Elk M1 - squeezing zones and relays.

[AnotherOne]

I want to add 2 relays in my garage. Currently I have 4 one-pair wires running to the garage doors with sensors that indicate open / close. Let's say these are zones 1 to 4. Running more wires is really hard.

Can I rewire by slicing into the wires - they are all running together in the garage attic - and reworking them thusly:

Let's call the 4 wire pairs going to the garage bays A,B,C and D
and the 4 wire pairs going into the M1 - W, X, Y and Z.
And we'll number the wires 1 and 2. So A1 and A2 go to the sensor on garage door one and W1 and W2 go to zone 1 Neg and ZN-1 on the M1.

Now I take the wire pairs at the M1 and rewire them thusly:

W1 goes to VAUX neg
W2 goes to VAUX +12 Volts

X1 goes to zn 1
X2 goes to zn 2
Y1 goes to zn 3
Y2 goes to zn 4
Z1 goes to trigger for Out 7
Z2 goes to trigger for Out 8

Now at the splice I do the following.
Run a new 2-pair wire, R, to the relays (Elk 924)
R1 - goes to relay 1 +12V and to relay 2 +12V
R2 - goes to relay 1 Neg and to relay 2 Neg
R3 - goes to relay 1 T+
R4 - goes to relay 2 T+

And I connect the wires thusly:
A1 goes to W1 (VAUX neg)
A2 goes to X1 (zn 1)
B1 goes to W1 (VAUX neg)
B2 goes to X2 (zn 2)
C1 goes to W1 (VAUX neg)
C2 goes to Y1 (zn 3)
D1 goes to W1 (VAUX neg)
D2 goes to Y2 (zn 4)

R1 goes to W1 (VAUX +12V)
R2 goes to W2 (VAUX Neg)
R3 goes to Z1 (trigger for Out 7)
R4 goes to Z2 (trigger for Out 8)

Will this work??

 

[rfdesq]

Sorry it took so long to reply I suddenly got an urge to make a bowl of alphabet soup . With eight wires at the panel that should give you the ability to control/monitor seven devices (with one common ground). Let me know if this makes any sense or works for you. One wire is common to your switches/relays i.e. the negative side of each. One wire is for each of your switches/relay coils. I don't know what you will be controlling by relay in the garage. It is unclear from your description if you will be using and will need two relays (one relay in the garage and one to energize the coil at the panel). I'm not sure if an ELK-RB relay board might be what you need without the need for additional 924's. The relay board may do the trick if it and the wire you have run will handle the voltage and current you need.

Edit: I finished my bowl of soup and am thinking clearer. Do you want to use the voltage from Output 7 & 8 to fire the relays in the garage? If so I think it will work and you won't need the relay board because the outputs will give you all the current you need to energize the relays.

 

[AnotherOne]

Do you want to use the voltage from Output 7 & 8 to fire the relays in the garage?

Yes, the two 924's will be used to control garage door openers. They are described on page 11 of the M1 installation manual. And I'll use rules to turn on (pulse) the relays connected to Out 7 and 8 to close the garage doors.

So it looks like this would work and I don't need to run more wires (YEA!!!).

 

[rfdesq]

It's late but I looked at the diagram. Why not save some money and use ELK 912's instead of the 924's? The 912 only requires 30 ma to energize the relay and Outputs 7 & 8 probably supply 50 ma. That way you only need two wires to the 912 relay (ground and Output 7 or 8) and not three if you use the 924 (ground, +12, and a +12 trigger). Just a suggestion.

 

[Spanky]

The negative for the zones and relays can be a common wire to any negative on the M1.

 

[Steve]

I think an RB or an XOVR would be a cleaner solution plus give you additional relays for future use like sprinklers, etc. Plus you get LED status. All on a nice board. My $.02

 

[rfdesq]

I think an RB or an XOVR would be a cleaner solution plus give you additional relays for future use like sprinklers, etc. Plus you get LED status. All on a nice board. My $.02

That's why I first mentioned it. Then I was concerned that he might be trying to control 110 volt AC in the garage with a 22 gauge wire at the panel, so I went back to putting the 912 relay in the garage. But, since he probably only needs a switch closure for the garage opener, an RB at the panel will work great with future expandability.

 

[AnotherOne]

Thanks for the answers. Looks like I'll get two 912's for this.

I don't think the RB won't work since it don't have enough wires to either put it in the garage or run wires to from the openers to the M1 for the RB (one wire short), but at this point it's probably overkill. And at Automated Outlet 912's are $8.50 each verus $57 for an RB. So buying 912's as needed seems the way to go.

 

[rfdesq]

Just for clarification, the ELK-M1RB plugs directly into the M1 with a wiring harness. If you have a wire to your garage to fire a 912 relay, then that same wire could be used to close a switch on the garage door opener from an ELK-M1RB. But for $17 you can do what you need to do now, and if you need more in the future buy an ELK-M1RB and use the 912's somewhere else.