Technical

Fail Safe/Secure with PP8FR

I have been asked how to power the locks for a fail safe/fail secure door using the PP8FR. Fail safe/secure doors use two electric locks, one to release on fire or emergency and one to stay locked to maintain access control back into the building. Often this is achieved by controlling the negative/ ground connection […]

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Fuse on PTC action

Many modern alarm and access control panels make use of PTC fuses. These are resettable fuses that over heat and trip if the current/heat gets above a set threshold. I have seen them used to protect main boards, reader power outputs and so on. PTC fuses generally take a little longer to trip than a

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Electric locks & Fire Trips

Recently I have had several enquiries regarding the Building Code of Australia (BCA) in relation to fire trips. Security installers, consultants and clients often have conflicting ideas about what is required under the BCA. This leads to confusion and doubt, access to the BCA is not cheap and therefore it is often not consulted. This

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