Ok, I'm new to elk m1 security. I have been doing alot of readings, webinar and asking questions on this website. I have a big project underway; well might not be big to the pros. But, I want to power 16 pir, 8 ip cameras, 7 glass breakers and some other sensors. I see that ELK has different types of power supply. What type of power supply do I need? ELK-P124? ELK-PD9? ELK 264? or do i just connect my devices to a terminal strips and supply power to the terminal strips? could some post a picture of whatever power supply they need and they are device the supply is powering. thanks
How are you powering your device with ELK M1 power supply
- Thread starter gasbie
- Start date
Assuming your glass break and motion detectors require about 30 mA each, you'll need a total of 0.7A of current to power them. The M1 might just be able to power all that, depending on what other stuff you have connected, such as keypads, zone expanders, smoke detectors, etc. But my guess is you are going to need an aux power supply.
You could go with one of the Elk power supplies, like the P112, P212S, or P412S (the P124 you mentioned is a 24V power supply). I'd probably skip the P112, as that has only 1A output, and would be barely adequate to power the motions and glass breaks.
With these, you can use an Elk PD9 distribution board to make the wiring a little easier rather than wire nutting all the power wires together in one big bundle. Some folks like to use terminal strips, and that's ok, too. The distribution boards give you individual fuses on each output, so if you get a short somewhere, it doesn't take out all the devices together. Still, with the number of devices you're planning on, you'll have 2 or 3 on each output.
Another option would be an Altronix power supply, like the AL400ULPD8. The PD8 includes an 8 output distribution board. There is also a PD4 model, with just 4 outputs.
I'd go with a separate power supply for the cameras. I'm guessing you'll need about 5 Amps capacity for 8 cameras, depending on what model of camera you get and whether they have IR LEDs or not. Do you plan on using PoE to power them, or will you hardwire 12V directly to each camera? An Altronix AL600ULPD8 will probably give you adequate power, plus battery backup if you want that. If you don't care about battery backup, something like the ALTV1224DC2 might be a better choice.
If you are going to use PoE, you might want a PoE power supply like an Altronix Netway8.
You can often find a variety of Altronix power supplies in new or used condition on eBay at a substantial discount.
You could go with one of the Elk power supplies, like the P112, P212S, or P412S (the P124 you mentioned is a 24V power supply). I'd probably skip the P112, as that has only 1A output, and would be barely adequate to power the motions and glass breaks.
With these, you can use an Elk PD9 distribution board to make the wiring a little easier rather than wire nutting all the power wires together in one big bundle. Some folks like to use terminal strips, and that's ok, too. The distribution boards give you individual fuses on each output, so if you get a short somewhere, it doesn't take out all the devices together. Still, with the number of devices you're planning on, you'll have 2 or 3 on each output.
Another option would be an Altronix power supply, like the AL400ULPD8. The PD8 includes an 8 output distribution board. There is also a PD4 model, with just 4 outputs.
I'd go with a separate power supply for the cameras. I'm guessing you'll need about 5 Amps capacity for 8 cameras, depending on what model of camera you get and whether they have IR LEDs or not. Do you plan on using PoE to power them, or will you hardwire 12V directly to each camera? An Altronix AL600ULPD8 will probably give you adequate power, plus battery backup if you want that. If you don't care about battery backup, something like the ALTV1224DC2 might be a better choice.
If you are going to use PoE, you might want a PoE power supply like an Altronix Netway8.
You can often find a variety of Altronix power supplies in new or used condition on eBay at a substantial discount.
RAL, thank you so much for you detailed explanation. You are the best. I have been looking at the AL600ULPD8 for quite some times now. so my question is, since this unit has 8 outputs, can you only connect just one device per output, or you can wire couple of devices per out. How does the terminal strip work? and would you recommend using terminal strip. thanks
You can connect multiple devices to each output of the power supply. There is just one screw terminal per output, so that means you'll need to connect a pigtail to the screw terminal and then use a wire nut to connect the other end of the pigtail to the 2 or 3 or however many devices you have. Each output has a 3.5 Amp fuse, so there should be no problem in powering multiple devices per output.
Since the power supply outputs are in the Altronix can, and your device wires for the motion detectors, etc, will be in the Elk can, you'll need to run wires between the two cans to do this.
Here's a picture I drew once before to show how to do this.
With a distribution board over in the Altronix can, I would just use wire nuts to connect 2 or 3 wires to each output and not bother with terminal strips.
Personally, I like the neatness that terminal strips provide. But the downside is they take up more space in the can since you need space to mount them, while wire nuts can just float in the air. Terminal strips also add an extra connection point in the wiring, which means there is one more point of failure where a loose screw could cause trouble.
When I have more than a few wires to connect together, I've used terminal strips like these, along with the red and black buss bars to connect all the terminals together to +12V or ground.
Since the power supply outputs are in the Altronix can, and your device wires for the motion detectors, etc, will be in the Elk can, you'll need to run wires between the two cans to do this.
Here's a picture I drew once before to show how to do this.
With a distribution board over in the Altronix can, I would just use wire nuts to connect 2 or 3 wires to each output and not bother with terminal strips.
Personally, I like the neatness that terminal strips provide. But the downside is they take up more space in the can since you need space to mount them, while wire nuts can just float in the air. Terminal strips also add an extra connection point in the wiring, which means there is one more point of failure where a loose screw could cause trouble.
When I have more than a few wires to connect together, I've used terminal strips like these, along with the red and black buss bars to connect all the terminals together to +12V or ground.
I'd suggest running the cameras at 24V over 12 any day and keep them separate from the alarm system power, assuming they're not POE. In actuality, the days of non-POE cameras are really coming to an end and locating cameras with separate power inputs is really getting difficult.
I'm not a fan of adding terminal strips, blocks and other places of failure. If you're looking at Altronix, why not just spend the money for a 16 output distribution board/supply and call it a day. I wouldn't pigtail or put more than 2 devices per output otherwise you negate the reason why you distribute power...
I'm not a fan of adding terminal strips, blocks and other places of failure. If you're looking at Altronix, why not just spend the money for a 16 output distribution board/supply and call it a day. I wouldn't pigtail or put more than 2 devices per output otherwise you negate the reason why you distribute power...