Alarm Panel For Detached Garage

I dunno much about the DSC stuff.

But if you had a system in the main house that was partionable you could set up the house as partition 1 and the garage as partition 2. A partition has the ability to act as a totally separate alarm system but using one panel.

Yes you can do stuff like you want with the garage door too, but it gets a little tricky. I usually give the ohd a longer delay than the door into the house..but in your case you could give the mandoor a shorter delay time than the ohd. You'd probably still need a keypad in the garage (I hate keyfobs as the sole control) but you could certainly rig them up as well.

There was another similar thread on this within the past few weeks.

Are you sure that it is a 5100 and not a 5010? the 5010 panel is partionable and will do the things you want including the auto arming.

Unheated garage in Chicago...hmm...I wouldn't put a panel in there or a motion. It would probably be ok most of the time but when it gets to be -20F you're gonna have some issues. I would recomend hard wired contacts on the doors and wire them into a panel in the house.

Most of the panels are only listed for use only to 32F. Yes, you can use them to lower temps but electronics dont like it and become unreliable.

Just a thought

You make a good point. down here in good ole' boy land. we have to worry more about the humidity and heat.

My bad. That panel in the main house is DSC PC5010. I know I can out the garage on another partition, but that DSC is maxed out on power because I already have 4 keypads, 6 motions, and an escort voice (telephone) interface hooked up. Actually, I'm slightly over on power usage, but it works fine.

I can add an additional power to the DSC (pc5204, battery, transformer, cabinet), but I figure I can get a separate system whole system for th garage for about the same cost.

Add an eight zone expander to the mix and you'll have an extra eight zones you can play with. Run a single quad out to the garage, mount your zone expander there (DSC sells a small can that fits this application and which you can tamper using the expander's on board switch) and "Bob's your Uncle". Wire up a heat detector to one of the eight zones, contacts on the windows and man door, and an overhead door contact on the garage door. An OPTEX outdoor PIR may be worth lookin' at too (but since you're in the "windy city", that may not be the best option).

The extra power supply will ensure you're not maxing out the system's power (which can cause early failure) and you'll be able to add the garage on a seperate partition and have it annunciate in the house. What's more, if your main system is monitored, you can program the garage zones to communicate burg and fire. BONUS!!

Frank's right. an eight zone expander will fit the bill as it pulls it's power off the keybus. HOWEVER, if you want anything that is not a "dry contact" (ie. magnetic contact, heat detector) I would put in a seperate power supply.

and common ground reference on pwr supply to main alarm

| >> I can add an additional power to the DSC (pc5204, battery, transformer, | >> cabinet), but I figure I can get a separate system whole system for th | >> garage for about the same cost. | >

| >

| > Add an eight zone expander to the mix and you'll have an extra eight zones | > you can play with. Run a single quad out to the garage, mount your zone | > expander there (DSC sells a small can that fits this application and which | > you can tamper using the expander's on board switch) and "Bob's your | > Uncle". Wire up a heat detector to one of the eight zones, contacts on | > the windows and man door, and an overhead door contact on the garage door. | > An OPTEX outdoor PIR may be worth lookin' at too (but since you're in the | > "windy city", that may not be the best option). | >

| > The extra power supply will ensure you're not maxing out the system's | > power (which can cause early failure) and you'll be able to add the garage | > on a seperate partition and have it annunciate in the house. What's more, | > if your main system is monitored, you can program the garage zones to | > communicate burg and fire. BONUS!! | |

I'll need the extra power supply, because I'll want an LED keypad and motion detection (or two twinned) in the garage.

The PC5204 manual indicates that it pulls 20mA off the keybus. I suppose the 1A of power it adds comes off the AUX terminal. Can I jump the AUX to the incoming keybus red so that the PC5204 powers itself? I ask because the main house system (PC5010) is already maxed out on keybus power.

Also, can the PC5204 both power itself and add power back through the keybus that connects it to the panel? In other words, if a system was overtaxed on power, can a PC5204 be added to the system with the AUX connected to the system keybus?

The PC5204 manual is very brief!

T. Lee wrote:

My suggestion would be to put the 5204 either in the can with the main panel if room allows or put it in a can adjacent and pull the appropriate sized wires put to the garage. this will allow you to redistribute the power load on the main panel and the 5204. Take some devices off the main panel and put the 5204 on it, then power the devices you took off the main panel from the

take the yellow and green off the keybus and power from the 5204 to the garage to run the 8 zone expander. be sure to size your wires appropriately and make sure that you don't exceed the keybus wire length limit.

appropriately

There won't be room for the 5204 in the control can. Don't forget, the 5204 needs its own battery too. Also, the 5204 will use about 20 ma from the control panel's power supply, so you need to account for that in the load calcs. The 5204 will repower the keybus from that point on however, just follow the directions in the box. js

Thanks for all the great information.

I'll go with a PC5204 in the main house and run a 4-wire conductor out to the garage. In the garage will be the magnetic sensors, 8 zone expander, and an LED keypad. All the garage stuff will be on a second partition. I hope the garage components can handle the cold.

I can also add a Street Smart Code Encryptor II keyfob in the garage, right next to the keypad. The street smart will also operate the garage door opener.

emulate a keypad. I hope it will work if the keypad it emulates is on partition 2. There is no mention of partitions in the Street Smart manual.