Elk M1: Zone reports as secure with wireless sensor 'Violated'

[SIMKO]

I just recently got my Elk M1 panel all wired up and now I'm to the point of getting the wireless sensors installed and communicating with the panel.

I have the Elk M1XRFEG connected and wired up and I have a few different style sensors (NX-455 and Ion plunger-g) laying around that I have for testing to make sure everything is working fine.

My problem is with the ION Plunger-G sensors. They enrolled fine and shows the state change when the plunger is actuated, but on initial power up of the M1,they will sometimes show 'OK' even though the zone is 'Violated'. If I cycle the plunger it then shows the zone is violated and works fine from that point on. At first I thought maybe the sensor was sticking but I don't believe that is the case because it works perfectly after doing the initial cycle.

To make it even a little more confusing, sometimes after powering up the panel, the zone will report as 'Force Armed'. After cycling the plunger one time it works as expected showing the zone as violated. This behavior seems normal to me, and I would expect it to do this everytime rather than sometimes showing the zone is secure on power-up when it isn't.

Any ideas?

 

[RobNJ]

I just recently got my Elk M1 panel all wired up and now I'm to the point of getting the wireless sensors installed and communicating with the panel.

I have the Elk M1XRFEG connected and wired up and I have a few different style sensors (NX-455 and Ion plunger-g) laying around that I have for testing to make sure everything is working fine.

My problem is with the ION Plunger-G sensors. They enrolled fine and shows the state change when the plunger is actuated, but on initial power up of the M1,they will sometimes show 'OK' even though the zone is 'Violated'. If I cycle the plunger it then shows the zone is violated and works fine from that point on. At first I thought maybe the sensor was sticking but I don't believe that is the case because it works perfectly after doing the initial cycle.

To make it even a little more confusing, sometimes after powering up the panel, the zone will report as 'Force Armed'. After cycling the plunger one time it works as expected showing the zone as violated. This behavior seems normal to me, and I would expect it to do this everytime rather than sometimes showing the zone is secure on power-up when it isn't.

Any ideas?

I have the same setup as you with the same sensors (1 ion plunger and 3 ion micras).
I think what you are seeing is normal since the sensor has not transmitted anything since the M1 powered up, so the M1 assumes status on startup. Once a signal is sent by the ion, then everything is back in sync.
The force arm thing, not sure about. I will have to cycle my M1 and see what happens.

 

[Del91574]

RF devices and the Elk (except Elk's unit that will hit the market someday) are not bidirectional and the panel will not know the status or state of any wireless device upon a powerup/exit from programming or reset, as they do not constantly transmit. They will eventually "time out" and the panel will get a valid status even if the unit is not faulted, manually causing a transmission.

I can't comment on the force arm, but I'm leaning towards it being the panel within it's power up delay period where nothing is acted upon by the panel.

I would dismiss the concerns, as a panel power up should be a moot point if the panel is constantly running/battery backed up and the panel is set to return in the same state as when it last had power, in the event of an extended power outage.