Apollo Fire Alarm Sounder Beacon, Multi-Tone Open-Area, Weatherproof, Red, with Isolator 55000-298APO

Overview

An open-area sounder beacon warns people by sound and by a flashing light. Apollo designs this range for open areas, as a complement to its integrated base sounders.

This part is the red weatherproof version, and it carries an isolator. The wider range of Apollo sounders includes other housings and colours.

How it works

• Addressing: each unit answers to its own address, set with a DIL switch, which is a small bank of on and off switches. It can also answer to a group address, so several units are controlled together.
• Synchronisation: the panel sends address 0 to bring units into step, and Apollo recommends doing so at ten minute intervals. Without it, tones from different units could merge and be mistaken for an evacuate tone.
• Isolator: this is a circuit that protects the loop by disconnecting the part of it where a short-circuit has occurred. The rest of the loop can then carry on.

Where to use it

Apollo's Outdoor (Type B) entry and its temperature range make this the version for exposed open areas. The red housing is the only colour under this code.

How many units a site needs, and where they go, comes from the system design. The fire alarm system guide explains the categories that a design starts from.

What the figures mean in practice

• 100dB(A): this is the nominal figure, and all dB(A) figures are to within ±3dB(A). The level changes with angle, for example 93.2 at 75° and 68.6 at 165° horizontally on the Apollo Standard alert tone.
• 9mA: this is the operated current at 24V. Together with the quiescent figure, it is what a loop calculation has to carry.
• 1Hz: this means one flash every second.

Installing it

• Address rules: a unit under group address control must have an individual address between 1 and 111, otherwise a fault value of 4 is transmitted. Otherwise any address from 1 to 126 may be used.
• Several loops: units on two or more loops can be synchronised in pulsed mode only if the panel transmits address 0 to all loops synchronously.
• Tone setting: check the switch settings for each tone in the maker's instructions.

Planning your system

Check that the fire alarm panel supports this device with the appropriate software before ordering. Check the light output and coverage category with Apollo before relying on the beacon.

If the design calls for a visual alarm device certified to EN 54-23, confirm that with the maker first. Other fire alarm sounders and beacons may suit a different protocol or location.

Standards and ratings explained

In an IP66 rating, the first 6 means dust-tight and the second 6 means protection against powerful water jets. EN54-3 is the European standard for fire alarm sounders.

On a new design, check compatibility against the panel maker's current information.