New Elk M1 Install (Power planning help needed)

Hello guys,
 
Looking for a little input on my planned ELK M1 install. I will be closing on a new house in a few weeks and want to finalize my ELK order before then. I have done a lot of searching and research on cocoontech but could really use some advice on a plan for powering the system since I will need an auxiliary power supply I am just not sure the best option!
 
The house is prewired with contacts at all locations and the builder was accommodating enough to run CAT5 to the 3 keypad locations for me! I will have approximately 42 wired zones.
 
Here is what I have selected so far for my system:
 
ELK ALARM HARDWARE
 
ELK-M1GOLD                                                                                                                                                   
 
ELK-M1KP2 Keypads  x3                                                                        
 
ELK-M1BBK2 Keypad box  x3                                                                                           
 
ELK-M1XIN Zone expanders x3                                                  
 
ELK-M1XEP Ethernet interface                                                                        
                      
ELK-M1DBH Data Hub                                                                                    
 
ELK-12180  Battery                                                                                                  
 
ELK-73 Speaker x1                                                                              
 
ELK-SP12F Speaker x3
 
ELK PD9's? or Barrier terminals?
 
ADDITIONAL HARDWARE                                                                          
 
Bosch BDL2-WP12G Motion Detector x8
 
Honeywell FG1625 Wired Glass Break Detector x4
 
System Sensor 2WT-B Smoke detector x3
 
Uplink 4530EX Cellular Dialer
 
I would really appreciate the assistance on a power plan.
 
Thanks in advance!
 

I learned the hard way that powering the system can be a complicated topic. In addition to calculating the size of the aux power supply you'll need to consider the location of the supply and distributing the power to all of the devices in the system and long cable runs will require larger wire gauge in order to reduce voltage drop.
 
I'm sure that there are others here who can offer more help, a diagram of the components and their locations would be helpful.
 
Here's a link to Elk's web site where you can download a spreadsheet to help calculate your demand.
 
http://www.elkproducts.com/Owner_support_tools.html
 
Mike.

Keypads off panel, rest off a PS. I'm ballparking around a 3-4A would be ideal.

How you distribute the power off that is personal preference. PD9 or what have you. I'm not a fan of the barrier strip/terminal block method. If you do it right, you're probably never going to touch the terminals for anything but a brief troubleshooting period, so IMHO, it adds an unnecessary point of complexity and extra work. We're not talking about a huge system in a commercial building with multiple points of contact and junctions.

Thanks Mike,
 
I will be installing all of the ELK components together in a 42-50" enclosure in a central location.  I am thinking of putting all the power in a separate smaller enclosure right below that one.  The uplink will be up at the top of the main enclosure. I have used the spreadsheet and come up with needing about 1.6 amps of power without accounting for the uplink. Reading the ELK manual refers to supplying auxiliary power directly to the board, but everything I read about on the forums talks about supplying auxiliary power directly to the sub devices.  Since I am using the uplink which needs a decent amount of power I am unsure if I need a separate  aux power supply and battery for just that and then still another aux power supply for the rest of the system or can combine those. The ElK spreadsheet tells me I don't need an AUX supply but everything I keep reading says stay under 1 amp.

DELInstallations said:

Keypads off panel, rest off a PS. I'm ballparking around a 3-4A would be ideal.

How you distribute the power off that is personal preference. PD9 or what have you. I'm not a fan of the barrier strip/terminal block method. If you do it right, you're probably never going to touch the terminals for anything but a brief troubleshooting period, so IMHO, it adds an unnecessary point of complexity and extra work. We're not talking about a huge system in a commercial building with multiple points of contact and junctions.

Click to expand...

Thanks Del Do you have any recommendations for a power supply in that range? 

cheezit73 said:

Thanks Mike,
 
I will be installing all of the ELK components together in a 42-50" enclosure in a central location.  I am thinking of putting all the power in a separate smaller enclosure right below that one.  The uplink will be up at the top of the main enclosure. I have used the spreadsheet and come up with needing about 1.6 amps of power without accounting for the uplink. Reading the ELK manual refers to supplying auxiliary power directly to the board, but everything I read about on the forums talks about supplying auxiliary power directly to the sub devices.

Click to expand...

