How can they ever be as good as the mirrored optic Alarmcom designed IR series they replaced?

 

That's what I thought when I got the email saying that the IR series were dead and buried, I think nearly

20 years since they first turned up on the scene.

 

 

Many years before that though, Siemens quietly launched the e-line series... Which today looks like this,

line up wise:

 

 

There is even a website which looks a bit like this - http://www.e-linedetector.com/e-line/

 

So I've been using the IR series for a few years with great success (although, ironically, since they were discontinued,

I've had 2 false alarms on IR sites that have been cured* by replacement with the e-lines...) *fingers crossed.

 

Other than that I've had a few test sites including a 'difficult' conservatory type scenario, with pets, which has stood

up remarkably well.

 

What do they look like?

 

Well you'll probably love or hate them. They are definitely 'big'; have a look at this one posing on a whippet blanket;

 

 

That's approx 10cm high.

 

 

 

They carry over the design from the old IR series of the plug-in backplate, which is good because now the entire range has the

same footprint.

 

So far, the advantages as I see them are:

 

+ Cost, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the SecWare prices on the G2 PIR

+ The entire range is Pet Friendly, although choose 60KG and you'll lose the EN. This also seems odd for G3!

+ Universal backplate for upgrades to DT

+ White Light filters available

+ Corridor version available

+ Matching 2 way wireless unit for SPC panel fans (not trialled yet)

+ Nice easy to use terminals

+ EOL units plug in and easy to fit

+ In tests have performed flawlessly to date.

 

But...

 

- There is LESS room then before for excess cable even compared to the smaller IR120

- The EOL unit sticks out a LOT and gets shoved to one side on closure of the unit

- The terminals marked as 'SPARE' on the backplate, esp terminal 4, are NOT spare if you plug in the EOL unit!!!

They seem to be internally connected to the EOL to allow for universal use on units supporting mask, so if you use the 'spare'

terminal for looping through, it's going to cause no end of faults, as I quickly discovered!

- You'll need to secure well (not a bad thing) as the pressure needed to separate unit and backplate is high

- You CAN fit a G3 unit to a G2 backplate (and vice versa) but the terminals will be marked up wrongly for mask etc...

- Users of obscure panels have to stock a dedicated 'EOL Board 2' version. Why oh why couldn't they just have every

value covered by jumpers like an iwise?

 

...Anyway

 

I will be tentatively using these in place of IR series (PIR) and iWise (DT) in future, and would recommend them for anything

where the price of a couple of service station burgers isn't too much for a basic PIR!

We use them. No issue's. Not the prettiest device out there but not by any means the worst.

Dd how many have you fitted and in what environment

Not enough to properly comment!

 

But, oddly, 3 of the last ever IR120s I fitted caused frequent FAs which were proven not to be the panel, wiring etc...

 

And despite being mirrored were fitted away from windows etc... & set to Harsh. No big dogs (but both had a cat).

 

Also, one Iwise PET DT at the same time couldn't cope with a small dog. Kept going off, except when dog at customers parents!!

 

All 4 were replaced with DTs or Pet e-lines as appropriate, no probs yet.

 

I have a 'test' domestic house with all e-lines with no FAs to date and regular settings (not monitored but I do read the log).

Dd how many have you fitted and in what environment

We have installed 81 DT's and 74 Pir's in commercial environments without any issue.

Sia use them and hkc quads. Only detectors we use now

What are the quads for? As in, because Siemens don't do them and you find them useful or is it simply because they are HKC wireless?

Use the hkc in id mode

Ah, the bus ones that can't be taken over

UPDATE

 

Following some faults on an installation that was not mine, but happened to be using e-line detectors, bear in mind

that if you are going to corner fix on one edge only, beware the back tamper plate.

 

 

As you can see above, I haven't screwed it down being G2 and a perfectly plastered corner.

 

However, on the rough walls where I visited, this meant that when the PIR was pushed home,

the plate was being pushed out JUST enough to seem ok until temperatures changed, perhaps.

 

At this time the sensor went in, and then out, of tamper.

 

This is ESPECIALLY the case if right hand fixings are used on a rough wall, as then the removeable

plate really can 'hinge' out the way, far more so than if fixed on the left where the tamper peg is.