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Inspection Tools?

J

JW

Jan 1, 1970
0
Have any of you found any good tools/tips for inspections/tests that make
the job more efficient or easier? Do you use any with telescoping poles?

Do you have universal sensitivity testers? If not, does it cause an issue
for your customers?

Thanks for sharing!
 
C

Crash Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
Inspections of what?



| Have any of you found any good tools/tips for inspections/tests that make
| the job more efficient or easier? Do you use any with telescoping poles?
|
| Do you have universal sensitivity testers? If not, does it cause an issue
| for your customers?
|
| Thanks for sharing!
|
|
|
|
 
R

Robert L Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
Have any of you found any good tools/tips for inspections/tests
that make the job more efficient or easier? Do you use any with
telescoping poles?

Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order:

+ Dental mirror and penlight for viewing inside wall cavities.
+ Dental pick for grabbing wires from small openings, scratching foil bridges on
circuit boards, etc.
+ Box of about 5 pounds of beaded chain which I bought at a garage sale for $5.
When fishing wires from attic to basement in older homes I would often locate
the wet wall (plumbing chase) where the DWV stack rises through the attic and
drop one end of the chain along side the pipe. Due to its weight and
flexibility, as I paid it out the chain would find its way to the basement
through any available openings at each level below.
+ Tone set made by Progressive. Clip the tone generator's leads to any open
circuit and you can trace wires behind walls from several feet away. This was
great for deciphering unlabeled wiring during takeovers, completions of builder
prewires, etc.
+ Butane soldering iron. No cord to knock over lamps and stuff. :)
+ Right-angle, cordless drill from Makita. When retrofitting ceiling speakers
I'd cut out the opening, reach in with a shortened 3/4" paddle bit (Note to
Olson: paddle bits are perfectly safe once you learn how to use a drill) and
drill the top of the wall to drop my cables down.
+ Laptop computer for downloading panels. Great for diagnostics and reading
logs on service calls as well as doing the initial configuration on new
installations.
Do you have universal sensitivity testers?

I'm not aware of a universal sensitivity tester.
If not, does it cause an issue for your customers?

Not that I've ever noticed. :^)

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

Bass Burglar Alarms
The Online DIY Store
http://www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
 
F

Frank Olson

Jan 1, 1970
0
JW said:
Alarm systems and related devices.... mostly fire alarm systems/devices.


One of my suppliers carries a small tube attachment that will fit over a
can of smoke. It concentrates the smoke and usually only takes a single
short "blast" to set off a detector. We've significantly increased
the number of detectors we can test with canned smoke as a result.

Extension rods are good for heat detectors. Some companies use the
small butane soldering irons with the "heat" attachment. This
eliminates the "open flame".

Each manufacturer has their own smoke detector sensitivity testers.
Instead of making a huge investment (some can cost as much as $6000.00
and will only test one "family" of smokes) call some of your local
"friendly" competitors. Find out which ones they have, and purchase one
they don't (but need). Then you can talk about "sharing" or "pooling"
the testers.

For really high smokes there are extension kits, but whether you want to
get them is up to you. If you do a lot of theatres, you might want to
invest in one.

Frank Olson
http://www.yoursecuritysource.com
 
M

Michael Baker

Jan 1, 1970
0
JW said:
Have any of you found any good tools/tips for inspections/tests that make
the job more efficient or easier? Do you use any with telescoping poles?

Do you have universal sensitivity testers? If not, does it cause an issue
for your customers?

Thanks for sharing!

Tiscor http://www.tiscor.com/ and BuildingReports.com
http://www.buildingreports.com/ use electronic gizmos to capture
insepction and testing data.

Gemini Scientific http://www.geminiscientific.com/ and SDI TruTest
http://www.sdifire.com/trutest.html make universal sensitivity test
instruments.

Best regards,

Mike

--
Michael B. Baker, SET
Michael Baker & Associates, Inc.
PO Box 737
Gladstone, OR 97027-0737
503-657-8888 v
503-655-1014 f
ET News(r) http://www.etnews.org
 
G

Group-Moderator

Jan 1, 1970
0
Frank Olson said:
JW wrote:
One of my suppliers carries a small tube attachment that will fit over a
can of smoke. It concentrates the smoke and usually only takes a single
short "blast" to set off a detector. We've significantly increased the
number of detectors we can test with canned smoke as a result.
Frank Olson
http://www.yoursecuritysource.com

Thats what an 8' 1/2" Pipe is for
 
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