Category: News

Unique Suppression and Detection Seminar.  This is an informal event in a luxurious private members club environment where we will provide impartial information on different suppression methods and their applications and an update on the fire detection and alarm standard BS5839-1:2017.

The seminar covers 3 main subjects summarised below, but more information is given on the attached flyer.  This seminar is a must for specifiers, building owners, estates teams, facilities management companies and anybody responsible for fire safety.

• THE BEST SUPPRESSION METHOD: SPRINKLERS, WATER MIST OR GAS SUPPRESSION?
• We will provide impartial information on various suppression methods, applications and pros and cons of each, to allow you to decide on the most appropriate system for your needs.
• PREVENTING NOISE DAMAGE TO HARD DRIVES FROM A GAS EXTINGUISHING DISCHARGE
• Is your Datacentre / Data protected against noise-induced damage to hard disk drives from the discharge of a gas extinguishing system? We give the facts and provide solutions.
• BS5839-1:2017 FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM STANDARDS UPDATE
• This standard has been re-written this year and we will give you an overview of the standard and details of what has changed.

The hugely popular Kentec “Syncro” fire panel is no more

Kentec Electronics Limited have manufactured the popular “Syncro” range of control panels with multiple protocols, including Apollo and Hochiki for decades.  This has been very popular across all sectors and clients with many sizable systems being installed right up until recently.

Hence the surprise when we were notified in writing by the Directors of Kentec Electronics that with immediate effect the Syncro range of panels has been made obsolete and that manufacturing will cease immediately.

The problem relates to the processor chip availability for the display boards.  In a bid to secure sufficient stock of these chips to fulfill current orders and warranties to recently installed products, the removal of the Syncro from the marketplace was required.

So where does this leave current installations?

If the system is installed and remains in warranty, then the stock will be made available to fulfill that agreement.  If the system is out of warranty, then there are several options;

1. If the panel is part of a large network of panels, we are informed Kentec will look to try and support the client with display board spares.
2. Alternatively, the Syncro AS remains available, this can be networked into an existing Kentec Syncro network, however there are some issues to be aware of
   1. The Syncro AS is smaller than a standard Syncro
   2. The Syncro AS is also only available up to 2 loops
3. If it is a standalone installation then the Syncro panel can be replaced with the new Taktis panel which is of course compatible with the existing loop protocols including Apollo and Hochiki.
4. So, if Opt 1 is not offered and Opt 2 and 3 are not suitable, then after Q1 2018 the other option is that a plug in card for the new Taktis Panel will be available to make it a “Drop In” replacement. With this card the Taktis panel will be able to operate as a “Syncro” on the same network with existing panels, we are advised. Whilst Taktis is now available, the plug in card to network it to a Syncro network is currently not available, but should be available Q1 2018.

So what do you do now?

I would suggest that contacting Senseco Systems to discuss your Kentec Syncro system would be a good start!  It will enable us start planning the future for your fire system, Senseco Systems will also ensure as we start any system upgrades from Syncro to Taktis that we will also collate and retain the obsolete parts for our clients to consider as a support option in the future.

Senseco Systems are a very experienced Fire Detection system engineering company and hugely experienced on the Kentec products.  We are here to support you with your Kentec Electronics system for the future.

Please feel free to contact the following contacts to discuss further;

Large Networked Kentec Systems 

Contact: Patrick Kinsey – Business Manager – Lifecycle / Major Projects – patrick.kinsey@sensecosystems.com

Smaller Single Panel Kentec Systems

Contact: Nathan Butt – Business Development Manager – Minor Projects – nathan.butt@sensecosystems.com

Senseco Systems are delighted to have completed the first phase of a large old legacy Siemens Algorex to Siemens Cerberus Pro migration upgrade for a major 5 Star London hotel client.

In a hotel with 1,000 bedrooms and at a very busy time of the year we are delighted to have transferred the system from the old legacy system to the new Open Protocol Siemens Cerberus Pro system.

The system was transferred with zero interruption and disturbance to our prestigious client’s day to day operations and within programme and budget.

Phase 1 was so successful we have just secured Phase 2 to refresh the detection devices throughout in 2017.

The client has also recognised the advantage of the ASA detector technology following a full system demonstration by Senseco Systems and they have upgraded the bedroom protection to obtain the benefits of the Senseco Systems exclusive FAITH guarantee see SENSECO FAITH FALSE ALARM IMMUNITY GUARANTEE

A great end to 2016 and congratulations to the major projects team at Senseco Systems for such a great success story and fantastic client feedback.

