Hello - we have successfully connected our NX8V2 to SuretyDIY Alarm.com via the HSPA 3G module. Everything seems to be working fine, but there are a couple issues:
We don’t have an operational landline, so our system consistently shows a telephone fault, and any alarms cause an additional fault to appear (failure to communicate). How do we stop the faults from appearing on our system?
Disarming the system results in consistent pulsing on the keypads, until we enter our user code a second time. Is this because of the faults in the system, or is it something else? What can we do to stop this beeping?
We figured this one out! Now we need to know what to do to get smoke/heat alarm notifications…our smoke alarm doesn’t seem to trigger any notifications through Alarm.com. Is this normal behavior, if the 2-wire smoke alarm is set up through the control panel?
You should receive alarm notifications if a smoke detector is tripped. By default Alarm Events notifications should include all sensors. You can double check by visiting the notification tab in Alarm.com
However, I do not see a smoke detector zone having sent an alarm signal. I do see some fire alarm panic signals generated by the system.
We did set off the alarms, purposefully - both via the smoke alarm test function and by a controlled fire underneath the unit.
The keypad didn’t flash at all during the forced smoke alarm triggers and the security siren did not sound either.
Only the panic seems to work. This really seems like the original setup of the smoke alarm may be bodged - but we are at a loss in troubleshooting. We checked the programming, the zone is correctly categorized as fire. There is no fire notification delay. What else can we check that might stop a fire alarm triggering?
There may be a number of reasons a test would fail, so we can go through them and make sure the system is performing the right way.
The keypad didn’t flash at all during the forced smoke alarm triggers and the security siren did not sound either.
It sounds like the panel itself received no alarm signal (the circuit did not close). So this narrows down where to look.
Did the detector itself sound an alarm when you tested? Did you test the smoke detector with canned smoke? Or did you test by holding a test button down?
Keep in mind if holding down a button you may need to hold it longer than it takes to produce a sound from the unit itself. (The wireless SMKT3 requires two full cadences of the local detector siren before the panel gets the alarm.)
The detector did sound its own alarm when we tested, and the cycles went for a while (we have one of the new talking ones). We tested by holding the test button and when that didn’t work we tried controlled fire (Popsicle sticks on fire). Still nothing on the keypad or security system siren.
The detector models you named are 120VAC interconnected smoke detectors. They do not directly connect to a detection circuit on an alarm panel.
The linked SM120X relay would be necessary to have the panel monitor those detector models and the issue we are looking for would be between it and the panel.
Here are the instructions for that relay. Check to make sure the zone is properly programmed to match the chosen output of the relay. The wire colors indicate the different contact terminals, which two are connected to the red cable going to your alarm panel?
Apparently, the builders of our house decided they wanted to have fun with us. There is a series of interconnected smoke detectors (models which I told you about before)… and ONE SINGLE smoke detector hooked up to the Networx panel:
It lives right next to one of the interconnected detectors but has nothing to do with the main detector loop. We didn’t test this one with smoke. Tomorrow, that’s what we’ll be doing.
In the meantime, why?? Why put in one orphan detector when there’s a whole interconnected loop which could just have a relay to connect to the control panel??
In the meantime, why?? Why put in one orphan detector when there’s a whole interconnected loop which could just have a relay to connect to the control panel??
From what I understand, this is likely due to UL and manufacturer. See the attached capture from the manual.
If more than one smoke detector is in the circuit, using builder provided 120VAC smokes, there is no way of telling which tripped. The manufacturer recommendation is to not use the SM120X for a series of smokes and an Alarm control panel. Instead it is for non-monitored sirens, alerting devices, etc. (Or just one smoke)
Under UL certification, monitored smokes have different requirements than non-monitored, so there are two separate certifications.
I believe it is still within fire code to do so (use the relay) but you would need to check with your local authority.
I think due to UL, the manufacturer instructs users not to do it.
The basic premise is not much different than the wireless firefighter unit which monitors for the audio of interconnected devices, but may differ due to supervision capability in the firefighter or the fact it does not physically tie into the circuit. I’ll have to look into that.
Thank you! This is super helpful information, but slightly disappointing because I would like any of our fire alarms to send a signal to the panel. The standalone detector connected to the panel is on the second floor in a place which would trigger very late in a fire situation. Kinda doesn’t help if we get the notification from Alarm.com after half our house has burned down.
Btw, we did test the standalone detector and it does work as expected. Now the question is, what options (apart from installing the relay) do we have for connecting the main loop to the panel?
We have no wireless sensors, but I was thinking of getting some in the near future. Pretty sure we don’t have a wireless module - just a zone expander as far as we can tell. The keypad seems somewhat primitive so not expecting it to have RF capability. What kind of wireless module could we install on our panel? Or what are options for RF enabled keypads that are compatible with the panel?
Thank you very much for all your help in getting us to this point! I am now considering next steps on the Firefighter and the new keypad. Really appreciate all your info and advice!
