Edwards Signaling 517TCS User Manual

517TCS Series Photoelectric T ype

Single Station/Multi-Station Smoke Alarms with Strobe

AC Powered, 120V 60 Hz

Installation Instructions - Owner's/User's Information Manual
READ CAREFULLY AND SAVE

INTRODUCTION

The 517TCS Series Smoke Alarm is a Photoelectric Type Alarm for use
as an evacuation device. Each alarm has a solid state piezo that emits a
temporal 3 signal with strobe to warn and alert the household to the presence
of threatening smoke.

Your Photoelectric alarm is designed to detect the smoke that results
from an actual fire. Consequently, it is uncommon for household smoke
such as cigarette smoke or normal cooking smoke to cause an alarm.

HOW YOUR SMOKE ALARM WORKS

The 517TCS Series Smoke Alarm operates on the photoelectric light
scatter principle. The units sensing chamber houses a light source and a
light sensor.

The darkened sensing chamber is exposed to the atmosphere and de­signed to permit optimum smoke entry from any direction while rejecting
light from outside the alarm.

The light source is an infrared (invisible) LED which pulses every 8 sec­onds. The light sensor is a photodiode matched to the light frequency of
the LED light source.

Under normal conditions, the light generated by the pulsing infrared LED
is not seen by the light sensor, as it is positioned out of the direct path of
the light beam. When smoke enters the sensing chamber, light from the
pulsing LED light source is reflected by the smoke particles onto the pho­todiode light sensor. At the first sighting of smoke, the alarm is put into a
pre-alarm mode. This is indicated by a rapidly flashing LED on the face of
the alarm. Once the light sensor confirms smoke for 2 consecutive pulses
inside the chamber, the light sensor produces the signal necessary to trig­ger the alarm.

This technique of verifying the smoke condition, combined with a 5-to-1
signal-to-noise ratio, substantially reduces the possibility of nuisance alarms.

the red LED will flash rapidly instead of glowing steady. If AC power fails,
the green LED will turn off.

NOTE: Tandem Interconnect Models.

· When testing one alarm, the alarm that is activated will flash the red
indicator light emitting diode and sound its alarm horn, all other units will
sound the alarm horn with red indicator light emitting diodes remaining
off.

· The test knob of your alarm simulates actual smoke conditions.

FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

This Smoke Alarm can quickly alert you to the presence of smokeit
cannot prevent fire. Please note that there are hazards against which smoke
detection may not be effective, such as smoking in bed, explosions, when
a closed door separates the alarm from the source of the smoke, etc. The
ultimate responsibility for fire protection rests solely on you.

1. To minimize fire hazardsavoid improper storage of flammable liquids

and dont leave small children home alone.

2. Bedroom doors should be closed while sleeping if a smoke alarm is

installed in the bedroom. They act as a barrier against heat and smoke.

3. Establish an escape plan:

(a) Post a detailed floor plan depicting the chosen escape routes.

(b) Each bedroom should have at least two escape routes.

(c) Make sure your children know what to do in case of fire and teach

them to follow the escape plan you have posted.
(d) Agree on an outside meeting place.
(e) Conduct fire drills at least twice a year.
(f) Be sure each member of the family is familiar with the smoke alarm

so they can react properly.

If the alarm should sound:

1. Never waste time dressing or gathering valuables. Follow the escape
route and leave the house immediately.

2. Check bedroom doors before opening. If the door is hot or smoke is
leaking in around the edgesDO NOT OPENuse the alternate es­cape route.

3. If there is smoke in the escape routekeep close to the floor and take
short breaths. If possible, cover your nose and mouth with a wet cloth.

4. Do not use your own telephonecall the Fire Department from your
neighbors house.

5. Once out, do not re-enter your house, but proceed to your prearranged
meeting place.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SMOKE ALARM IS
WORKING PROPERLY

· Your alarm is provided with an alarm horn and pulsating Light Emitting
(indicator) Diode, which pulses every 15-30 seconds, and a green AC
power on LED on some models.

· When turning the test knob on the alarm to test 1 the red light emitting
diode should glow steady RED and horn should sound. On some units,

CHESHIRE, CT 203-699-3300 FAX [phone]

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO TO MAKE YOUR
FAMILY SAFE FROM FIRES

Putting up smoke alarms is just the first step in protecting your family
from fires. You also must reduce the chances that fires will start in your
home and increase your chances of safely escaping if one does start. To
have an effective fire safety program:

a. Install smoke alarms properly following the instructions in this

manual. Keep your smoke alarms clean. Test your alarm weekly
and repair or replace it when it no longer functions. As with any

electronic product, alarms have a limited life, and alarms that dont
work cannot protect you.

b. Follow safety rules and prevent hazardous situations:

· Use smoking materials properly; never smoke in bed.

· Keep matches and cigarette lighters away from children.

· Store flammable materials in proper containers and never use them

near open flames or sparks.

P/N 550-0173-002 © 2001

· Keep electrical appliances and cords in good working order and do not
overload electrical circuits.

· Keep stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and barbecue grills grease-free
and make sure they are properly installed away from combustible
materials.

· Keep portable heaters and open flames such as candles away from
combustible materials.

· Do not allow rubbish to accumulate.

c. Develop a family escape plan and practice it with your entire fam-

ily, especially small children.

· Draw a floor plan of your home and find two ways to exit from each
room. There should be one way to get out of each bedroom without
opening the door.

· Teach children what the smoke alarm signal means, and that they
must be prepared to leave the residence by themselves if necessary.
Show them how to check to see if doors are hot before opening them,
how to stay close to the floor and crawl if necessary, and how to use
the alternate exit if the door is hot and should not be opened.

· Decide on a meeting place a safe distance from your house and make
sure that all your children understand that they should go and wait for
you if there is a fire.

