Glossary For Fire Alarm

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CANASA: Short for CANADIAN SECURITY ASSOCIATION. This is an association of alarm companies in Canada that advocates for the industry in matters concerning local law enforcement response, certification, standards, etc. For more information, click here.

CELLULAR TRANSMITTER, GSM, or LINE CUT ALARM: An OUTPUT DEVICE triggered by the ALARM SYSTEM when its ARMED or it detects the sudden loss of the protected premises telephone line. It signals either of these events to the CENTRAL STATION so that an appropriate response can be instituted.

CENTRAL STATION: A facility that provides monitoring services for signals generated by their customer's ALARM SYSTEMS. Some CENTRAL STATIONS are listed by independent testing or certification facilities like UL, ULC, FM, NACOSS.

CID: A communications format developed by Ademco® (Division of Honeywell) that utilizes bursts of DTMF tones in order to transmit alarm events over a standard telephone line (POTS) or cellular network. Also called Contact ID.

CIS: Common Intelligibility Scale - a measure of a sound system’s intelligibility.

CLASS "A" CIRCUIT (Type "6" or Style "Z" Loop): A type of alarm circuit which has four physical terminations in a common control's input, output, or DCL (SLC) circuits and which employs a single continuous two-wire loop (path) from the panel to the first device, on through to the last device, returning to the panel via a separate entry point in the enclosure. A break (or "open") in the wire along any part of the loop will result in a "trouble" condition at the panel but will not otherwise affect the operation of any device connected in the loop. This type of circuit is commonly employed in an addressable communications circuit (also termed SLC or DATA COMMUNICATION LINK) RISER from which analogue devices on each floor of a multiple story OCCUPANCY are quite often "T" TAPPED through individual ISOLATION MODULES. A wire short imposed on a CLASS "A" SLC (or DCL) circuit will result in failure of both segments of the circuit. A similar condition on an conventional INITIATING CIRCUIT will result in an alarm condition that a RESET of the common control will not clear while a TROUBLE indication will be displayed if an OUTPUT CIRCUIT is shorted.

CLASS "B" CIRCUIT (Type "4" or Style "Y" Loop): A two-wire input or output circuit which terminates in an END-OF-LINE DEVICE which provides circuit SUPERVISION. (An END-OF-LINE DEVICE is normally not required on a DATA COMMUNICATION LINK or SLC circuit.)

CLASS "A" FIRE: A fire in ordinary combustibles such as wood, paper, cloth, trash and plastics.

CLASS "B" FIRE: A fire in flammable liquids such as gasoline, petroleum oil and paint. Class B fires also include flammable gases such as propane and butane. Class B fires do not include fires involving cooking oils and grease.

CLASS "C" FIRE: A fire involving energized electrical equipment such as motors, transformers and appliances. Remove the power and the CLASS "C" fire becomes one of the other classes of fire.

CLASS "D" FIRE: A fire involving burning metals and their chemical oxides. Magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and powdered aluminium (the latter is used in solid fuel rockets) are the more common examples. Class D fires utilize chemically generated oxidants and as such are extremely difficult to extinguish. In many cases the only method is "no method" (in other words you must allow it to burn itself out) and the role of the Fire Fighter is primarily concerned with stopping the possible spread of the fire to adjacent vehicles or structures.

CLASS "K" ("F") FIRE: Involve cooking oils, grease and fats.

CLOSURE: A device or assembly for closing an opening through a fire separation (such as a door), and includes all components such as hardware, closing devices, frames and anchors.

COMBUSTIBLE LIQUID: Any liquid having a flash point at or above 37.8 deg. C and below 93.3 deg. C.

CONTROL PANEL: Is the means by which INPUT DEVICES communicate a fault to the building occupants (or a CENTRAL STATION) through the activation of a programmed response that may or may not include specific OUTPUT DEVICES. The CONTROL PANEL usually consists of a circuit board (also referred to as the MOTHERBOARD or COMMON CONTROL), and is usually housed in a metal box sized to accommodate both it and a standby source of power (the BATTERY). INPUT DEVICES, ZONE EXPANDERS, KEYPADS, and OUTPUT DEVICES are connected to the main circuit board.

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