I don't know what you mean by supplying the power directly to the "board". If by board you mean the M1 panel then no you don't want to connect your aux power to the M1 panel. You can have one or as many power supplies in a system as you want as long as you supply each device with the proper voltage and enough power to satisfy it's requirements. You can supply a device or several devices with one 12vdc power supply as long as you maintain 12vdc and enough amps to power all of the devices.
 
You can even use more than one aux power supply but that's a complication that you don't appear to need.
 

cheezit73 said:

 Since I am using the uplink which needs a decent amount of power I am unsure if I need a separate  aux power supply and battery for just that and then still another aux power supply for the rest of the system or can combine those. The ElK spreadsheet tells me I don't need an AUX supply but everything I keep reading says stay under 1 amp.

Click to expand...

 
You can get a 6 amp power supply and a distribution board that breaks that 6 amps up into six 1 amp supplies and back it up with one or two SLA batteries.
 
Mike.

I just realized the power to the board I saw in the manual was just referencing tying the grounds together, makes more sense now.
 
I guess at this point I am looking for recommendations of power supplies that people are using/have used and are happy with.
 
Also a bit confusing is the ELK power worksheet seems to list different current draws than the specs list on their website for things, For instance the MKP2 keypads show .16 on the spreadsheet and on the spec sheet they say 85 ma draw.

Altronix makes good, solid power supplies for alarm systems.  You can often find one on eBay in either new or used condition at very reasonable prices.
 
Altronix has a huge number of models, with or without power distribution boards.  It's probably best to look at their web site and study the different models a bit to decide what's best for your needs
 
My guess is something like an AL400ULPD8 or AL400ULPD8CB, with 4A of current and 8 outputs would be a good place to start.

I would run the XINs off the panel too via the DBH - it's just much simpler that way to me especially in this case. With the M1G, 3 KP2's and 3 XIN's you're looking at 0.59A draw from the panel.
 
I installed a Leviton Power & Surge protection module in the bottom of my security can that has both 120VAC and 12VDC available:
 
I source the Leviton device via a UPS so all devices plugged into that are battery backed up as well.

@ RAL: While Altronix makes good stuff, you need to pay specific attention to the specific model of supply when you're dealing with the M1. The supply needs to have a 0V drop when running on battery because in the case of the M1 and a 12V system, assuming "good" batteries, you're going to be between 12.5-13VDC nominal, so when most supplies start switching over to DC only, the common loss is about a volt, which is when the boards on the M1 start rebooting. I've put the PN's for the board/supply out there, I'm being lazy and not getting them from Altronix again.
 
@ Driven: The leviton unit appears OK for a basic general purpose supply, it's not listed from what I can see for security/life safety applications which makes it a no-no. I'd shed as much load off the panel and go with a larger supply and suitably sized battery (or batteries) in it. Easier to buy a supply and loadshed to keep the M1 up and running longer and then have the remaining devices off the larger supply and battery/ies.
 
@ Cheez- Get the cell away from the panel. It can't reside in the enclosure and it's problematic for the M1 to be in close proximity. Outside the can and a few feet away, sure with the M1 surrounded by the metal enclosure, sure.

 
@ Cheez- Get the cell away from the panel. It can't reside in the enclosure and it's problematic for the M1 to be in close proximity. Outside the can and a few feet away, sure with the M1 surrounded by the metal enclosure, sure.
 
Thanks Del I will take that into account! Just to clarify is it fine for the 4530ex to be outside of an enclosure completely or should it still be inside a separate one with the antenna poking out?

I ws able to find an Altronix al400ulpd4 4amp with distribution board for four 1amp outputs in an enclosure new old stock on ebay for $42 shipping included. It is specified for zero voltage drop. Only drawback is that it is fused instead of circuit breakers but I can live with that. I even cut the AC power to it as a test and the Elk reported the drop with no problems.
 
Mike.

Remember all of that. There's about 4-6 AL400 PN's out there for the base board and they all vary.

A side question here......  My new home has a whole house fire suppression/sprinkler system which has a flow valve with a contact on it which I will wire to the ELK.  Would you all feel that is enough for fire notification while away from home or would you still install some separate smokes?  I am comfortable relying on the preinstalled smoke detectors in every room to alert us while home.

Personally, I'd suggest a single monitored smoke per floor. The flow only indicates after the sprinklers have been tripped. I'd (although it's a slippery slope) prefer to get the trucks rolling while a fire was in the incipient stage.