· Hold fire drills at least every 6 months to make sure that everyone,
even small children, know what to do to escape safely.

· Know where to go to call the fire department from outside your resi­dence.

· Provide emergency equipment such as fire extinguishers and teach
your family to use this equipment properly.

WHAT TO DO IF THERE IS A FIRE
IN YOUR HOME

If you have prepared family escape plans and practiced them with your
family, you have increased their chances of escaping safely. Review the
following rules with your children when you have fire drills so everyone will
remember them in a real fire emergency:
a. Dont panic; stay calm. Your safe escape may depend on thinking

clearly and remembering what you have practiced.

b. Get out of the house following a planned escape route as quickly as

possible. Do not stop to collect anything or to get dressed.

c. Open doors carefully only after feeling to see if they are hot. Do not

open a door if it is hot; use an alternate escape route.
d. Stay close to the floor; smoke and hot gases rise.
e. Cover your nose and mouth with a cloth, wet if possible, and take short,

shallow breaths.
f. Keep doors and windows closed unless you open them to escape.
g. Meet at your prearranged meeting place after leaving the house.
h. Call the Fire Department as soon as possible from outside your house.

Give the address and your name.
i. Never re-enter a burning building.

Contact your local Fire Department for more information on making

your home safer from fires and about preparing your familys escape plans.

WHAT THIS SMOKE ALARM CAN DO

This alarm is designed to sense smoke entering its sensing chamber.

When properly located, installed, and maintained, this smoke alarm is
designed to provide early warning of developing fires at a reasonable cost.
This alarm monitors the air and, when it senses smoke, activates its built­in alarm horn. It can provide precious time for you and your family to
escape from your residence before a fire spreads. Such an early warning,
however, is possible only if the alarm is located, installed, and maintained
as specified in this Users Manual.

NOTE: This smoke alarm is designed for use within single residential
living units only; that is, it should be used inside a single-family home or
one apartment of a multi-family building. In a multi-family building, the
alarm may not provide early warning for residents if it is placed outside of
the residential units, such as on outside porches, in corridors, lobbies, base­ments, or in other apartments. In multi-family buildings, each residential
unit should have alarms to alert the residents of that unit. Alarms designed
to be interconnected should be interconnected within one family residence
only; otherwise, nuisance alarms will occur when an alarm in another living
unit is tested.

IMPORTANT NOTE: WHAT SMOKE ALARMS
CANNOT DO

Smoke alarms will not work without power. Battery-operated alarms
will not work without batteries, with dead batteries, or if the batteries are
not installed properly. AC powered alarms will not work if their AC power
supply is cut off by an electrical fire, an open fuse or circuit breaker, or for
any other reason. If you are concerned about the reliability of either the
batteries or your AC power supply for any of the above reasons, you should
install both battery and AC powered alarms for maximum safety.

Smoke alarms may not sense fire that starts where smoke cannot
reach the alarms such as in chimneys, in walls, on roofs, or on the other

side of closed doors. If bedroom doors are usually closed at night, alarms
should be placed in each bedroom as well as in the common hallway be­tween them.

Smoke alarms also may not sense a fire on another level of a resi­dence or building. For example, a second-floor alarm may not sense a
first-floor or basement fire. Therefore, alarms should be placed on ev­ery level of a residence or building.

The horn in your alarm meets or exceeds current audibility requirements
of Underwriters Laboratories. However, if the alarm is located outside a
bedroom, it may not wake up a sound sleeper, especially if the bed­room door is closed or only partly open. If the alarm is located on a differ­ent level of the residence than the bedroom, it is even less likely to wake
up people sleeping in the bedroom. In such cases, the National Fire Pro­tection Association recommends that the alarms be interconnected so that
an alarm on any level of the residence will sound an alarm loud enough to
awaken sleepers in closed bedrooms. This can be done by installing a fire­detection system, by connecting alarms together, or by using radio fre­quency transmitters and receivers.

All types of smoke alarm sensors have limitations. No type of smoke
alarm can sense every kind of fire every time. In general, alarms may
not always warn you about fires caused by violent explosions, escap­ing gas, improper storage of flammable materials, or arson.

NOTE: This alarm is not designed to replace special-purpose fire de­tection and alarm systems necessary to protect persons and property in
non-residential buildings such as warehouses, or other large industrial or
commercial buildings. It alone is not a suitable substitute for complete
fire-detection systems designed to protect individuals in hotels and mo­tels, dormitories, hospitals, or other health and supervisory care and retire­ment homes. Please refer to NFPA 101,The Life Safety Code, and NFPA 72
for smoke alarm requirements for fire protection in buildings not defined as
households.

Installing smoke alarms may make you eligible for lower insurance rates,
but smoke alarms are not a substitute for insurance. Home owners
and renters should continue to insure their lives and property.

PLACEMENT OF SMOKE ALARMS

THIS EQUIPMENT SHOULD BE INSTALLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH
THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATIONS STANDARD 72
(National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA

02269).

For your information, the National Fire Protection Associations Stan­dard 72, reads as follows:

Smoke detectors shall be installed outside of each separate sleeping area
in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms and on each additional story of the
family living unit including basements and excluding crawl spaces and unfin­ished attics. In new construction, a smoke detector shall be installed in each
sleeping room.

Where to Locate the Required Smoke Detectors in Existing Construction.
The major threat from fire in a family living unit is at night when everyone is
asleep. The principal threat to persons in sleeping areas comes from fires in
the remainder of the unit; therefore, a smoke alarm(s) is best located between
the bedroom areas and the rest of the unit. In units with only one bedroom
area on one floor, the smoke alarms should be located as shown in Figure 1.

In family living units with more than one bedroom area or with bedrooms on