Cronapress Demonstration Board

Greetings. Cronapressman here.
I've uploaded a short video of our demonstration board. It illustrated the patented illumination in action. The illumination is controlled by our unique PCB that also monitors for End Of Line faults. Providing a clean contact to an alarm system on activation. Of vital importance is the activation speed of the PCB, it will latch on a 10ms contact.
Also visible is the optional conduit adapter that helps not only with ease of installation but also cable management.

Contact us on sales@cronapress.co.uk.
View our products on www.cronapress.co.uk.

Bespoke Switches and Buttons

 Greetings once again to the Cronapress blog.
Today my blog will cover our range of switches and buttons......These are all of 'switchtastic' quality.
That means branded switch gear from recognised sources !!! We use only ITW, Apem and Acal. These are backed up with appropriate specification literature and RoSH compliance.
It makes sense, so don't undermine your own quality standards and values by fitting anything but the best.
Bespoke - We can arrange laser cutting of the backing plate to your own DXF drawings, or we can produce CAD/DXF  drawings and laser too from your sample or sketch.
Usually produced in Brush Finished Stainless DP1, deburred and with countersunk fixing holes as appropriate.
Deep filled engraving available in a variety of colours.
Company logos can be laser etched on plate subject to minimum order.

We generally have in stock PRESS TO EXIT green mushroom button switch plates.

Below are examples of switches produced for customers, but the list is endless, try us.

Cronapressman signing off until next time.

Remember - If it looks right it will be right ! If it doesn't - you guessed it - it won't !

and that applies to switches and buttons too !!!!!!!!!!

Fitting Safezone Externally.

Greetings - Cronapress man here - As promised in my previous blog post I said I'd be dealing with the fitment of the Patented Safezone alarm strip externally. Once again instead of doing carefully composed 'mock-up' shots I shall be doing a live fit. The external fit has many similarities with the internal fitting so I'll only cover the differences in detail.           So here goes - Let's do it !                                    

Step 1 The aluminium extrusion should be cut to size, drilled with additional fixing holes if required (pre-drilled holes are provided which you may find useful) and securely attached to the wall or external construction. As I recommend in all cases inspection of the mounting area needs to be undertaken and fixings executed accordingly. Note -Allow for an additional 60mm each end for end caps.

Step 2

Fully insert end cap plate tangs into underside of extrusion, mark drilling holes, remove, drill and insert rawlplugs or similar..

Note the additional fixing screw near the edge in the base extrusion due to the uneven brickwork and also the channel that has been cut in the mortor. This will allow the wiring to sit behind the end cap plate and into a galvanised junction box.

Step 3

Fit the waterproof  L.E.D. into either the upper or lower channel in the aluminium extrusion. At this point it may be wise to test the L.E.D. strip with a temporary 12v battery/power pack as it will be time consuming to replace once the insert is installed and sealed.

Step 4

The insert can now be cut to length (if not supplied to size) The multi-purpose shears available from Cronapress are ideal. Information on them can be found on this blog.

NOTE - Cut the insert 10mm oversize each end.

This is very important as the oversize will be used to achieve the weatherproof seal. Sit the insert in the bottom channel and feed the top into place. Take care that the insert does not move when fitting as it will be difficult to re-position once fully home.

Step 5

Once the insert is fully seated into the upper and lower channels of the base extrusion then the wiring plugs are next. On this installation we will be using a Wired End plug and a 1k2 E.O.L. (End of Line) resistor plug.

These have been modified for external fitment and must be specified if needed at time of order. (The shoulder has been removed to allow them to push inside the insert strip.)

With the aid of a small screwdriver gently push the plug inside the insert so that the outer edge is level with the edge of the base extrusion. As mentioned above a 10mm overlap was allowed on the insert size at each end and this is the measurement we push the plug inside. This is of utmost importance so that the electrical contact point is positioned under the pressure point of the end cap cover.

Step 6

 Check for electrical continuity and if test ok then seal with silicone. Use a neutral sealer not a cheap Acetoxic type. We recommend Dow Corning 798. which also has Bacteriostatic qualities which would be of benefit if fitting in wet rooms or showers.

Re-check continuity.

