Question about how alarm triggers work

My home is prewired for a security system and it appears that there are single wires going to each window/door. I am confused, though, how a single wire can detect the state of a trigger on the end when there is no common ground?

Reply to
BIOSMonkey
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Your home was actually prewired for self-destruction. Pull the wire and run.

Chances are what you're looking at is jacketed four conductor 22 gauge wire. You'll have to pull it down to verify it, but (dollars to donuts) that's what you've got.

Reply to
Frank Olson

The wires are probably 22 gauge 2 or 4 conductor

Doug L

Reply to
Doug L

Thanks, you're probably right. I'll check it when I get home but it was so thin that glancing at it I didn't think it would have multiple conductors.

Reply to
BIOSMonkey

Its cheap wire, probably 2 conductor. I've seen cheap builder prewires that the wire was so cheap that you could strip the jacket off with just your fingernails.

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| >Your home was actually prewired for self-destruction. Pull the wire and | >run. | >

| >Chances are what you're looking at is jacketed four conductor 22 gauge | >wire. You'll have to pull it down to verify it, but (dollars to donuts) | >that's what you've got. | | Thanks, you're probably right. I'll check it when I get home but it was so thin | that glancing at it I didn't think it would have multiple conductors. | | | |

Reply to
Crash Gordon

It's one of them Belgian systems that detect intrusion by Bio Induction Feedback (BIF) totally immune to muzzling. You only need one conductor at all openings but your flooring must be sheetmetal.

| | | Your home was actually prewired for self-destruction. Pull the wire and | run. | | Chances are what you're looking at is jacketed four conductor 22 gauge | wire. You'll have to pull it down to verify it, but (dollars to donuts) | that's what you've got. |

Reply to
Crash Gordon

The following is not likely but you never know ..... someone may have just put single condutors for two possible reasons. And I mention this because I've run into to both situations on prewires that were done by DIY'ers or people with no experience whatsoever.

It could be that someone left a "drop" wire from each window to use as a pull wire to get the "real" wire up to the window at a later date.

Or, if you think about it from a novice point of view, you only "need" one single wire conductor to each window, if you run a single conductor up from the basement to a window, across the wall, to the next window and then back down to the basement again from the second window. If you interpret the drawing of a burglar alarm system literally, the loop starts at the panel, all the contacts are in series and the other end of the loop goes back to the panel. A guy who'd pre-wired his own home called me for a service call on a system like this once. Try and trouble shoot that ........... !!!!!!!!!

At least he didn't go up to the first window with the wire and come down at the last one.

Reply to
Jim

How have you confirmed that it is truely a single wire?

BobbyD

BIOSM>My home is prewired for a security system and it appears that there are single

Reply to
bdolph

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