Ademco 50P - Unable To Disarm

Hello to All,

I am suddenly unable to disarm my Ademco 50P system. Any and all help appreciated.

Details:

- system was working fine for months.

- worker with key entered building unaware the alarm had been activated. When the alarm went off, he pushed the OFF (#1) button on the keypad. There are seven active model 6150 keypads installed.

- awakened by alarm, I entered my code then the OFF button on a different keypad. I do not know whether the worker and I were punching buttons at the same time.

- the alarm continued rather than going into DISARMED. After several attempts to disarm, I successfull experimented in changing the armed state from AWAY to STAY and back again. Again I do not know whether the worker was still pressing the OFF key.

- I answered Central Station's question that all humans were okay, I had them put my system into test.

- I then turned the system off for varying periods of time by throwing the ac current switch and pulling battery connections. I hoped this would somehow reset the system. That was yesterday.

- After leaving the system unpowered overnight, I just (09:30 EST) turned it on... then off. The system continues to stay armed.

Any thoughts?

TIA

Don Davis

Reply to
Don
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access programming and see what the master code is.

Reply to
Rapid

Powering down & up again should not disarm the system, it should come back up in the same state it went down in. Call the CS and make sure system is still on test. Power the system back up, AC first, then connect the battery. Then enter your code + OFF. If that doesn't work you've somehow screwed up your code. Try someone else's code to disarm.

If that doesn't work you'll need the Master Code to redo your code (unless your code is the Master )

Reply to
Crash Gordon

Thanks. Actually, I am using the master code.

Reply to
Don

if it was it would work, wouldn't it. so must have gotten changed? ya think? ? dunno

Reply to
Rapid

With the siren operating and all the keypads you have you've probably exceeded the max allowable current draw from the system. If the equipment is a few years old, the battery may not be providing enough extra "juice" to compensate. I've found this on a number of takeovers we've done recently. The installers (while most certainly TQ'd don't know how to perform a proper device load calculation). My advice would be to access the main control and disconnect the siren (these terminals are easily identifiable by referencing the label on the inside of the door). Then power up the system, connect your battery and you should be able to disarm normally. Call your service company and have them come out and install another power supply and a new battery.

Reply to
Frank Olson

The fact that you can go from "stay" to "away" shows that the system is accepting the code you are entering. I assume you have tried disarming the system from all the other keypads. I'm also assuming the "1" key beeps when you push it, indicating the keypad is recognizing that you pushed that button (in older systems. the "1" key will sometimes work intermittently).

My next step would be to disconnect all the keypad wiring from the panel, then connect one keypad directly to the panel and see if that works. Set the address on that keypad to "00."

- badenov

Reply to
Nomen Nescio

Thanks for the suggestion I will try it in the morning. In the meantime, in pursuing the suggestions made here, I realized I left out possibly pertinent information. To wit: the system insists there is an alarm fault. Details:

- powered up the system, ac then batteries

- reset the master/installer code (the only code in the system since I am currently the only user)

- system went into the default Disarmed Ready to Arm - green light position

- after the usual time I think of as the Vista 50P's version of a computer's Power On Self Test (POST), the system went into alarm and would not let me disarm. This is actually the primary reason I originally powered the system down, the noise is a killer.

Building on suggestions here, I today disconnected only one of the 7 keypads before powering up with the above results. Tomorrow, I will take down all but one and do the incremental add. Problem is that this is a two-person job because the panel is quite distant from the keypads and that alarm goes off about three minutes or less after boot up!

Considering the system's insistence that some contact (an Entry?) is in alarm, I will also check whether the door contacts through which the worker entered have been compromised. Even were this so, however, should I not be able to Disarm?

To all, Enjoy the beginning of summer and thanks.

Don

Reply to
Don

Thanks. None of the three interior and one exterior sirens and one strobe is yet activated. The racket from the sensors and keypads is really, really loud. The physical panel is less than a year old. I do not know when it was actually manufactured. There are three batteries in parallel are connected to the system for supplementary/alternative power.