Silicone Tech Talk-

Acetoxi cure.
This is the most commonly used, it is more rigid and the full cure is quick.  On the downside it generally has poor adhesion and leaves much to be desired for in how well it 'sticks' to PVC-U, most other plastics, glass, aluminium and Polycarbonate.  Shrinkage can be acceptable if it does not contain added solvent. Since the acetic acid is released during curing, it can attack the underlying substrate material. This can cause corrosion of certain metals and prevent the proper adhesion of the silicone. However, on other materials, the acid can etch the surface slightly and increase the adhesion. Aluminum is one such material. Copper and zinc, however, are corroded by the acid. Thus brass and galvanized steel should not be used with silicones which release acid. Dissimilar metals can form electrolytic couples and corrode severely underneath a covering of acetic acid releasing silicone.

Note the effect that the acid cure may have on the internal copper contact strip within the Safezone insert.

Neutral cure.
Much better adhesive properties for a greater number of materials including PVC-U, most other plastics, glass, aluminium, lead, stone and masonry, and Polycarbonate.  It cures with atmospheric moisture and skins over in about 30 minutes, and leaves a shinier finish.  On the downside it is more expensive and is slower to cure at one to five days depending on thickness, temperature and humidity conditions.Conclusion:
The benefit of using a good Low Modulus Neutral Cure Silicone can be summed up thus:
It offers high movement accommodation and excellent adhesion to almost all building and glazing materials, without any of the unwanted 'side effects' Acetoxi could possibly cause.

Step 7

Cap off the strip. 

Step 8

The galvanised 22mm conduit junction box has been drilled with a small hole to allow water drainage. Several times I have seen water collect in external trunking and ultimately lead to component failure. Failure will not occur in this instance due to the robust Cronapress sealing techniques but none the less water trapped in electrical conduits is definitely not a good thing and getting in the habit of reducing risk should be encouraged.

Step 9

Connection to the alarm cabling will be made with the same closed end connector crimps that were used in our internal fitting blog page. These will need additional weather protection as follows-

1)Cut the large opening part of the insulator from the crimp. 

2)Crimp the appropriate wires together 

3)Cover with Glue lined Heat shrink End Caps and apply hot air. Job done when tight and glue begins leaching from ends.

Step 10

Cover plate fitted and power on. (Just in time, it's raining again !)

Done ! Hopefully you have found the external 'live' fit informative and a fair representation of what can be achieved on site. If you need any more information on the fitment of our products then contact me at Cronapress.

Tools used.
Electric Hammer Drill, rawlplugs and screws.
Builders level.
Engineers hacksaw for cutting conduit.
Appropriate size screwdrivers.
Cronapress approved - Silverline General Purpose Shears.
Cronapress approved - Silverline Crimping Pliers.
Cronapress approved - Stanley Pin Torx Screwdriver.

Dow Corning 798 Silicone Sealer.

Cat 5 Alarm Cable.

Below - Special components used on this installation.
1) Waterproof LED
2) External fitment wiring plugs.
3) Modified Crimp Connectors - To allow heat shrink coverage.
4) Glue Lined Heat Shrink End Caps.

Cronapress man signing off until next time.

Remember - If it looks right it will be right ! If it doesn't - you guessed it - it won't !

and below is an poor example of external fitting....Now which do you think your customer would prefer?

Fitting Safezone inc 'Robust' end caps and conduit adapter.

Greetings - Cronapressman here.

This blog entry will cover a 'live' fit of the Patented Safezone alarm strip. Incorporated into this fit is the use of the new 'Robust' End Caps, use of the conduit adapter to link to standard UK electrical conduit, and use of the centre channel to run twin wires to an external E.O.L. (E.O.L. - End of line resistor possibly in another strip within the zone monitoring for line faults). The 'Cronapress Single Zone' controller will be used to manage the alarm strip and a key operated reset incorporated into the conduit junction box will be used also to give a visual of how simple this system is to install on small projects. The alarm strip will be mounted to a typical wall that reflects a quality found within older buildings/corridors/factories etc. The fitting tools used will be those typically found within an alarm engineers toolbox. Thus this should result in a valuable guide for both project and alarm engineers to evaluate the work involved before undertaking fitment.
(Alarm cabling may simply exit from the wall and the Robust End Cap plate should cover this adequately if need be. Alternatively this same plate can also mount to a sunken pattress box. I'll cover these on a separate blog entries)

Step 1
Securely fix the Safezone aluminium base extrusion to the wall. Note - Screw fixing holes are pre-drilled at regular intervals along the length of the base but evaluation of the buildings structure must be undertaken and fixings to suit used. Additional holes can easily be drilled and a datum line is molded into the extrusion specifically for this purpose down the centre channel. Obviously, use of a builders spirit level or laser is a must. Note - End Caps will add a further 60mm to each end so allow for this if cutting base to customers overall size requirements.