Looking forward to exciting opportunities in 2017 – #allmakessenseco

This seminar covers our guarantee to resolve 4 Hot Subjects – You can’t afford to miss it.

1. Datacentre/Comms Room Damage to Hardrives from Gas Suppression Release Noise – Let us Guarantee the safety and security of your Hardrives in a Gas Suppression release scenario.
2. The Competition Chase the “Holy Grail” of achieving False Alarm Immunity – We Guarantee It, Attend our seminar and we will prove it.
3. Design Compliance – We have more 3rd Party Approvals than our competition, let us Guarantee compliance with the latest standards, we have every third party approval to confirm our competence.
4. The Maintenance competition constantly promise compliance and system service for an ever decreasing sum of money, but are they really servicing the system properly? What’s the risk for a client? Let us prove how our technology proves the maintenance and we Guarantee compliance with the standards. We can give you the technology to Guarantee it’s being serviced properly.

Subject 1 – Datacentre/Comms Room – Guarantee Safety for your Hard drives from a Gas Suppression Release.

This a very hot topic but one that hadn’t appeared to create much action to resolve until the latest widely publicised incident at CLICK HERE- ING Datacentre Outage – BBC News suddenly there are lots of questions being asked but this isn’t a new issue!

• Is it misunderstanding of the risk?
• Maybe a lack of appreciation that this risk can be averted and reasonably easily without changing complete systems?

Hopefully this Blog will inspire some debate, hopefully some communication and ideally some attendance at our exclusive event in Covent Garden, London on 17th November 2016 about this subject and various other innovation technology (strictly invitation only for system owners and specifiers) see below and email seminars@sensecosystems.com for details and check availability.

The original incidents date back to 2007 which amazingly means that at the time of writing we are now approaching 10 years of awareness and yet the incidents increase year on year and the risks appear to be ignored despite the potential significant losses to business interruption and data.

There have been various incidents in all types and sizes of data sites around the world with one of the biggest outages being at West Host which occurred 6 years ago through an accidental discharge of the Inergen Suppression System  – See the various reports at CLICK HERE – West Host Datacentre Outage & Data Loss this incident caused hundreds of thousands of email accounts and websites to go offline and some data including the back-ups were irrecoverably lost.

There have been various other incidents in both commercial banking datacentres, smaller comms rooms and most recently ING above but only a few weeks ago also at Glasgow City Council outage through a reported “Shockwave” vibration from an accidental suppression release CLICK HERE – Shockwave Datacentre Outage at Glasgow City Council possibly through false detection possibly caused by a failed AC unit setting off detection and then releasing an inert suppression system.

With these enormous risks why are so many clients NOT taking the evasive action that is available? By simply upgrading detection to robust false alarm immune detection but more importantly adopting “Silent Extinguishing” and yes in an ideal world this would be at the point of a new installation but it is also easily implemented retrospectively and doesn’t involve replacing the system. Possibly simply undertakinmg a detailed design review and making some changes including replacing the nozzles, possibly discharghe times/valves etc we are able to review and advise and reviewing sounder coverage all possible by engaging Senseco Systems. As we have done already for our client “Doosan Power” after they also suffered a system outage see the case study CLICK HERE – Senseco Case Study – Doosan Power

The risk is simply noise, there has been significant tests and white papers produced to prove the risk and these are best explained by our product manufacturing partner Siemens in the recent version “Silent Extinguishing – White Paper Rev Sept 2015” CLICK HERE – All the info you will need – Video, Case Study, Video ). The issue surrounding the noise emitted from both sounders and more so the gas suppression nozzles are confirmed as the issue. This video explains the easy rectification. You do not have to replace the system we can review and amend your existing system after a detailed evaluation of the risk and installation.

We will have the physical silent nozzle sample for you to examine and will offer our support in assisting you in protecting your business critical environment please email us at seminars@sensecosystems.com for the details of our “Innovation Event” are available, a 2-hour innovation event in Covent Garden on 17th November 2016. (Strictly Invitation Only)

We are expecting this event to be oversubscribed and so please enquire and we will advise of availability – The event is strictly for system owners and specifiers.

This a very hot topic and one that’s gathering pace now since this most recent activation at CLICK HERE – ING Datacentre Outage – BBC News

The original incidents date back to 2007 which amazingly means that at the time of writing we are now approaching 10 years of awareness and yet the incidents increase year on year and the risks appear to be ignored despite the potential significant losses to business interruption and data.

