How to soak test a fire alarm system?

 

The performance of a system with a typical production load like a fire protection service needs to be checked under different circumstances. For that purpose detailed testing by manipulating the load over specific periods of time is needed to understand the behavior of the same under production use or excessive pressure. Soak test is done by the professional and reputed fire alarm monitoring companies in California for that purpose. 

• Soak test on a fire alarm system:

The professional service providers soak tests the fire alarms to ensure their activeness at any point in time. They are trained and experts in this field and they test the smoke alarms by using a small amount of radioactive material between two electrically charged plates that ionize the air and cause electricity to flow between the plates. Then they send some smoke in the chamber to see if it is reducing the flow of current by disrupting the flow of ions, which activates the fire alarm. The expert technicians at the professional fire alarm monitoring service in California usually spray a can of Smoke Test aerosol near the sensor by holding the test button.  

• The advantages of the soak test:

So via a soak test, you can get the primary reaction of the unit under a possible simulated environment for a given threshold and for a given duration. Also, as per the government’s regulation, a fire protection system should be tested at least once every 6 months by a competent person or authority of fire alarm systems in California with following the standard protocols. The technicians who run the soak test will observe the behavior of the respective unit under different conditions and that may be effective for further improvement of the service. 

The reputed fire alarm soak test services in California runs the test for a period of many months to understand the external stresses in different situations and weather conditions. A team of two technicians usually runs the test to ensure the expected functions of fire alarms under different conditions. Dust, dirt, and other contaminants may damage any devices and that is the same for the modern-day smart fire protection systems, such as alarms, sensors, sprinklers, etc., and for this reason, a soak test is mandatory for maintenance of these devices.

Final thoughts:

Remodeling works at premises, vandalism, improper handling, and inappropriate maintenance procedures for your smoke alarms and fire protection systems can also damage your fire protection equipment. For this reason, I’ll advise contacting a professional service for soak testing purposes and they will look after proper periodical testing, inspection, and maintenance requirements from time to time. The professional fire sprinkler systems service in California also provides a soak test at a reasonable cost, but I’ll advise you to follow the reviews and ratings before hiring a service for such an important factor.