Step 2
The 'Robust' end cap base plate tangs can now be inserted into the underside of the extrusion, push up firmly against the aluminium and mark the wall for fixing. Remove, drill, plug, and refit. Repeat at the other end if using identical plates.. Note the additional screw fixing near the end of the base to firmly secure the base extrusion against the irregular surface of the wall.

For our project we are using the conduit adapter so the fixing holes for this can now be marked and drilled. To ensure the End Cap cover fits straight and secure it is best to sit the End Cap cover over the base aluminium before marking the wall. There are 4 holes to secure this conduit adapter to the wall. (2 each end) Depending on the angle of exit of the conduit junction box  trunking determines where the box is drilled through to match the wall fixings as the same screws secure both. Note - The End Cap cover will be finally fixed in position later after wiring tests but the 2 x fixing holes should be pre-drilled and plugged now.

Do not at this stage fix this conduit adapter to the wall as cabling will need to be run behind and into the junction box.

Step 3
Fit the L.E.D. lighting strip into either the top or bottom channel. The twin wire alarm cable to our remotely positioned E.O.L. is held within the centre channel by means of Self Adhesive Cable Clips. Note - Nothing must protrude higher than the top of the channels or the alarm insert will be compromised and false activations may occur. Take particular notice where cabling runs over fixing screws.

Step 3a
Feeding cabling behind the conduit adapter. (Fixing plugs drilled as above)

Step 4.
Cut the insert to size (match the base in length). Measuring can accurately be done either with tape measure or sitting the insert into bottom of base extrusion and marking the end cuts. The shears available from Cronapress are ideal and give an extremely clean cut and are our recommended way of size adjustment. Alternative a craft knife should give acceptable results but sharp blades are a must.

Step 5.
Wired End Plug now inserted and all wiring neatly fed underneath conduit adapter to the junction box. Adaptor and junction box now fixed in position.

Step 6.
Cable joints. As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog entry we are using typical installation tools and methods. Thus our cable joints will be by closed end crimp. A tech tip that was passed to me by an approved installer was to cut the crimp insulation down to the minimum to allow more available room withing the end cap for cabling. See below how I used this technique in the remote E.O.L. circuit. The wired end can also be seen correctly fitted within the strip with the external shoulder of the moulding seated firmly against the insert edge.

Step 7.
Complete all wiring and test for electrical continuity and sound joints/terminations.

Step 8.
The end cap covers can now be screwed into place.

Security Torx screws are used to help resist tamper on the 'Robust End Cap' . Note -The cover applies pressure to the internal electrical connection so insuring it is firmly fixed is vital.

Step 9.
Fill fixing screw holes with plugs supplied. These can be 'superglued' in place for additional anti tamper.

Done ! Hopefully you have found the 'live' fit informative and a fair representation of what can be achieved on site. If you need any more information on the fitment of our products then contact me at Cronapress.

Tools used.
Electric Hammer Drill, rawlplugs and screws.
Builders level.
Engineers hacksaw for cutting conduit.
Appropriate size screwdrivers.
Cronapress approved - Silverline General Purpose Shears.
Cronapress approved - Silverline Crimping Pliers.
Cronapress approved - Stanley Pin Torx Screwdriver.
Self adhesive cable clips.
Cat 5 Alarm Cable.


Cronapress man signing off until next time.
Remember - If it looks right it will be right ! If it doesn't - you guessed it - it won't !

Speed of alarm activation.

Greetings Cronapress Blogreaders, Cronapressman here with more tech tips.
Today I'd like to cover what we at Cronapress consider a very important issue. 'Speed of alarm activation'.
Let's just imagine for a moment that an affray incident takes place-
It's a one on one situation......
The assailant is bigger and stronger........
There's little time.........you are defending yourself and you have moments to reach out and strike the alarm strip before being wrestled to the ground.......

The strip is hit..........theres's no second chance !

                                                       But, the alarm hasn't sounded !

What's gone wrong ? The alarm is monitored for line faults so it should work !!!!!

Probability suggests that the alarm unit is a nurse call alarm or worse a reconfigured burgular alarm.

The electrical contact time needed to make one of these work would be in the region of 250mS.

