Long time customer moved into house containing Napco 8-zone Panel, two GEM-RP1CAe2 Keypads, and all windows and doors contacted, several CO's, System Sensor SD's, motion detectors, and six or eight zone modules positioned adjacent to the panel mounted in the basement.
Due to a lack of time to inspect the entire system on all floors, I do not have enough information to prepare a proposal to replace the operating system with one which she is familiar, or to tell her to keep the existing system; hence the need for a few answers from you Napco installers.
The Zone modules I assume are Napco's 8-zone units. I have a copy of the zone list, which lists 96 zones, a few of which are spares.
Since the panel (forgot to get model number, but was installed within the last two years) is 8- zones, how are the zone modules configured? Does each contact, CO detector, Motion detector, get home-runned to the zone module adjacent to the panel, or do some installers mount the zone module close to the windows or doors, for example, and run one cable to the panel?
Or can the output of an 8-zone module be fed to another 8- zone module, before it finally gets connected to the main panel?
Do all the zone modules connect to a specific set of terminals in the panel, or are the outputs of the zone modules connected to one of the eight zones?
Though she has been instructed by the company that installed the system, she still says the system is too complicated, and does not think the Keypad is user friendly. Her previous home contained a Caddx/GE NX8E panel and 8-zone LED Keypad.
She would like to switch to an NX8E system again, but I told her that she would need two LCD Keypads, but in terms of operation, all else would be pretty much familiar to her.
If the devices on all levels of the house are home runned to the basement zone modules, then my work of converting to GE would be relatively easy. If there are some zone modules mounted on other levels of the house, with only the outputs homerunned to the basement, I will tell her to keep the system.
Also, is there a way that I can determine if the system is connected to any home-automation devices? I do not want to replace the zone modules and panel, only to find later that one or more home-automation devices don't function.
Thanks. Charlie