Datalogger to Test False Alarms on Sensor

dataloggers? vcrs? check the wiring check for environmental changes, sun, heat, stuff moving. reposition, mask, or replace the pir and be done with it.

We've done all of that, multiple times. No resolution.

Ademco 128BP

Of course, but doesn't that mean running separate wires to the two sensors? The run is about 200 feet on a warehouse ceiling. I was looking for a fast and dirty way to monitor the potentially defective sensor without resorting to a long wiring job.

Too easy Crash, some problems require massive amounts of time, money and software thrown at them, doing silly things like you suggest is just not very exciting

ceiling motions...what kind, what are they looking at? there's all sorts of evironmental issues in a warehouse...thats when little critters scurry about too.

| > > Ademco 128BP | >

| > You don't need a data logger. The panel keeps a record of events. Assign | > the zone to an unused partition with no siren output. Configure the zone | to | > be armed 24-hours. Check the history after a few days. | >

| > -- | >

| > Regards, | > Robert L Bass | | |

the ademco panel already has a logger,,,not to mention why not look at the central station records?

| > Too easy Crash, some problems require massive amounts of time, money and | > software thrown at them, doing silly things like you suggest is just not | > very exciting | >

| >

| | |

Thats why I send every signal that a panel is able to, if you know what your looking at you can just about trouble shoot anything.

A warehouse at night...with ceiling mounted pirs....hmmmm lemme think!

not exactly what you have in mind... and may be a little extreme for this case... but you could have a camera installed with a vcr recording on alarm input... then not only would you have a time you'd be able to see what was happening when it went off (or a second or two later anyway)

the only problem with this is that the only vcr's i've used require a normally open contact... and most motions are normally closed... i'm not sure if there's a way around this but perhaps the experts around here do

You can probably use the negative power wire as a common zone return and run the two motions off the existing four conductor. I'm not sure I would program the zone as 24 hours though, depending on the amount of motion and the size of the event buffer on the panel, it could easily fill up and overwite the older data before you uploaded it.

Doug L

The one giving false alarms is Detection Systems DS9370 triangular motion. Really nice sensors. We taped up anything that might blow air on the sensor, but of course there could be some kind of airflow going on throughout the warehouse. That's why I wanted to keep the old sensor around in the same vicinity and see if both sensors start to trigger periodically.

You don't need a data logger. The panel keeps a record of events. Assign the zone to an unused partition with no siren output. Configure the zone to be armed 24-hours. Check the history after a few days.

Ever notice how many birds live in Costo? There are more inside than outside.

| > A warehouse at night...with ceiling mounted pirs....hmmmm lemme think! | | Can't imagine why he gets false alarms eh? :) | |

Can't imagine why he gets false alarms eh? :)

What alarm panel is the motion sensor connectd to??

If you want a data logger, just connect a Napco P816 or similar panel to the device and let it keep a log for you of when the device malfunctions. You can put it on the phone line and read the log remotely with Napco software. You could also leave it connected to your existing alarm panel, if it has the capability and program it not to dial in an alarm and not to sound a siren and read the log in your panel at will. Allan

i'm not too sure why you'd need to run wire for anything bass said... just change it in the panel and do a little programming... but anyway...

check the continuity... make sure there's no major electrical interference on that wire run (being a warehouse afterall)... and change the motion... certainly cheaper and easier than all the time you'd spend running new wire

No. You'll use the "polling loop" on the panel to expand the number of zones. You have four conductors going to the existing sensorr, two for power, and two for the zone. (By the way, at 200 feet you might want to check the power supply voltage at the sensor to see if you have adequate voltage, depending on what else you may be powering from that wire run.) Disconnect the zone wires at the panel and at the sensor. Install a 4208U near the sensor. Connect the zone wires to the polling loop output on the panel. Add the new zones in programming.

For your application, you might want to read up on cross-zoning. I think the 128BP supports that. This means you don't get an alarm unless both sensors trip within a certain time period. I think Ademco also reports a trouble when only one zone trips, but read the manual to be sure.

Final point: if you've been replacing the sensor with the same brand and model, don't. Use a different brand of sensor that covers the same area.

- badenov

Back in the old days... The company I worked for had a customer with a nasty system which had false alarms which no one could fix.

The police department said "fix it now" or they would quit responding. My boss assigned me to the job and told me to fix it for free (don't charge customer) and price was no object!

So I had free reign to resolve this problem. This system had basically one zone for everything. So first I installed a multiple zone system to isolate which sensor(s) were causing the problem.

It was the interior photo electric beams.

Next I built my own monitoring gadget which monitored each device and the electrical power to each device.

Then I got a key to the business from the owner and told our monitoring center to notify me 24 hours a day if *this* system tripped. Told owner that no one was to enter building until I got there to examine the lights on my gizmo. Also told customer how to set my gizmo before leaving.

Well it turned out that the customer was turning off a breaker which powered the photo electric beams. And the battery would last over a regular weekend. But would run out of power on a 3 day weekend!

Actually all the alarms were on the 3rd day of a 3 day weekend!

And every time they had an alarm, the owner would come in, turn on all the breakers for the lights... Alarm service guy would get there and not find anything wrong.

So the solution to the problem was to tape the breakers which powered the photo electric beams and write on the tape "Alarm - Leave on". (Something the installers should have done when installing the system.)

Note: These days there are control panels with enough zones so that you could have a power monitoring relay for each device on a separate zone as well as monitoring each device on its own zone. So no need to build any special "gizmo" like I did.