There have been various incidents in all types and sizes of data sites around the world with one of the biggest outages being at West Host which occurred 7 years ago through an accidental discharge of the Inergen Suppression System  – See the various reports at CLICK HERE – West Host Datacentre Outage & Data Loss this incident caused hundreds of thousands of email accounts and websites to go offline and some data including the back ups were irrecoverably lost.

There have been various other incidents in both commercial banking datacentres, smaller comms rooms and most recently at ING, (link above) and also at Glasgow City Council outage through a reported “Shockwave” vibration from an accidental suppression release CLICK HERE – Shockwave Datacentre Outage at Glasgow City Council possibly through false detection possibly caused by a failed AC unit setting off detection and then releasing an inert suppression system.

With these enormous risks why are so many clients NOT taking the evasive action that is available? By simply upgrading detection to robust false alarm immune detection but more importantly adopting “Silent Extinguishing” and yes in an ideal world this would be at the point of a new installation but it is also easily implemented retrospectively and doesn’t involve replacing the system. Possibly simply replacing the nozzles and reviewing sounder coverage and by engaging with Senseco Systems and installing the “Silent Nozzle”. As we have done already for our client “Doosan Power” after they also suffered a system outage see the case study CLICK HERE – Senseco Case Study – Doosan Power

The risk is simply noise, there has been significant tests and white papers produced to prove the risk and these are best explained in the recent “Silent Extinguishing – White Paper Rev Sept 2015” (See Link Below). The issue surrounding the noise emitted from both sounders and more so the gas suppression nozzles are confirmed as the issue. This video explains the easy rectification. We can and have retrofitted these nozzles onto existing suppression systems of various agents, you do not have to replace the system.

We have the physical silent nozzle sample for you to examine and we will offer our support in assisting you in protecting your business critical environment please email us at seminars@sensecosystems.com for the details of our Seminars & Presentations which are available at your premises or at one of our next scheduled dates.

You can also download this information from our website CLICK HERE – Download White Paper, Video & Case Study Documents, We can also help you design your next generation of suppression systems to guarantee false alarm immunity and protect the assets from the risk of noise in a datacentre.

Contacts Senseco Systems at sales@sensecosystems.com

This a very hot topic but one that doesn’t appear to create much action to resolve despite the potential enormous risk to business continuity. You have to ask why not?

• Is it misunderstanding of the risk?
• Maybe a lack of appreciation that this risk can be averted and reasonably easily without changing complete systems?

Hopefully this Blog will inspire some debate, hopefully some communication and ideally some attendance at our exclusive event in Covent Garden, London on 11^th May 2016 about this subject and various other innovation technology (strictly invitation only for system owners and specifiers) see below and email seminars@sensecosystems.com for details and check availability.

The original incidents date back to 2007 which amazingly means that at the time of writing we are now approaching 10 years of awareness and yet the incidents increase year on year and the risks appear to be ignored despite the potential significant losses to business interruption and data.

There have been various incidents in all types and sizes of data sites around the world with one of the biggest outages being at West Host which occurred 6 years ago through an accidental discharge of the Inergen Suppression System  – See the various reports at CLICK HERE – West Host Datacentre Outage & Data Loss this incident caused hundreds of thousands of email accounts and websites to go offline and some data including the back ups were irrecoverably lost.

There have been various other incidents in both commercial banking datacentres, smaller comms rooms and most recently at Glasgow City Council outage through a reported “Shockwave” vibration from an accidental suppression release CLICK HERE – Shockwave Datacentre Outage at Glasgow City Council possibly through false detection possibly caused by a failed AC unit setting off detection and then releasing an inert suppression system.

With these enormous risks why are so many clients NOT taking the evasive action that is available? By simply upgrading detection to robust false alarm immune detection but more importantly adopting “Silent Extinguishing” and yes in an ideal world this would be at the point of a new installation but it is also easily implemented retrospectively and doesn’t involve replacing the system. Possibly simply replacing the nozzles and reviewing sounder coverage and by engaging with Senseco Systems and installing the Silent Nozzle. As we have done already for our client “Doosan Power” after they also suffered a system outage see the case study CLICK HERE – Senseco Case Study – Doosan Power

The risk is simply noise, there has been significant tests and white papers produced to prove the risk and these are best explained by our product manufacturing partner Siemens in the recent version “Silent Extinguishing – White Paper Rev Sept 2015” (Copy Available Upon Request). The issue surrounding the noise emitted from both sounders and more so the gas suppression nozzles are confirmed as the issue. This video explains the easy rectification. We can and have retrofitted these nozzles onto existing suppression systems of various agents, you do not have to replace the system.

