tate premier sx 4zone pannel problems!

[vitoboy]

hi all
ive been asked to fit a couple of extra smokes a break glass and sounder to a premier sx 4 zone pannel.
one zone was spare so wired the smokes ect fitted end of line all good.
on checking the pannel i found only 2 sounder circuits both in use...end of both ciruits miles away!
so i thought id use the fire relay to fire the extra sounder powering via the batterys.
the manual says 1 amp max for this relay so no probs.
connected up....earth fault led lights general fault led lights alrm sounds ect.
remove the extra sounder wiring and try again...same thing..
then i thought....* i havent fitted 10k end of circuit resistor.....**.
no i can,t think why this is now giving me an earth fault led....(all 4 zone leds also lit) i can reset but the fault returns in around 3-4 seconds.
have i just lunched the pannel.......not the end of the world it part of a few grand job and a new one is cheap enough...or is there more to it.
any help gratefully recived
cheers
vitoboy

 

[marcusone]

Hi. You say ends of sounder circuits are miles away but can't you break into the circuit somewhere or make your sounder the first on one of the sounder circuits ? Run a four core fp cable from panel to your sounder. Sounder circuits can cover more than one zone. Don't forget end of line diode is polarity sensitive. Hope this helps in some way.

 

[vitoboy]

my new sounder is also miles from the pannel on the end of an fp put in by others a few years ago.
im thinking i may have to by another pannel anyhow so ....get one with 3 or more sounder circuits.

 

[tazz]

You cannot wired a siren via the relay, as the cable will not be monitored. Because you have fitted the 10k resistor across the battery or aux supply you have proberly blown aux or battery fuse, and lock the panel up.

 

[vitoboy]

You cannot wired a siren via the relay, as the cable will not be monitored. Because you have fitted the 10k resistor across the battery or aux supply you have proberly blown aux or battery fuse, and lock the panel up.

cheers tazz
no i didnt fit the end of line to the sounder anyway.
the battery fuse and aux fuse are good.
i think i must have fried the relay ...i wonder if the relay common is grounded to earth.
i must admit that i hadnt thought of the cable not being monitored...
i think my best way forward is to change the pannel for one with 4 zones and 4 sounder ciruits...cb200 im thinking
really i just wanted to know how i damaged the pannel just to understand..
after all the relay should be ok to switch 1A one sounder is not 1A so desipte the fact the cable would not be monitored why has the pannel become damaged?
most systems ive fitted and worked on have been rafiki twinflex............easy as pie.
i have a feeling that what i am trying to do cant be done correctly with the pannel i had anyway..?

cheers vitoboy

 

[tazz]

Dont want to sound nasty, but Rafiki and Tate panels are the real low end, sold by electrical outlets, and very troublesum kits. Kentec, Firesense and Ctec and good trouble free systems, with kentec and Firesense offering Twin wire option. This would turn what you have into a twin wire by just adding base sounders were you need more, and keeping the detectors and call points without rewiring.
Hope this helps

 

[vitoboy]

Dont want to sound nasty, but Rafiki and Tate panels are the real low end, sold by electrical outlets, and very troublesum kits. Kentec, Firesense and Ctec and good trouble free systems, with kentec and Firesense offering Twin wire option. This would turn what you have into a twin wire by just adding base sounders were you need more, and keeping the detectors and call points without rewiring.
Hope this helps

cant really comment on that tazz...im really a sparks not a full time fire alarm engineer so have only fitted about 20 complete systems from scratch in my life.
that said ive never had a problem with a rafiki system...aways been very stragiht forward.
but im not the end user or the man who needs to service the system after a few years.
as for the tate pannel im sure its lowest of low end...but its what was on the wall when i got there.
the main problem with any of this is just cost...i can tell the client all day how he should have a decent pannel but i know he will always take the cheapest option...its in afree house pub in cornwall and im sure he has enough problems just keeping his doors open.
ill have a look at the pannels youve suggested for future refence though.
ta
vitoboy