Quick way to test alarm contacts without panel?

Hi,

All I could dig up in the forums here was mention of a tone tester. Is there any tester or trick that can verify if a contact is properly installed (correct magnet distance)?

Thanks,
Steve

Use a multimeter. Most have continuity test and many have a tone when doing the continuity test, so depending how far you are from the wiring, you can hear it as you open/close the contact. If you're doing EOL resistors, you can measure the resistance also to ensure it is correct.

I use a multimeter.
If you have EOL resistors, you need to check for the proper resitance with the zone closed and an open circuit when the zone is open.
My meter also has a tone continutiy function that beeps when there is continuity in a circuit. So a closed zone will make it beep and when the zone is opened it stops beeping.

Yep, multimeter all the way.

With the contact closed you should see 0.0. With the contact open you should see infinity (my meter shows it as 0.L)

http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/739-how-to-install-a-home-security-system/

You guys rock. Thanks BSR for the link. I forgot about that one.

Steve

I am having a hard time using my multimeter to track down contacts. My home is prewired, and I haven't yet installed a panel.

I have two multimeters (one crappy, one larger nicer one). Both have a continuity test that beeps when there's continuity. Most window contacts are VIP88 sensors, so are normally closed. So I *should* hear a beep when the windows are all closed in a zone, correct?

I got nothing on any wires. Each wire is a pair, so I tested the red and black continuity...

I have read about EOLRs. I don't know whether or not I have EOLRs, but would the presence of EOLRs on the line prevent a continuity test?
-- I tried reading the resistance (range 20, 200, 2k, 20k, 200k 2M and 20M ohms) and saw no difference in value when the window was open, or closed, on any of the wires. The meter would always just say "1".

Do I need to pipe an audio signal through for testing, or go ahead and get an inductive cable tracker?

See if this How-To helps you out.

Do you get a near zero reading when you touch the two leads together from the multimeter? Are you sure you have your fingers away from the contacts/wires/leads as they will influence the readings.

Do you have a spare contact that you can bench test with your meter to insure you are reading it correctly?

Can you tape or place a magnet DIRECTLY on top of a sensor or two?

I doubt all of your contacts have an 'open' connection, so hopefully we can figure out what is going on here.

Ah, so it looks like none of the sensors have magnets yet. That explains it. I called up the company that did my prewire and found that out.

Thank you much! That concludes my main question here, and if I come up with a new issue I'll use a different thread.

Thirty years ago Radio Shack had a black box about the size of a tape measure with a 9V battery in it. It would beep slow for high resistance and fast for low resistance. You could hold a lead in each hand and it could read through your body if you touched a thumb to each wire. I could clip it to a wire at door on a large pre-wire and touch the ends of the wires without stripping and it would beep when i found it. It was also great for window foil, I could hook it up and touch the takeoff blocks until i heard the beep and then study the window for the break. I think it was about five bucks. I would buy 20 of them if they still were around.

brokencircuit85 said:

Ah, so it looks like none of the sensors have magnets yet. That explains it. I called up the company that did my prewire and found that out.

Thank you much! That concludes my main question here, and if I come up with a new issue I'll use a different thread.

Click to expand...

Beware, some companies do some crazy stuff to make someones life miserable when they try to use a prewire. I have seen the following:

Cut the wire at locations marked on a drawing that only they have
Insert oddball resistors in random places
Window contact wires extend only 8 feet long in the crawl space
5/8" holes for contacts
And my favorite - Tape key wires like keypad or motions up in the wall cavity accessible only to a knowing person with a coat hanger.

Wireless gear has made most of these stunts obsolete but some installers offering builders $100 prewires can get mighty possessive of their work

I took video and pictures of all of my walls right before drywall went up. It helped me out a lot years down the road.

Speaking of lousy installation practices, when my irrigation system installer winterized the system last Fall, he manually closed a couple of the solenoids. And covered them with dirt in the valve boxes.

Just so he could come out and 'set it up' (turn it on), and collect the $10/zone.