Elk M1G install questions

[nadler1ny]

My 20+ year old Napco Magnum alarm system was fried by lightening and I now have an excuse to install an Elk. I haven't purchased the ELK yet (although I have disconnected the old system and carefully labeled the wires). I have a couple of preliminary questions which I hope someone can assist me with.

1. My old system has 1000 ohm EOL resistors connected at the panel at the negative terminal on the old panel of each zone. Do I use these, snip them off, use Elk resistors or use no resistors? I have read the posts about EOL resistors but really don't understand how they apply in my situation.

2. My old system has glass breaks terminated to a 3 zone "multi-output analyser' Maximal MA350' which in turn was connected to zone 7 of my old alarm (and aux power). Do I connect the MA350 to zone 7 of the ELK or is some other method or wiring required or some other interface required?

3. I want the ELK to control some critical insteon lights and also connect to my PC to check alarm status and interface with PowerHome which I use extensively. I am considering the Elk Smarthome package which includes the M1 Lightening interface or instead the Ethernet device. I'm leaning toward the Ethernet device because my router is next to M1 space and I don't particularly want to deal with another PLC. It is unclear to me whether I would get the same functionality from either or whether one is better than the other for my purposes. Anyone have any insight on this issue?

Thanks to all.

 

[mustangcoupe]

1. My old system has 1000 ohm EOL resistors connected at the panel at the negative terminal on the old panel of each zone. Do I use these, snip them off, use Elk resistors or use no resistors? I have read the posts about EOL resistors but really don't understand how they apply in my situation.

I would ditch the resistors as the elk can be configured without them at the pannel they are not doing what they are intended for.


2. My old system has glass breaks terminated to a 3 zone "multi-output analyser' Maximal MA350' which in turn was connected to zone 7 of my old alarm (and aux power). Do I connect the MA350 to zone 7 of the ELK or is some other method or wiring required or some other interface required?

Im not sure what the MA350 is and google didn't help much you may need to figure out what the sensors actually are. but it could just a way to power the sensor and split out the n/c contacts to the pannel...


3. I want the ELK to control some critical insteon lights and also connect to my PC to check alarm status and interface with PowerHome which I use extensively. I am considering the Elk Smarthome package which includes the M1 Lightening interface or instead the Ethernet device. I'm leaning toward the Ethernet device because my router is next to M1 space and I don't particularly want to deal with another PLC. It is unclear to me whether I would get the same functionality from either or whether one is better than the other for my purposes. Anyone have any insight on this issue?

If you are looking to perform lightning baised on occupancy you can do that by defining the zones in PH and trigger PH events on the zones changing... that is how I use it in my kitchen and basement (soon to be others) so I'd get the ethernet interface...

 

[Sandpiper]

2. My old system has glass breaks terminated to a 3 zone "multi-output analyser' Maximal MA350' which in turn was connected to zone 7 of my old alarm (and aux power). Do I connect the MA350 to zone 7 of the ELK or is some other method or wiring required or some other interface required?

Im not sure what the MA350 is and google didn't help much you may need to figure out what the sensors actually are. but it could just a way to power the sensor and split out the n/c contacts to the pannel...

Manufacturers web site is here.

A schematic is here.

 

[tmbrown97]

You'll likely need both a PLC and the ethernet interface - The ethernet interface just makes life easier for programming and control, and a PLC directly off the elk would be necessary for the critical lights, unless you have another device/application handling the lighting based on input from the elk.

Lose the resistors or put them EOL... but most lose them since they serve no purpose at the panel.

 

[Spanky]

For an Ethernet connection to the M1, you will need a M1XEP Ethernet module.

With PowerHome you will need a M1XSP serial port expander connected to an Insteon power line interface module.

 

[nadler1ny]

Thanks guys.

Just to recap.

1. Get rid of the existing resistors and I don't need the Elk resistors.

2. For the glass breaks I would use the existing MA350 and connect it to one zone or perhaps break it out and connect it to three zones in the elk. If anyone thinks this will not work let me know.

3. To connect to PowerHome I need the M1XSP with a PLC. And to connect to the internet I also need an M1XEP Ethernet module. My followup question here is - since I connect to the Internet using PowerHome can I control the Elk M1 with just the M1XSP and PowerHome without an M1XEP. OR conversely if I get the M1XEP instead can I interface with PowerHome through the internet instead of using M1XSP. I'm guessing the answer is no to both questions, but if anyone has tried this, please chime in.

Thanks!

 

[mustangcoupe]

2. For the glass breaks I would use the existing MA350 and connect it to one zone or perhaps break it out and connect it to three zones in the elk. If anyone thinks this will not work let me know.
I beleive this would work.
3. To connect to PowerHome I need the M1XSP with a PLC. And to connect to the internet I also need an M1XEP Ethernet module. My followup question here is - since I connect to the Internet using PowerHome can I control the Elk M1 with just the M1XSP and PowerHome without an M1XEP. OR conversely if I get the M1XEP instead can I interface with PowerHome through the internet instead of using M1XSP. I'm guessing the answer is no to both questions, but if anyone has tried this, please chime in
I beleive the answe is YES but It depends on what you want to do. I use powerhome connected to my M1 via a M1XEP (ethernet module) and then depending of the state of the zones which gets provided to Powerhome via the ethernet module... I trigger macros to fire which turn on lights and do other stuff with the PLC connected to the Powerhome computer. I do not have a PLC connected directly to the M1. But If you want the M1 to control your lights directly without powerhome then you need a M1XSP to plug the serial PLC into.

 

[tmbrown97]

I only briefly skimmed the schematics on the glass breaks, but it looked like that device they're connected to might be something that lets you adjust sensitivity, etc... Would need to look a little closer. If that device is where you adjust sensitivity and where the logic resides on when to trip, you'd need to keep it. Otherwise, if they're just standard self-contained glassbreaks, you could certainly move them to their own zones.

 

[Steve]

I had some MA350's for shock sensors on a 17yr old AT&T alarm panel. I tossed them. IMHO unless you have a ton of glass breaks I would just replace them with newer better technology ones and toss the ma350's. To me they were just an old fashioned headache.