Hey, how fast does it have to be Cronapressman? Well, there are no rules but you must surely want the best ? 250mS is a long time in an volatile situation. Try this experiment - Stand 1mtr from a wall, arm down by your side, reach out, strike the wall and drop your arm back to your side. How long did that take? I'll bet it took nearly 2 seconds. Imagine adding a full 1/4 second to that ! 12% extra !!!!!!

Cronapress have the answer - Our Intergrator has many functions but today we will look at it's activation speed. The Cronapress intergrator only needs a 5mS contact to latch!!!!!!

It's a must have where staff safety is an issue, and let's face it you wouldn't be fitting the affray strips if you were not serious on this matter.

The Cronapress Intergrator is faster than the fastest press!!! True!!!!

Toshiyuki Takahashi from Japan can push a button 16 times a second ! Phew, that's an amazing 62mS per push!

Here's a link to his video. Fastest Button Presser in the World  (but not as fast as a Cronapress latch!)

Don't forget to keep looking into the Cronapress Blogspot for more tech tips and news articles.

Tools of the Trade No1

Cronapressman here - I'm down in the workshop today and I thought I'd just take a few minutes out to show you our recommended cutting tool for the Feelsafe/Safezone insert. (In fact it works pretty good on the 'B' and 'CB' insert too.)

Measure and then mark accurately the cutting point, position the snips at 90degree to the insert and voila a quick snip and the jobs done !

Clean cut - accurate too !

Remember my motto ? -  If it looks right it will be right !   If it doesn't - you guessed it - it won't !

So ! What you waiting for ? Get it touch with me at Cronapress and order the right too for the job.
Don't forget - Keep checking the Cronapress Blogspot for more 'Top Tips' too....

Cronapressman - a.k.a - Edward Scissorhands !!!!!!!!! Snip - Snip - Snip.......

Safezone fitting - Including an on site wall fix.

Greetings - Cronapressman here with some extra fitting tips to help you install Cronapress Safe-zone correctly and securely. For this post we will run through the various steps of instalation and also replicate a common on-site problem. Feedback from various alarm engineers suggests that crumbling walls/loose wall structure can be an issue which can result in ill fitment of the Safe-zone End-Cap and thus poor electrical continuity. (Examples of which have been posted on a previous blog.) The fix we illustrate is an example of how with fore-thought and an understanding of the components we can use easily sourced items/tools to achieve a good result.

No1 - Mark centre line of base on wall. Offer base strip into position and mark fixing hole position on centre line. (Should you be cutting to size on site ensure that new fixing holes are drilled within 80mm of base ends.)

No2 - In most instances drilling and fixing with quality wall plugs and appropriate size screws will be sufficient. However bear in mind the environment the alarm strip is being fitted into and upgrade fixings if risk of severe vandalism is likely to take place.





No3 - Fix base extrusion to wall.

No4 - Push end cap firmly into position and mark position of fixing holes.

No5 - Drill and plug as above.

Wall Problem - For this exercise we have deliberately enlarged a plug hole to replicate a crumbling/dry wall,

or possibly the drill bit was inappropriate for the plugs ? (Either way we need to construct a sound fixing.)

Our fix will involve the use of 2 part epoxy resin. All dust and debris needs to be cleaned from the bonding area before mixing the resin and applying into hole and around wall plug. A small brush is a suitable tool to remove all loose particles.

To stop the resin running out before fully cured we used adhesive tape to hold in place. This has the added benefit of forming a surface flush with the wall.

Above -Resin fully cured and adhesive tap removed. We can now continue with fitment of the Cronapress Safe-zone alarm strip.

No6 - Expose adhesive strip on reverse of L.E.D. strip, centre lights into either upper or lower channel of base rail and push lightly to bond.

No7 - Drop insert strip into lower lip of base rail and working from one end bend to feed top under upper lip.

No8 - Push Safe-zone End Cap connector tongue into strip, ensure 2 small extruding tabs locate under base and fix with screws into pre-fitted plugs.

Note - Insert strip cut 1mm shorter than base rail.

Note also - Insert fully covers electrical connection.

Step 9 - Test alarm strip for electrical continuity. Finally fix Safe-zone End Cap cover into position. The application of a 'Superglue' type adhesive in the pin holes will ensure not only a firm fixing but will maintain the strip electrical connection by virtue of the pushing effect on the insert by the caps underside.

Keep checking the Cronapress Blogspot for more fitting tips and product news. - Cronapressman.