A History of Guardian Alarms Fire Panels
Guardian Alarms has been in business for many years and over that period has seen the technology change dramatically from the simplest of relay systems to the latest microprocessor controlled intellegent systems. Below is a selection of Guardian produced systems over the years.
1952 MK1
This was the first Guardian fire alarm panel designed using relay technology. Subsequently
rejected by the Insurance Council of New Zealand, who could not cope with the new technology.
1954 MK2
This system utilised the same BPO 3000 type relays in a dumb electro-mechanical
configuration, i.e. drop shutter. This panel is still in use throughout New Zealand, but is
being replaced as spare parts become unobtainable.
1973 MK3
This was the first solid state panel to be used in New Zealand utilising LSI Cmos technology.
Constructed using a motherboard with plug-in modules, it was prone to "spiking" due to the
components being unstable.
1979 MK4
This was the next generation of solid state panels which proved to be electrically stable,
but in practice turned out to be labour intensive to construct and difficult to service.
MK5 (1982) and Mini 6 (1992)
This was the last generation of Guardian fire alarm panels to be produced. Using a mother board technique with no plug-in boards, it has continued to give extremely stable and reliable service. Recent amendments to the fire alarm standard and recent advances in technology have now rendered this model obsolete for new installations, although there continues to be a great number of these panels in service in New Zealand which will give very good and reliable service for many years to come.
