before equipment damage occurs. Additionally, clearing the ground fault will usually return a system to normal operating condition and eliminate the chance of exposure to damaging external voltage.
A qualified fire inspection technician will know how to use use a reliable volt/ohm meter to measure resistance for proper diagnosis. Fire alarm repair technicians should always assume there is more than one ground fault when troubleshooting. When servicing a fire alarm system that has not been inspected regularly there is a possibility of multiple ground faults.
A skilled and licensed fire system technician will begin with the fire alarm control panel and a process of elimination to locate the fault or multiple faults.
For licensed and certified fire system inspection and repair services, contact High Rise Security Systems to keep your fire detection equipment in optimum working order. We provide professional fire protection services keeping your building safe and compliant to all required building codes. Contact us today for fire alarm system design, inspection, testing, maintenance or repair.