Log Zone Violations in Non-Alarm Mode?

After hooking up a couple new 2-wire zones and a wireless receiver (non-Elk) I started to get 1 zone not ready messages on the keypad for like 2 seconds intermittently. I was able to catch one before it reset and it was my kitchen glass break. I enabled chime on all of the zones and I'm constantly getting a chime for my dining room glass break. Is there a way I could get the M1 to log these violations to track down whats going on?

I would think that this all started with the new work since I've never had an alarm before and if these sensors are showing violation they would trip the alarm when armed.


Well...it took my wife no time at all to make the connection between me making slamming noises around the house and a glass break zone violation and then for me to go DOH!

Still my question stands.

video321 said:

Is there a way I could get the M1 to log these violations to track down whats going on?

Click to expand...

download elkm1net.zip from
http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5069&view=findpost&p=42981
That will display all the activity, assuming you have an XEP.

Thanks, I'll check that out.

Maybe look into the settings and adjustments of your glassbreaks a bit as well? They really shouldn't fault while you're home....unless you have a big booming home theater running. Care to elaborate on what ones you have installed?

I agree with getting us the model. Some Glassbreaks have a low frequency adjustment that comes all the way up out of the box. You might have to simply turn it down to eliminate the false alarming.

The sensors are Honeywell FG-1625RFM and I did leave them on max. sensitivity which is good for 25'. The next level down is good for 15' and the windows are 13' away from the placement of each sensor with curtains between them. They are mounted in the ceiling along the opposite wall as listed as one of the optimum locations in the directions. I don't have them on a 24hr. zone so I figured what the heck, might as well leave them on max. Though, I probably want to adjust my dining room sensor since it is open to my main viewing room.

Honeywell (Ademco formerly) said in their trainings that those detectors should never be set for the max sensitivity because they ship them that way to avoid the liability from an event where they don't go off if they weren't adjusted out of the box. Setting them on MAX is a recipe for a false alarm if you have a loud storm go through or something similar.

Don't worry about the distance and what the dipswitch settings are "rated" for, per se, use the test pads and adjust them correctly, either with the appropriate tester or approximate with something like keys on a keychain.

I have the tester so I'll adjust them and use the .net program listed above to log the events.
Thanks.

Does anyone else use this series detector and if so how far away from the window (if only a single/double window in the room) do you install it?

I've installed plenty of the 1625's over the years. Location depends on the house and asthetics, but there's also no minimum range requirements, so depending on the wire run, I usually would go close/adjacent to the glass to be protected.

Since I have 2x6 exterior walls and vinyl windows I was going to install them right in the top jamb trim. However, the instruction sheet for them shows toward the center or along the far wall for ceiling installs. I figured it was because of the way the shock wave radiates into the room and they work better with some distance??? I chose along the far wall because of aesthetics reasons.

Sometimes it comes down to what window coverings/drapes are installed near the windows as well, since they somewhat filter out the HF sounds.

1625's and the prior series (1525 and really dating myself, 730's) would be shown installed on the exact opposite wall, however if that is a distance issue, then you're looking at an adjacent wall as a better solution. Really depends on how acoustically live the room is. You want to avoid installing on the same wall as the glass at all costs.

GBD's should never be run at full sensitivity.

Yup, opposite wall for the 1625's and for ceiling mount along the opposite wall or in the center is listed as optimal. So, I chose ceiling along the opposite wall since I thought it would look better alongside the crown molding rather than just "somewhere" in the center. I also have wood floors throughout.

Do you understand the reasoning behind that and why the same wall is so bad? Is it because of the way the waves radiate the room? From my limited knowledge that's the only thing I could come up with as to why having them mounted above the window and maybe a couple feet in is not listed as an optimal location by Honeywell, but all the way across the room is.

I had 10 mins. to play around with one of them and was able to get good results going a level down. I'll look to log those results and then try another level down.

The reasoning why the same wall is bad is because what these units have is essentially a microphone installed on the circuit board. That (on the 1625's) is is where that small rectangle on the units is located. That and how sound waves move, reverberation of the room, etc. all come into play, which is why I said "how acoustically active a room is". A room with hardwood and heavily upholstered furniture would be less live than the same room with solid wood furniture. Same thing goes when you put one in a bathroom (nightmares).

The units work by listening for the flex (bending of the glass/thud) and the sound of breaking glass with a period of time combined for a decision to alarm or not alarm, so the only thing I can see is they're trying to make sure they have a direct line of sight by placement on the opposite wall, but IMHO, the ceiling a couple of feet out just above the protected glass is a far better location and allows for better sensitivity adjustments. The highest I've ever had to set one of those units was medium, and that was a stretch, being somewhat on the high side.

There's a whole application guide and even a PPT presentation on the best practices for the units which I don't think many people take into consideration, which would help clarify a lot. Sentrol had a good one out years back, so if you can find that on the web, that'll help more than I can post on a forum.

I always wished they wouldn't put the coverage distances on the units because (no offense intended) many people think that's the distance they'll cover and can be placed at.