[wcord]

I'm looking to install a new strobe to an existing supervised FA system and I noticed that some of them are connected with conduit and some used BX. I was under the impression one cannot use anything else but conduit. What's your opinion guys?

Depending on the specifications, usually, conduit is run with flex drops to the devices on the T-bar or in the walls, but as you can see, CEC allows a variety of methods

32-102


32-102 Wiring method
32-102
(1) ∆ All conductors of a fire alarm system shall be
(e) installed in metal raceway of the totally enclosed type;
(f) incorporated in a cable having a metal armour or sheath;
(g) installed in rigid non-metallic conduit; or
(h) installed in electrical non-metallic tubing.
(2) Notwithstanding Subrule (1), conductors installed in buildings of combustible construction in accordance with the Rules of Section 12 shall be permitted to be
(a) non-metallic-sheathed cable;
(b) fire alarm and signal cable; or
(c) installed in a totally enclosed non-metallic raceway.

 

[Kunolop]

BX is fine most if the times but depending on the system sometimes you have to pipe. You need to know more about the system, and here we have to use the red bx (armored FAS) for fire alarm which is a joke in my opinion.

 

[Rollie73]

We are supposed to keep the wiring consistent......if it starts with AC-90 it should stay as AC-90. Likewise.....if it starts in conduit it should stay as conduit As if that ever happens.

One thing that should always be done is to keep the same gauge of wire. If the signal circuit is started in #12 copper (which it probably is)....then stay with #12 copper.

The initiation loop could be either #18 or #12....but keep it the same all the way through.

 

[eddy current]

I use armoured FAS cable ( Secure-ex) for little additions like that. It looks like BX but has a red inner sheath around the conductors. I get 5 conductor, shielded (4 colours, a bond and a foil sheath)

I have also used the stuff with the red coloured armour but only cause it was in the spec

 

[Rollie73]

..........and here we have to use the red bx (armored FAS) for fire alarm which is a joke in my opinion.

Personally I like the red identification of the AC-90 or the use of red alarm tek for the initiation circuit and we have a guy use red spray paint on 12/2 ac-90 as it comes off the reel. I like the identification of fire alarm systems. It saves on screw ups.

I had a man on my crew get burned (minor burns) and blow up his kleins when he cut into a piece of 12/2 which was marked as a pull station that had been accidentally tied into a 347 volt JB at the other end. The JM which was working on the lights energized the lighting circuit when he was done. We all went to lunch and came back and he went back to work on the fire alarm system.....he cut the AC-90 to enter it into the box above the pull station location and the thing blew up in his face.

Less importantly.....all of the devices that he had already tied in that morning had 347 volts put across them and they were cooked......including the fire alarm panel. If all the wires had been red 18/2 armored FAS, that would never have happened.

 

[greenman]

should be rated for no less than 109 deg.c:thumbsup:

 

[karl_r]

thanks a lot guys for your help. I guess I'll go with conduit and then a Secure-ex drop.

 

[Cujo]

I usually run conduit and then drop 12/4 and 18/5. Only because BX would look dumb if everything else was conduit in the ceilings.

If you are running a class A loop however, this is technically a violation, although it is never enforced. Class A loops should either be 2 12/2 or 2 18/3. The reason I mention this is because when systems are run in conduit, you typically see a class A loop being ran in the same conduit, which is a violation.

 

[daks]

Personally I like the red identification of the AC-90 or the use of red alarm tek for the initiation circuit and we have a guy use red spray paint on 12/2 ac-90 as it comes off the reel. I like the identification of fire alarm systems. It saves on screw ups.

I had a man on my crew get burned (minor burns) and blow up his kleins when he cut into a piece of 12/2 which was marked as a pull station that had been accidentally tied into a 347 volt JB at the other end. The JM which was working on the lights energized the lighting circuit when he was done. We all went to lunch and came back and he went back to work on the fire alarm system.....he cut the AC-90 to enter it into the box above the pull station location and the thing blew up in his face.

Less importantly.....all of the devices that he had already tied in that morning had 347 volts put across them and they were cooked......including the fire alarm panel. If all the wires had been red 18/2 armored FAS, that would never have happened.

I started always painting the fire alarm conduit/bx and the emergency lights cabling. Fire alarm for a similar experience as above, and for the emergency lights because I was walking down the hallway at the college and saw what I thought was at first a camera flash going off, looking around no students so it obviously wasn't a student taking pics for their twitter account, florescent lights were fine, but I noticed a couple of the emergency light lenses looked a little darkened. I started laughing and along comes someone wearing a toolbelt and a sheepish look, they did not seem to appreciate my comment about remote lights not working well at 120.

 

[Rollie73]

I usually run conduit and then drop 12/4 and 18/5. Only because BX would look dumb if everything else was conduit in the ceilings.

If you are running a class A loop however, this is technically a violation, although it is never enforced. Class A loops should either be 2 12/2 or 2 18/3. The reason I mention this is because when systems are run in conduit, you typically see a class A loop being ran in the same conduit, which is a violation.

That must be a local issue then because I never see it around here. I can't recall ever seeing a class A loop that wasn't done in either seperate conduits or seperate cables. Having said that...........I can't remember the last time I ran a class A loop......everything is class B with an EOL resistor, especially in an addressable system.

 

[Ink&Brass]

I wish, doing Class A pull-stations and smokies in a wood-frame apartment full of beams I'm not allowed to drill through = good times and very long runs. I can't wait for the VI. Better not have any cables cut in the walls. At least the horn/strobes are done per hallway with EOL's :laughing:

 

[greenman]

I like to use fas tec cable:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: