Heater keeps smoke detectors clear of condensation

They are suitable for large indoor spaces with high ceilings, such as warehouses, factories, sports arenas or shopping malls. There are two general types of detector: end-to-end, which use two detector heads; and reflective, which have one detector head and a reflector (prism).

With the onset of autumn, lower temperatures can cause condensation to form on detector lenses and reflective prisms. This can obscure the lens and prism, reducing the amount of infrared light reaching the detector. This can lead to unwanted false alarms.

To combat this issue, FFE has developed a new range of anti-condensation heaters for its Fireray range of optical beam smoke detectors and reflective prisms.

The detector heater circulates a current of warm air over the lens, raising its ambient temperature by up to 10°C and maintaining the lens at an incrementally higher temperature than the surrounding air. This reduces the likelihood of condensation forming on the lens which, in turn, reduces the potential for false alarms.

The prism heater is an ultra-slim heating pad which is fixed behind the mounting plate. As with the detector heater, it maintains the temperature of the prism above that of the surrounding air, preventing condensation from occurring and reducing false alarms.

As well as being a solution to the problem of seasonal cold weather, the heaters could also be used year-round on detectors and prisms located in temperature-controlled cold storage areas.

Heaters are available for use with the Fireray 3000, Fireray 5000 and Fireray 50R/100R smoke detector ranges.