Electrical Theory for Fire Alarm
The electricity behind a fire alarm system, followed through Bramwell Fire Protection's Saskatoon crew: Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits, meters, wire resistance, power supplies, sealed lead-acid batteries and battery calculations to the National Building Code, voltage drop on notification circuits, supervision and ground faults, and CEC Section 32 wiring methods, ending with the power design for a high-rise.
FAT-130 12 lessons · 3 h 49 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon
Offered by HSM University · Fire Alarm Systems
This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.
What you'll learn
- Describe how electricity enters, flows through and is stored in a fire alarm system, and why its circuits are designed for the worst case
- Apply Ohm's law and the power equation to fire alarm circuits, and explain why strobe current rises as supply voltage falls
- Analyze series and parallel circuits, including notification circuits fed by wire segments in series and batteries in series pairs
- Use multimeters, clamp meters and insulation testers safely to measure voltage, resistance, current and insulation on fire alarm systems
- Calculate conductor resistance from wire gauge, length and temperature, and choose conductor sizes for fire alarm circuits
- Explain the requirements for the fire alarm system's primary supply under CEC Section 32 and CAN/ULC-S524, and load power supplies within their ratings
- Explain how sealed lead-acid batteries are charged, how they age and how they are installed and tested
- Calculate battery capacity using the NBC Article 3.2.7.8 durations, the device list and a derating factor, and check the result against the charger and cabinet
- Calculate voltage drop on notification appliance circuits by the lumped-load and point-to-point methods under worst-case conditions
- Explain how panels supervise initiating, notification and signalling line circuits, and locate opens, shorts and ground faults
- Select cable and wiring methods for fire alarm circuits under CEC Section 32, and apply the NBC requirements for protecting conductors against fire
- Prepare and check the loading, battery and voltage-drop calculations for a high-rise remote power supply
Course content
12 lessons · 3 h 49 min total · final exam
- 1 Electricity in fire alarm systems 19 min · quiz
- 2 Voltage, current, resistance and Ohm's law 20 min · quiz
- 3 Series and parallel circuits 20 min · quiz
- 4 Meters and measurement for fire alarm work 19 min · quiz
- 5 Wire, resistance and conductor sizing 18 min · quiz
- 6 Power supplies and the primary power source 20 min · quiz
- 7 Secondary power: batteries and standby 19 min · quiz
- 8 Battery calculations 18 min · quiz
- 9 Voltage drop on notification appliance circuits 19 min · quiz
- 10 Supervision: end-of-line devices and ground faults 20 min · quiz
- 11 Wiring methods and cable types (CEC Section 32) 19 min · quiz
- 12 Capstone: power and voltage-drop calculations for a high-rise 18 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
The electricity behind a fire alarm system, followed through Bramwell Fire Protection's Saskatoon crew: Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits, meters, wire resistance, power supplies, sealed lead-acid batteries and battery calculations to the National Building Code, voltage drop on notification circuits, supervision and ground faults, and CEC Section 32 wiring methods, ending with the power design for a high-rise.