Reply to
Don

No. You do not need two people. Go to the panel and remove all of the keypad wiring. Then physically remove one of the keypads and carry it to the panel. Use a short piece of wire to connect it to the panel. Power up the panel, set the keypad address to "00" and wait for that startup delay to expire. One of two things will happen: either the keypad will work properly, or it still won't work. If it still doesn't work, you are right there at the panel and can disconnect the power. In which case, I'd try one of the other keypads, just on the off chance you picked the bad keypad. The purpose of this test is to see whether a bad keypad, or bad wiring, is corrputing the data stream. That is why you must disconnect all of the keypads and all of the keypad wiring.

In answer to your question about zone 7, ignore that for now. Your real problem is finding out why the system won't disarm, and a fault on zone 7 won't affect whether you can turn the alarm off with the proper code.

Wait a minute, I think I just figured out what your problem is. You said that you are using the "master code" to arm and disarm the system. If you mean you are using the installer code (location *00), you shouldn't do that. The installer code only disarms the system if that code was used to arm the system, and your system is coming up armed on power-up. Therefore, it may not disarm with the installer code. I've never had occasion to test this, but it's a good guess. Here's how to fix it:

Go into programming and set location 28 to 0 (power-up in previous state). This will make the panel come up disarmed when you exit programming, or when you restore power. Then program in a user code, different from the installer code. Try this before you start moving keypads around.

- badenov

Reply to
Nomen Nescio

There's a difference between the Installer Code and Master Code. The Installer code gets you into programming, if you don't know system programming...hopefully you didn't mess something up. As Nomen pointed out in another post, if you arm the system with a code other than the Installer code the installer code cannot disarm.

WHAT zone is displaying when the alarm mysteriously goes off...is it a fire zone? a panic zone maybe?

Reply to
Crash Gordon

Thank you, Nomen, and everyone. My system appears to be working normally again.

Basically, I followed Nomen's location 28 reset. The system then came up okay and I have done nothing more.

I am wondering whether, however, anyone feels it is a bad idea to just let it go? For the sake of completion and clarity:

- I installed the system, there is no service company. I am just a home owner, the only resident.

- There is only one code in the system, the Installer code. For this reason, I was loose in my earlier terminology use. This Installer code is used to program, set, and clear the system. Discussion here in re the next code level down, Master, makes me wonder whether there is some pressing reason to create this "secondary" level even though l am the sole occupant?

-For two reasons, though installed, no sirens or strobes have yet been connected. 1) the sound emitted by the keypads alone has seemed quite sufficient to wake up the dead. 2) Due to some doubts, and earlier problems, concerning power drain, I hesitate to add in these devices.

[home run topology, every sensor a zone: 7 entry contacts, 23 window contacts plus 19 4-wire glass breaks, 13 4-wire smokes, 2 4-wire CO, 3 2-wire heat, 7 6150 keypads, 4 internal sirens, 1 external, 1 strobe.]

I have the extender with its own AC adapter, 8 expansion panels, and three batteries connected to the 50p.

My device load calculating is shaky. Unfortunately, two different professional installers also seemed unable to do the actual calculation themselves. A third outfit that supplies a lot of equipment throughout New York as well as dispensing expertise, seemed to think I am well within my power resources. Nevertheless, I have had to disconnect several glass breaks because they were clicking continuously though not faulting. The two pros actually have been to the site. And as a non-pro, my descriptions to the the third might well have been inadequate and/or misleading.

- Since the location 28 reset appears to have solved the problem, I have not run the diagnostic on the working keypads suggested here.

I think that covers everything. Again, thanks to one and all for your suggestions.

Be well.

Don Davis

Reply to
Don

Let's review the situation.

You had a problem that was caused by your failure to program in a master code. Meaning, if you had been using a master code instead of the installer code, you wouldn't even be here.

This professional diagnosed your problem and told you how to fix it, including programming a master code. Another professional also told you not to use the installer code to arm and disarm the system.

And here you are, still asking whether you need to program in a master code.

If you don't want to listen to professional advice, I'm not inclined to discuss your problems with you any further. RTFM.

- badenov

Reply to
Nomen Nescio

Hello, Nomen,

Thanks for the review. I will implement your, Crash's and Rapid's advice to create a Master code for day-to-day use rather than the Installer Code.

I do not know what RTFM stands for but suspect it is not good!

Nevertheless, the solution you offered worked and I still thank you.

Reply to
Don

It's an acronym for Read The F***ing Manual.

Reply to
Robert L Bass

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