Fire Alarm

Post by **dougl33** » Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:59 am

So 2 weekends ago I was out and when I came down off of plane to enter a no wake zone after maybe 15 mins of cruising, the fire alarm on the bridge came on. There was no fire (phew). The alarm wouldn't go off until I fiddled with the connection to the bridge panel. I had cut the connection a number of years ago and only taped the wires back together at that time. OK, I thought, I've just got a shitty connection. I got back to the dock and put a proper butt connector on. Everything seemed good. I went out this weekend and under similar circumstances, the alarm came on again very briefly. In fact it was so brief that when I looked at the panel to see which alarm had gone off, the alarm stopped and never came back on. Now I'm thinking maybe its the heat sensor for the alarm. Does anyone know where that sensor(s) is/are located? Other than being in the engine room and maybe in the lazarette with the gennie I have no idea where abouts to look. Thoughts or ideas?

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Mon Jun 25, 2018 2:05 pm

Doug, On my boat the heat sensors are above the transmissions and not sure about the one for the genset as mine hasn't had one there since before I got the boat. Shouldn't be too hard to find if you look around.

Post by **dougl33** » Mon Jun 25, 2018 6:50 pm

Ok Frank. What do they look like?

Keith · Post by **Keith** » Tue Jun 26, 2018 2:19 am

Are you sure its not the bilge alarm, it has the same bell.

Post by **dougl33** » Tue Jun 26, 2018 7:22 am

Keith, Positive. The light that came on the panel was for fire.

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:15 am

Doug, if you have an Aqua alarm panel, fisheries supply shows 4 of them. Al

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Tue Jun 26, 2018 2:06 pm

Doug, it's a small round biscuit looking thing, maybe 2-3" in diameter with a smaller round button looking thing in the center of it, about the size of a dime.It will have 2 wires going to it. I haven't been able to find a direct replacement, the ones I've seen look conspicuously like one you'd put in your garage (much bigger around)

Post by **dougl33** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:24 am

Thanks guys. I found it last night after Frank's description on where to look. They're both directly above the trans on the ceiling of the engine room. On Monday night a friend of mine took a look and was convinced the issue was the switch on the panel. We replaced it by soldering a new one in and the alarms seemed to work correctly (bell rang when set to test and when starting the engines the bell rang and the oil pressure and sea water flow lights came on and then stopped as usual). I needed to get some new screws to secure the panel into the receptacle as the original ones were nylon and broke. I got some new stainless ones and went to put everything back together last night and when I got to the boat the bilge and fire light were lit on the panel but the bell was not ringing. There was another bad power connection for the bell. We re-connected that wire, but then the panel wouldn't run on test mode. It still lit and rang on start up, just not on test. My buddy said the power wire to the panel is getting voltage, but that as soon as I hit the switch to test the voltage drops and nothing happens. He seems to think the issue is somewhere in the wire that goes from the panel directly to the battery. I've printed the DC diagram for the alarm panel and we'll take another look tonight. Al, I'm not exactly sure what the panel is other than its OEM from Berrtam. I did see this on the fishery website that looks kinda sorta like the sensor in the engine room: https://www.fisheriessupply.com/aqualar ... ctor-20114 Didn't see replacement panels though.

BottomLine · Post by **BottomLine** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:58 am

Doug: Check out http://aqualarm.net I think they were the OEM supplier to Bertram but the panel have changed over the years. Mike Ford

Post by **dougl33** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 6:06 am

Thanks Mike. It looks like this may be the best replacement part: http://aqualarm.net/replacement-parts-c ... p-140.html

PleasureBay · Post by **PleasureBay** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 3:16 pm

I had to replace mine on my 82 33' SF. I only replaced two I purchased from the outfit in CA, Aqualarm. It's the one that looks like a doorbell. I disconnected mine when I couldn't get the alarm to stop, you can unplug the wire from the panel.

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:21 pm

Hey Doug - If you don't get it fixed, bring your schematics to P-Town and I'll be happy to take a second look. Extra set of eyes... Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

Post by **dougl33** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 9:53 am

Already on the boat! That being said, I think it was just some crappy connections (fingers crossed).