ELK - Added MDBH, lost Keypad. Why?

[brodgers]

I decided to upgrade my wireless from a Caddx to the ELK system. This required adding a data hub to the mix. Previously, my two keypads had both been homerun to the panel and connected to the panel. I wired up the DBH without any problem. I wired the wireless controller without any problem. The problem came when I tried to wire up my keypads. My main keypad has Cat5 wire run to it and is terminated exactly like it shows in the manual. I did not mess with connections at the keypad at all today. I added an RJ45 connector to the head end and put it into the DBH. Now, my keypad won't light up, make any noise or nothing. When I enroll through ElkRP it finds the keypad, but says that it is "Missing or not working". No duh!

I thought it might be the terminal on the DBH, but I switched the wireless receiver around and it works in both locations. I thought I might have done a crummy job with the RJ45 connection, so I redid that. Same result. I've tried it with and without the JP3 jumper in place. No difference. I double checked that there wasn't a jumped at the keypad. There isn't. I then figured it must not be getting any power. To check this, I deleted the keypad in ElkRP and pushed that to the panel. I then re-enrolled and it finds the keypad again. It must be getting some power for it to be recognized.

Any thoughts on what might be going on? I haven't tried putting a jumped at the keypad, but who knows. I can't see why that woudl work, but I can't see why it isn't working now...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Steve]

Hard to say for sure without wiring detail. but 99% of the time this is just wiring related. So...

What is connected to the M1 now, just the DBH? In that case you need the jumper on the controller and the RJ45 terminator on the DBH and no terminators on any of the devices plugged into the DBH. Do all the devices have 6 wires - 2 data, 2 power, 2 daisy chain data?

Measure resistance between Data A and B at the controller bus connector, it should measure around 65 or 70 ohms. If you still are stuck please provide exactly what is wired to where and what has terminations.

 

[rfdesq]

Hard to say for sure without wiring detail. but 99% of the time this is just wiring related. So...

I agree with Steve. Every time I've had a Keypad/DBH issue it has been related to the RJ45 connector and not the ELK.

 

[Spanky]

Make sure Data A on the M1 goes to Data A on the keypad and Data B on the M1 goes to Data B on the keypad. Swapping will not work.

As mentioned above, with everything connected and the power turned off on the M1, the resistance across Data A and B should be about 65 ohms. Anything more than 10 ohms each way is a wiring problem.

 

[brodgers]

There are only two things hooked up right now to the DBH. The ELK Wireless receiver is connected via cat5 to the DBH. It powers on and appears to be working. ElkRP recognizes it and all is well. The second item is the keypad in question. It is also connected via cat5.

Just so I am clear, I should leave everything hooked up to the DBH, but put the leads of my multi-meter on the A and B wires that lead from the DBH to the Elk panel and measure the Ohms there?

BTW - I took the DBH out of the system and hocked the keypad wire directly to the panel. No luck there either. What is so frustrating is that this worked last week. Is it possible that something I did zapped the keypad itself?

Thanks.

 

[Steve]

You take the measurement right on the controller itself. You need to read what the controller sees.

 

[brodgers]

OK, so I took the keypad out of the system which left just the DBH with the Elk wireless receiver attached to the DBH via Cat5. At the controller, that measured 40 Ohms. When I added the keypad into the mix (attached to the DBH via Cat5 - with a new RJ45 connector), that dropped to 3 Ohms. What does this mean and where should I start looking next?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Steve]

It's either incorrect terminations or wiring. This is what I would suggest (starting from scratch):

4 conductor wire from M1 controller bus connector to the DBH bus connector. + to +, A to A, B to B, - to -. Keypad 1 to DBH first jack (J1), Keypad 2 to J2 and RF to J3. Wire all of them with RJ45 on 1 end and 6 wires connected exactly like the diagram on page 2 of the DBH manual. Device + to Cat5 Brown/White, Device - to Cat5 White/Brown, Device Data A to Cat5 Orange/White AND Green/White, Device Data B to Cat5 White/Orange AND White/Green. Data A and B are doubled up to create the series chain. Crimp the RJ45 on exactly as shown. Now make sure all terminator jumpers are removed from BOTH keypads and the RF board. Place the RJ45 terminator plug in J4 on the DBH. Make sure J3 on the controller has a jumper. Now measure Data A and B. If it is not 65 ohms +/- then you still have a wiring problem. If it is in range, power on the M1 and re-enroll and all should be good.

 

[brodgers]

Well, just to provide closure here... I managed to get everything working. I would put this in the "I am an F-ing idiot" category. I checked the wiring at the keypad maybe 5 times and pronounced it good. I finally gave up and went to rewire it thinking that one of my crimps might be bad. Well, it ends up I had the + and - switched. I rewired and everything works great. Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions.