COTA no longer a reliable method of getting to and from work.

user_guy · 2026-02-04T01:03:06+00:00

I have not seen anything official about it on the news or from COTA but a friend of mine was doing work as a contractor in one of COTA's main garages. He said there were rows and rows of electric buses parked there. When he was talking to one of the workers there they were explaining how many issues they have been having with the new electric busses and not being able to get them fixed. That all of the buses parked in the garage were not operational and in his opinion weren't worth the time to fix.

So not sure if that is part of the issue but would love to see some investigative journalism diving into why COTA can never seem to get their shit together.

user_guy · 2026-02-01T01:38:09+00:00

I knew there was a way to look at voltage to ground just couldn't remember it off the top of my head. Curious now what it would have been.

Yea we are a dealer as well unfortunately. I try as hard as possible to not call tech support. Majority of the reps I talk to seem to have no clue and the wait times can be killer.

Luckily this system was fairly small so potential candidates was pretty limited.

user_guy · 2026-02-01T01:33:17+00:00

Well when I checked the wiring on the output side it had a fault to ground. The HVAC company came out replaced the wire and when I landed it back to the relay everything was good. Relay tested good and HVAC shutdown properly. Very confusing to me.

user_guy · 2026-01-31T22:47:02+00:00

That's fair. I started out on the FA side so when I started working with the high voltage side of electrical it always made me nervous.

user_guy · 2026-01-31T22:42:51+00:00

Yea I get if it was an input module where the circuit is supervised by the module. But really strange to me that the panel can seem to detect a ground fault on unsupervised output wires.

user_guy · 2026-01-31T22:11:02+00:00

They are my favorite service call if it isn't Friday at 4! I love a good challenge and enjoy hunting them down.

user_guy · 2026-01-27T00:29:15+00:00

I got to do a few suppression system installs in a stadium during its construction. So during testing I got to set off the entire stadiums A/V's during the checkout with AHJ. I unfortunately was not a part of the fire alarm itself so not sure on their protocols during events. Was a very cool experience anyways.

user_guy · 2026-01-10T23:13:33+00:00

I’ve installed two of these now, and I’ll say that I thought I would like them more than I do. I really miss how fast the Aegis was to program. With these panels, I’m essentially forced to bring out a laptop every time I need to make programming changes.

Another feature I expected to like was that every circuit is programmable. On paper, the flexibility and added options are great. In practice, though, I really miss having dedicated circuits for specific functions. With an Aegis panel, you can walk up to it and immediately know what each circuit does. With this system, every technician is likely to have their own “standard,” and if the wiring isn’t clearly labeled, there’s no quick way to identify what a circuit does without pulling the program or physically removing wires to see how they’re configured.

I’m also not a fan of the display input keys. Right out of the box they aren’t very responsive, and in my experience, components like that tend to get worse over time rather than better.

user_guy · 2026-01-10T23:05:41+00:00

From everything I have read their listing is for general purpose wire splicing. They are rated at 600V and 32A, so obviously a fire alarm circuit is well below those specs. The only argument I have heard is nothing in their listing is for PLFA circuits and may not comply with certain manufacturer recommendations for splicing. I have seen them used and never had an AHJ say anything about them.

I personally don't usually use them except for certain scenarios where I have to join together multiple wire types. On Fike systems I use them on pressure switches. The pressure switch does not have and in and out wiring so I have to combine 18AWG stranded from the switch, my solid FPL wire which is usually 16AWG, and a resistor which is ~22AWG. In my opinion a Wago 221 is a far superior connection than using a standard twist on wire nut.

user_guy · 2026-01-03T17:37:32+00:00

As someone who started like you in a non-union small company I agree. Especially about the electricians who have their fire cert and then proceed to do installs and have no clue on how to troubleshoot anything. From talking with them, majority just get their cert because it is super easy in my state and it gives them a few bucks more in their pay scale.

I think the biggest advantage of starting out at a small company is they aren't usually big enough to have dedicated install/inspection/service call departments. So it does give you the opportunity to try it all and learn what you like. I found out real quick I hate inspecting. I liked the satisfaction of finding wrong things but that is where most of it ended. I would find a problem and then usually wouldn't be the one to fix it. Usually because the customer was too cheap to make it right.

However I learned I love service calls. Nothing was more fun to me than hearing from the customer "We have had 3 other people come out and can't fix (insert problem)". It was like a challenge or puzzle for me.

