The Legend of

"The Smiling Cyclops"

 

 

This is a smoke detector:

I have installed and worked on thousands of them. As a fire alarm installer, I have installed them in large high-rise buildings. Many of the projects took years to build. The smoke detector is plugged into the smoke detector base.

This is a smoke detector base:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The base is the part where the wires are attached. What you do is wire the bases one at a time. They are all connected forming a loop. The last thing you do, right before the building is certified for occupancy, is to plug in the smoke detector. The smoke detector works by examining particles of smoke. Dust from construction will degrade the detector so it must not be installed during the construction. The last part of the job is known as "crunch time". You must get all the detectors in, get them working, and pass the final inspection in a short period of time.

During "crunch time" is where the wiring problems show up!

Look at the smoke detector base again.

 Here is one wired correctly:

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Do you see that there are four screw terminals?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally, wires only go on three of them!

For most of the projects, I worked by myself. I had plenty of time to get things ready for "crunch time." However, as the company I worked for started picking up more and bigger jobs, they started giving me multiple jobs at a time. Before long I could not keep up. Their solution was to send me help! Since I did most of the jobs in or near a university, they sent men from over 200 miles away. These men were glad to come for one reason - and it wasn't to work! It was a college town. They were more interested in "bar hoping" and chasing the college girls than working. They stayed out most of the night, came to work late, and didn't have their focus on the job! They were gone by "crunch time" and I had to reap the results!

Often, they would wire the smoke detector bases wrong! I wouldn't find out until "crunch time" and then had to go back and rewire them.

This is one that is wired wrong::

It was during this time that I developed a way to communicate with them an easy way to remember how to wire the bases. I used the expression

 

"Remember the Smiling Cyclops!"

This is how it works:

1. This is a smoke detector base wired the proper way:

Again, this is the wrong way to wire it:

What I needed was a way to remember and teach the right way to wire the smoke detector base so that those doing it would do it right without me having to go back and rewire them. Also, they needed a way to remember it without having to ask me or look it up!

        The installation instructions that came with the base had a lot of information on it, but like many instructions, they were hard to follow.

The solution was the "Smiling Cyclops"!

1. Do you see the one eye and the smile?

Maybe this will help:

1. If the Cyclops is frowning, you have made a mistake:

Again, look at this carefully:

Later, one of the "bar hoppers" added this thought:

"You know where the red wires go because of the blood-shot eye!"

This easy-to-understand way to wire these bases has saved me a lot of time. It also has saved the company I worked for a lot of money and built up their reputation of having the jobs done right and on time! In the long run it has saved the manufacturer time, money, and reputation because the fire alarms work like they are supposed to for a long period of time!

I developed this over twenty years ago. I no longer work for that company. However, they still install fire alarms in our new buildings. Recently, I was on one of their jobsites. They had an installer I had never met. He was putting up smoke detector bases. I asked him if he knew how to wire them correctly. He exclaimed, "Remember the Smiling Cyclops!"

Wow! The legend of the Smiling Cyclops lives on and he is still roaming the area!