University of Calgary Kinesiology A

The University of Calgary is a public university in Calgary, and it has many interesting fire alarm systems. This block in the Kinesiology building, Kinesiology A, has the most interesting fire alarm system of all the buildings on campus! This building was built throughout 1962-1971, but the current system is from 2016. Still, all of the horns and most pull stations are original. Kinesiology B has voice-evac, unlike this one. This fire alarm system has been very, very reliable according to campus security. False alarms are extremely rare, and the horns are very loud!

System Specifications

• PLEASE NOTE: This is how the system looked as of March 5, 2020, and there were "fire alarm upgrades" in September 2020, so it may not reflect how the system looks today.

FACP

The fire alarm control panel is a Simplex 4100ES InfoAlarm. The fire panel is located in the entrance of this building, and it replaced an Edwards 6500 from 1971. The 6500 was upgraded to the 4100ES in 2016 due to code requiring more detectors in the pool area and ductwork, and the 6500 not having enough zones to fulfill that requirement. But, because there were no building expansions, all of the notification appliances and pull stations from the 6500 system were left in place. Even though the Simplex 4100ES is addressable, the system is set up in a non-addressable manner. This system has NO troubles at all!
Fun Fact: User YYCsFireAlarmNimrod noticed a printer on the panel, that shows when the system goes into alarm, trouble, etc. The day before he went, there was a fire alarm!

Notification Appliances

Very surprisingly, all of the notification appliances are original from 1962-1971. They are Edwards "Adaptahorn" 360 (red) flush-mount horns, aka "Fire Horns", however, only a few horns here have FIRE HORN on them. These models are 20 volts DC. No horns have been replaced, all still in use today! Most have the old E shield logo on the label, specifically in the 1962 parts. According to the security, these horns are very loud and working awesome.

One of the horns in this building

Initiating Devices

Pull Stations

Most pull stations are the original first generation Edwards 270-SPO, with the E logo that has a square shield and "FIRE ALARM" at the top. In the 1971 parts, there are 2nd generation Edwards 270-SPO pull stations, with the original shield but no FIRE ALARM. Some have been replaced by Simplex 4251-20 or Simplex 2099-9754 (when the Edwards 6500 was in use) or newer Simplex 4099-9001 (when the 4100ES was installed). A few other replacement pull stations are newer Edwards 270-SPO. The replacement Edwards pull stations can be found throughout the building, and they were installed when the 6500 was in service.

Automatic Detection Devices

None noticed.