Menvier MF400 ,.fire but nothing obvious ?

[Mikegh]

Hi

It's a panel I fitted myself circa 20yrs ago on a private rented property

Fire condition on zone 1 , 3 zones in use

No indicators lit on heads or breakglass broken

Would it be a faulty head or more likely a panel fault , troubleshooting ideas before I go back tomorrow

I'll stick an eol on the zone at panel first obviously

Thanks

 

[Phil L]

Could be an issue with a base, have had dry joints occur before on those panels

 

[Mikegh]

I'll be recommending he gets panel and heads changed anyway by an alarm co.Needs a few upgrades as well

I presume they're all out of date by now

 

[Phil L]

Manufactures state max 10years for field devices

 

[Mikegh]

Manufactures state max 10years for field devices

I'm reading the manual, so I remember they have fault indication for open-short and head removal on detection zones

How do you actually remove a head to bypass it on the detection zone without fault indication staying on

Is there a little clip or something , I've forgotten

 

[Phil L]

All you could do there is disconnect from base and terminate cables together until replacement detector can be fitted, you won’t be able to isolate just that device any other way

 

[Mikegh]

All you could do there is disconnect from base and terminate cables together until replacement detector can be fitted, you won’t be able to isolate just that device any other way

Good I'll do that so if I suspect a head, and mark in and out

Have a feeling they don't give that kind of trouble

I know from experience the menvier panels can be temperamental

 

[Phil L]

Agree they can be a bit suspect, you can fit Apollo s65 detectors to them but you will need to separate the cables in the base across the diode for the fault removal to work

 

[Mikegh]

What happened was the tenant arrived and turned on the porch light switch beside the exit breakglass and they said alarm activated immediately

So after a bit of looking round I opened up BG and tightened and reassembled

Alarm condition cleared for 10 minutes and I left

They rang me back an d said alarm went off again when they were leaving and turned off at the same light switch

Now maybe there's a clue in all that


Hmmm ,?

There's a little religious thing mounted above the breakglass

Do you know what ,its possible its nailed in through the wiring.Only just thought of it as I went through the symptoms

 

[Phil L]

Maybe but I would expect the fault to be there permanently if it was damaged cores, could be that it is disturbing it as the go out/past, would like to know what you find after you have been back

 

[Mikegh]

Ya I'll report back thanks for the info, very helpful

 

[Mikegh]

Maybe but I would expect the fault to be there permanently if it was damaged cores, could be that it is disturbing it as the go out/past, would like to know what you find after you have been back

Another thing I've forgotten

I see if you remove a head a contact and diode come into circuit for fault indication

I remember when I was waiting them I used to IR test all the zones with the bases fitted ?


How doe this work without damaging the diodes , I can't remember ?

And can you IR test with the BG units in circuit ?

Thanks again

 

[Mikegh]

Could be I used to have one leg off at the bases alarms and breakglass

That would seem the most likely for IR testing

Wired loads of them but literally can't remember now

 

[Phil L]

You would need to join the cabling together at the bases and BG’s to IR the cables

 

[Mikegh]

Tried the eol at the panel - no good

Tried the eol halfway on the detection zone - no good

Bypassed the BG at the door -alarms off so problem solved


What what exactly is the mechanism of operation of the BG.I opened it and it has to be a magnet that moves up and down making the circuit ?

There's nothing on the front sections mechanically or electrically connected to the back piece