Unit can drive higher powered sounders or up to five times
as many conventional sounders
Apollo Fire Detector's new DIN-Rail Sounder Controller has an
increased current capacity from 1A to 5A allowing it to drive more
powerful sounders or up to five times as many conventional sounders
or visual warning devices. This capacity is particularly useful
under the Disability Discrimination Act, which requires sounders
with a higher sound output. It is also ideal for use in areas with
high background noise such as factories, petrochemical plants and
offshore platforms. The device complies with the Construction
Product Directive (CPD) (89/106/EC) and meets the EN54-18
standard.
As well as driving a zone of externally-powered sounders and/or
visual warning devices, the Sounder Controller reports their status
back to Apollo-compatible analogue control equipment. In normal
operation it returns a pre-set analogue value of 16, but in the
event of an open or short-circuit fault, or a fault in the external
power supply, the unit returns a pre-set analogue value of
four.
The device allows warning devices to be operated continuously or
to be pulsed one second on, one second off, and can be operated
individually or in groups. Whichever address mode has been applied,
it can be synchronised when in pulsed operation. An opto-coupled
input is also provided which monitors the state of the external
power supply.
The Sounder Controller also has the facility to monitor the
presence and polarity of the external power supply to the sounders.
This is achieved through a circuit which includes an input to
monitor a volt-free, normally-open contact. A wire link must be
fitted if the fault contact is not used. The unit will only operate
with control equipment using Apollo's XP95 or Discovery protocols
and its features are only available when the device is connected to
a panel with the appropriate software.
The device is supplied in a housing which simply clips onto a
standard 35mm DIN rail (DIN 46277). Connections are via plug-in
terminal blocks which accept wires up to 2.5mm. Two LEDs (red and
yellow) are visible through the top of the enclosure: the red LED
pulses or is illuminated to indicate that the sounders are,
respectively, pulsed or switched on continuously, while the yellow
LED is illuminated when a fault condition has been detected. If the
fault LED is not required or the extra loop current to illuminate
it is not available, it can be disabled with the eighth segment of
the DIL switch.
Loop powered and operating at 17-28V DC, the Sounder Controller
requires a local power supply of 12-35V DC to power the external
load, up to 5A. A polarising diode is required with each alarm
device, as the sounders are operated by voltage reversal, provided
by a double-pole change-over relay. The sounder circuit is
protected by a quick acting miniature fuse (TR5) rated at 5A.