Introduction; Fire Alarm Systems - An Overview; The Cast Xfp Fire Alarm Control Panel; An Overview Of The Panel's Access Levels - C-TEC XFP501E/CA User Manual & Log Book

CAST XFP 16 & 32 ZONE ANALOGUE ADDRESSABLE FIRE ALARM PANEL

INTRODUCTION

Fire alarm systems - an overview

The primary purpose of a fire alarm system is to provide an early warning of a fire so that people and animals
can be evacuated and action taken to stop the fire as soon as possible - all according to a predetermined
plan.
Alarms may be raised by automatic detection devices, or manually by a person operating a manual call point
(MCP).
To ensure an alarm is dealt with in an orderly manner, it is important to know where the alarm is coming
from. To aid this function, fire alarm systems are usually split into zones, each covering a different
geographical area of a building.
When an alarm has been raised, the panel responds by indicating the zone(s) in which the alarm has
occurred and activating all relevant outputs (sounders, bells, strobes, beacons, relays, etc.) to provide a
warning of the fire.

The CAST XFP fire alarm control panel

The CAST XFP is an intelligent 'addressable' fire alarm panel designed to work with a wide range of 'CAST'
compatible fire detection devices. As such, it is able to provide much more detailed information about a fire
condition than just the number of the activated zone.
As well as giving prioritised feedback on the status of the system, the easy-to-read 80-character display will
indicate the name and location of every detector that has responded to a fire and also show the order in
which they went into alarm.
It will also display detailed information on any fault conditions that arise and can be programmed by an
engineer to operate in a number of different ways to help reduce the incidence of false alarms and to
encourage the orderly evacuation of a building in a true fire condition.
Controls are available that will allow authorised users to silence or reset a fire condition, to resound the
alarm sounders, to disable or enable parts of the system to suit prevailing conditions, to change the panel's
date and time and to test the panel's indicators to ensure they are working correctly.
All of these functions - and more - are explained in detail in this user manual.

An overview of the panel's access levels

Three access levels are available at the panel - access level 1, access level 2 and access level 3.
Access level 1 is the general user level which is accessible to everyone. At this level you can:
• Scroll through any fire or fault conditions that are displayed on the panel's display
• View any disablements, or zones that are being tested
• Test the panel's lamps (LED indicators and display) to ensure they are working correctly
• Determine the total number of times the panel has been in a fire condition
• Gain entry to access level 2 (authorised user level) and, if you are an engineer, access level 3.
Access level 2 is the authorised user level which is accessible to authorised, trained personnel only.
Access to this level is achieved by either, the input of a special four-digit code using the panel's
pushbuttons, or by turning the panel's keyswitch to the armed position 'I'.
At access level 2, the panel's Silence, Reset and Investigate buttons become active and users are able to:
• Scroll through any fire or fault conditions that are displayed on the panel's display
• View any disablements, or zones that are being tested
• Enable or disable zones, sounders, outputs, relays and devices
• Display and/or reset the panel's event history
• Set the time and date
• Change the entry code to access level 2 from its factory default.
Access level 3 is the panel's engineering/programming level. On no account should access level 3 be
accessed by anyone but an authorised system engineer. A fire panel is a piece of life safety equipment and
unauthorised access may affect the way the panel functions, endanger life and void the warranty. If you
are an engineer, details of access level 3 can be found in the separate engineering manual.
USER MANUAL & LOG BOOK • Approved Document No. DFU5020000 Rev 3 • Page 4 of 24