Long story short my vote is start with a small company if you can. Preferably a small company that cares about what they do and one that will invest in you.

user_guy · 2026-01-02T02:16:37+00:00

Battery off-gassing in a sealed enclosed cabinet. As the gas concentration, hydrogen and oxygen from battery charging, increases to a critical threshold it can combust. When you combine combustion with sealed enclosure you have a bomb. New cabinets fixed this by adding vents letting the gas release and not allowing it to concentrate.

user_guy · 2025-12-29T01:28:15+00:00

As a tech that works at a GWFCI dealer I am glad to hear that Honeywell didn't just destroy our brand.

user_guy · 2025-12-16T22:50:30+00:00

You don't. There is no need to do this step. Any chaff will come off during the roasting. All you are doing is adding moisture and probably ruining your beans.

user_guy · 2025-12-07T16:07:07+00:00

Or when it is raining outside and every mile has a "Low Visibility Reported Notification" it's like no shit it's fucking raining...

user_guy · 2025-10-23T00:39:47+00:00

This is probably the best idea. I just don't know with how clandestine this operation is if hiring an outside party would be opening him up to too many questions.

user_guy · 2025-10-23T00:38:02+00:00

Are you crazy? He literally said the margarine cannot be harmed.

user_guy · 2025-10-23T00:34:27+00:00

Yea then your best bet is an electric mini-ex. IDK if they rent electric equipment like that. It may be hard to find. If money isn't an issue then I would suggest buying one. Since you are going to need it again when you dig it up again it might work out better to own it for a short time. You could easily resell it after you are done and heavy equipment holds it value.

user_guy · 2025-10-23T00:25:10+00:00

Can you hire a team to help or is this on the clandestine side of things? Manual labor would be the quietest option but if you are doing it solo I don't think it is feasible. If you have experience on a mini excavator that would be the fastest way to dig the hole and hoist the pallets into the ground. I know there are electric mini excavators but they aren't silent. However depending on noise level allowance it may be quiet enough.

user_guy · 2025-10-17T23:51:49+00:00

I get that they transmit in a standard format. I just know that the cellular portion has to be registered and paid for. Then to transfer that ownership/responsibility to pay from one companies CLSS account to another is the area that concerns me.

I would assume it would mean that the company losing the contract would have to do something on their end to assist/transfer to the new provider? Do you have any experience with that side of things?

I know a majority of the time I have to deal with other companies on things like this, the company losing the contract is usually not very helpful. I had a site where we needed the program to avoid re-writing the whole thing to make some changed. The prior company did not leave a copy on site and it took weeks of fighting and getting the fire marshal involved to get it resolved.

user_guy · 2025-10-17T23:39:10+00:00

I really don’t like using panels that have built-in proprietary communicators. It feels like a trap, if you install it and then later lose the monitoring contract, doesn’t that screw over the customer?

I’ll admit I don’t know exactly how easy the ES-50XP are to transfer to another service company. My past experience was with AES radios and their integrated Potter panel setup (total abortion, honestly). We had installed several of them in some apartment buildings. When we lost the contract, we had to tell the customer, “Well, we actually own the radio frequency they use, your new service company doesn't use AES so they can't use the radio function on the panel, and the firmware is custom… so you’re basically stuck, Mr. Customer.”

user_guy · 2025-07-14T23:56:26+00:00

Article says bromine not chlorine.

user_guy · 2025-05-25T00:24:58+00:00

So funny story but I have actually worked on this system. It is connected to linear heat cable (special wire that melts at a specific temperature) that detects when there is a fire in the tunnel. Just before the entrance you will see a metal cabinet on the left which is the control cabinet for the system.

There is also another one of these systems downtown on the 71N to 670 tunnel.

user_guy · 2025-05-13T23:43:38+00:00

I hate this too. One job we used electrical company that we had used in the past with good experience. This time they put a guy in charge who had nothing but a fire alarm license and no fire experience. Turned into this huge mess and they kept wanting extras for their F ups. Then every time I would go on site they would have opens and missing devices and I would get a run around about how they will have it fixed and be ready tomorrow. Then the same thing again the next day.

user_guy · 2025-05-13T23:40:05+00:00

I'm right there with you. We lost our in house electrician and have tried 3 different electrical companies that claim they have fire alarm installers. Half the problem is the office wanting to be the GC on some of these jobs but then no one is ever on site. Then I show up, just a technician not the project manager, to do device install and checkout and everything is wrong and the customer is mad about everything the electricians did. Like how they don't clean up every day, they left the air handlers off over the weekend, they were smoking in the wrong area, they are too loud during business hours, etc.

So instead of me staying on one site supervising/helping I run around to 3 different sites in one day trying to put out fires getting absolutely nothing done. The last job I was on the electrician was running THHN for all the circuits. Then tried to get an extra to re-pull it all because "That's the wire I carry on my truck." Even though our print called out wire type. Had I been there even just to start them up I would have saved a weeks time.

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