VESDA-E VEP

The Same Detection, Less Capacity

The VEP shares the Flair detection chamber with the premium VEU, so the detection performance that matters isn’t compromised by choosing it.

Flair images the sampled particles directly, using a CMOS imager combined with multiple photodiodes, rather than only measuring how much light is scattered. That gives better detection and fewer nuisance alarms. Short wavelength laser based detection gives high sensitivity from small particle light scattering, and because the light is focused on the target with a low background, no drift compensation is needed. VEP detectors stay consistent over their lifetime through absolute calibration.

The VEP’s sensitivity range is 0.005% to 20% obscuration per metre. The VEU goes further, down to 0.001%.

What’s lower is the capacity. The four pipe VEP supports linear pipe lengths up to 280 metres and branched networks up to 560 metres, against 800 metres on the VEU. Area coverage is 1,000 square metres on the one pipe model and 2,000 on the four pipe models.

For many buildings, that’s more than enough, and it’s why the VEP is the detector most projects actually use.

Three Models

The one pipe model suits a defined space with one run. The four pipe models suit a building where the network has to reach several areas, or where different areas need their own flow monitoring.

The display option is worth thinking about, rather than defaulting to it. Where the detector is in a plant room a technician visits, the display is genuinely useful for reading status and diagnosing a fault on the spot. Where the detector is monitored remotely and rarely visited, the LED version does the same job for less.

Suitable for Class 1 Division 2

The VEP is suitable for Class 1 Division 2 applications, Groups A, B, C and D. That means it can be used where flammable gas or vapour may be present under abnormal conditions, which covers many industrial spaces where smoke detection would otherwise need a purpose built enclosure or a compromise.

For a site already running gas detection in classified areas, the VEP is an aspirating detector that fits the same environment.

Four Alarm Levels

The VEP provides four alarm levels: Alert, Action, Fire 1 and Fire 2. That allows a graduated response, from notifying a facilities team to investigate, through to starting ventilation, evacuation and suppression. Seven programmable relays, each latching or non latching, let each level drive the right action.

Flow Faults per Port

A four pipe detector draws from four different areas, and those areas rarely have the same airflow.

Flow fault thresholds are set per port, rather than across the whole detector. So a pipe serving a busy area and a pipe serving a still one are each monitored against what’s normal for them. Without that, either the still pipe generates faults, or the busy one hides a genuine blockage.

That sounds like a detail. On a four pipe system covering a mixed building, it’s the difference between a detector that reports real problems and one that gets its thresholds widened until it reports nothing.

Predictable Maintenance

The smart onboard filter keeps track of its dust count and remaining filter life, so maintenance can be planned rather than reacting to a flow fault. Multi stage filtration and clean air barriers protect the optics, keeping detection performance consistent over the detector’s life. Field replaceable sub assemblies mean faster service and maximum uptime.

An event log of up to 20,000 events, with time and date stamps, supports analysis after an incident and diagnosis of recurring nuisance alarms.

Commissioning and Connectivity

AutoConfig handles airflow normalisation, and AutoLearn Smoke and Flow sets alarm and flow fault thresholds by monitoring the actual conditions in the building, rather than relying on assumptions. Referencing takes account of external environmental conditions, which deals with the case where outside air is the source of a nuisance alarm.

Ethernet, USB and VESDAnet are standard. Ethernet connects the detector to Xtralis software for configuration, secondary monitoring and maintenance, and USB allows PC configuration and firmware upgrades from a memory stick. StaX expansion modules include a power supply option.

Two programmable general purpose inputs, one of them monitored, allow remote control of the detector from the fire system or a building management system.

Replacing a VLP

The VEP is backward compatible with existing VESDA installations. It uses the same mounting footprint, pipe, conduit and electrical connector positions as the VESDA VLP, and it works on existing VESDAnet installations alongside older detectors, monitored through VSC and VSM4.

Where It’s Used

Data centres and server rooms. Warehouses and distribution centres. Cold stores. Switchrooms and electrical infrastructure. Battery and UPS rooms. Manufacturing and process areas. Class 1 Division 2 industrial spaces. Clean rooms and laboratories. Archives, museums and high value storage. Heritage buildings where visible detection is unacceptable.