Fire Alarm Code-3

[Stainless]

I need to “code-3” an output for fire sounders - the AHJ is going to require it.  I am using 5 System Sensor MHW horns on the circuit.  I did a little experimentation; I connected the circuit to Output #2 on the panel.  That was a failure, because even with the output set to “voltage”, there was enough of a supervision voltage to make the sounders activate.  My next step is to connect the circuit to Output #3 and trigger the relay via rules to activate under a fire event.  That should work, but it will be a constant ON and not give me the code-3 signal I need to satisfy the AHJ requirement.  The sounders do have a “constant (or) code-3” setting which will be my worst-case scenario, but I know eventually, after running for a couple of minutes, the sounders will end up being out of sync. 
 
So, my question is this - is there any way to get an output on the Elk to fire off as “code-3”?  I do not see anything in the programming which gives me this option (which I find odd because most alarm panels either do this by default or allow you to code the fire output).  If not, how can I get this to work through programming rules?
 

 

[RAL]

When you connected the sounders to Output 2, did you try putting an EOL resistor across the output terminals to see if that would silence them when not in alarm condition?   Normally, if the output was not used, Elk recommends a 2.2k resistor.   That suggests the supervision current is pretty low.   Brad Weeks from Elk once suggested 1.1k (or two 2.2k resistors in parallel) for folks who had problems with sirens that buzzed from the supervision current.  But if that doesn't work to silence them, you could try a smaller value and see what happens.
 
Another approach would be to connect an outboard relay to Output 2 and then drive the sounders with the relay.  But you would have to choose a relay that has a fairly high activation current to avoid having the supervision current trigger it.
 
One final solution would be to get an Elk 941, which can produce the temporal-3 code.
 
I don't think there is a way to generate the temporal-3 code with rules.   Temporal-3 requires three 1/2 second on, 1/2 second off tones, followed by 1-1/2 seconds of silence, for a total cycle of 4 seconds.  The M1 rules only allow timing on the basis of full seconds, not factions of a second.

 

[Stainless]

When you connected the sounders to Output 2, did you try putting an EOL resistor across the output terminals to see if that would silence them when not in alarm condition?   Normally, if the output was not used, Elk recommends a 2.2k resistor.   That suggests the supervision current is pretty low.   Brad Weeks from Elk once suggested 1.1k (or two 2.2k resistors in parallel) for folks who had problems with sirens that buzzed from the supervision current.  But if that doesn't work to silence them, you could try a smaller value and see what happens.
 
Another approach would be to connect an outboard relay to Output 2 and then drive the sounders with the relay.  But you would have to choose a relay that has a fairly high activation current to avoid having the supervision current trigger it.
 
One final solution would be to get an Elk 941, which can produce the temporal-3 code.
 
I don't think there is a way to generate the temporal-3 code with rules.   Temporal-3 requires three 1/2 second on, 1/2 second off tones, followed by 1-1/2 seconds of silence, for a total cycle of 4 seconds.  The M1 rules only allow timing on the basis of full seconds, not factions of a second.

 
Thanks - I ended up connecting a relay to Output 2 and running the sounders off the relay contacts with raw voltage and that's working.  It just seems like a two step approach to one problem.  But to answer your question, the resistor did not make any bit of difference with the sounders connected up to the output by themselves, there was still enough of a voltage to make them activate.  It was not full volume, but you could definitely hear them.
 
As far as the code-3 signal, apparently the Elk does this automatically on this output when it is set to "voltage".  There was nothing in the documentation that suggested that and other panels I've work on in the past, code-3 is usually an option for fire.  First time testing a smoke detector, the sounders activated code-3 so the problem wasn't even a problem!