We will also have the physical silent nozzle sample for you to examine and will offer our support in assisting you in protecting your business critical environment please email us at seminars@sensecosystems.com for the details of our “Innovation Event” are available, a 2 hour innovation event in Covent Garden on 11th May 2016. (Strictly Invitation Only)

We are expecting this event to be oversubscribed and so please enquire and we will advise of availability – The event is strictly for system owners and specifiers.

If you would like to find out more about this risk and attend our next seminar where we will provide the facts regarding the risk, the test data collated and allow us to explain how straightforward it is likely to be to protect your existing data assets.  We can also help you design your next generation of suppression systems to guarantee false alarm immunity and protect the assets from the risk of noise in a datacentre.

The FIA have updated their guidance document on the need for 10 year hydrostatic testing of gas extinguishing cylinders.  The new guidance is available from Senseco Systems & is now much shorter and clearer, the requirements haven’t changed and it clearly states that;

All fixed extinguishing agent containers (eg HFC-227ea (FM-200), FK 5-1-12 (Novec 1230), HFC-23 (FE-13), HFC-125 (FE-25), IG 541 (INERGEN), IG 01(Argon), IG 55 (ARGONITE), IG100 (Nitrogen) and CO2 etc) must be inspected, re-tested and certified accordingly prior to the 10th anniversary of their manufacture or most recent test.

Note 1: Containers found to be in service beyond the 10th anniversary of their manufacture or most recent test should be removed from service.

Therefore if you have any cylinders nearing (or beyond) the 10 year date from their stamp we must advise you as our client of this requirement and request the full cylinder information needs to be passed to the Senseco Systems mechanical team to quote to replace the cylinders.

If you would like some free guidance on this requirement please contact us at sales@sensecosystems.com.

Senseco Systems are also proud to be one of the very few fire companies to be certified to the BAFE SP203 Part 3 Gas Suppression Standard which certifies us (and awarded us with three BSI Kitemark’s) to work on, design, install, maintain and support gas suppression systems.

Unlike the hundreds of our competitors who only possess the Part 1 Fire Alarm approval.

If you want to find out if your compliant on your cylinders and also on your maintenance or projects, then contact a competent third party certified suppression company such as Senseco Systems on sales@sensecosystems.com

I think Senseco have performed extremely well. The project team of Derek and Neil have been great, and together they have worked to ensure that all angles have been covered, and any risk has been mitigated as much as possible. The project itself has been considerably smoother than I anticipated. Yes we’ve had a couple of minor incidents but, on a project of this size and complexity that was to be expected, but importantly we haven’t had any issues that have resulted in any disruption to the business.

I haven’t personally been involved in the panel replacement training etc, but the feedback I’ve received from both Norland and our Security team has been very positive. The system operation is much easier, and the speed in which it functions has also been a strong positive over the previous system.

In summary, I personally am pleased that we opted via the tender process to award the contract to Senseco. The whole process from start to (almost) finish has been first class, and should I ever have to do this again then I would have no hesitation in calling Senseco.

End User Client for a Global Financial Client – Regarding a Siemens Algorex Upgrade to Siemens Cerberus Pro (See Previous Post Project Detail Post)

Delighted to announce that 12 members of the management team including the four Directors completed an “IOSH Directing Safely” course this week and all passed with flying colours, one of the many IOSH courses recently completed by our growing team.

To assist continued personal development but above all support the commitment to ensure the safety of our valued staff at work.

Senseco Systems are delighted to have secured a long term contract with our valued client LCR for the maintenance of the specialist SIMPLEX fire system at Waterloo International Terminal.  The contract includes the Fire Detection, Voice Alarm, Gas Suppression System and Actionair Smoke Damper Systems.

The site and system is very familiar to many of the management and engineering team at Senseco Systems were originally involved when the site was built in the 1990’s and as an engineering team had previously supported the site for many years.

Senseco Systems also service and maintain many other SIMPLEX systems throughout the UK thanks to the many years of experience on this specialised USA manufactured product and have a large engineering team with hardware and software experience.

If you have a SIMPLEX system and would like to know more about the service, maintenance and support that is available for this product please contact Senseco Systems on sales@sensecosystems.com.