OmniPro II Sensor Issues

[TheCodeMan]

I have an OmniPro II running 4.0B firmware. I am seeing several of my sensors show up incorrectly and I'm not sure why. I am using a CADDX wireless bridge to tie in a workshop to my existing home security. The battery and supervisor are both tied to separate zones and are set as auxillary. The supervisor shows as secure but the battery shows as not ready. Could this be due to the fact that I have not configured any other sensors on the bridge yet?
 
I also have an HAI ER Outdoor Temperature sensor connected to my main panel. It is currently set as ER Outdoor Temp and appears to be working fine with the exception that it always shows as not ready. I have tried changing the zone type with no luck. Not sure where to look from here. 
 
I'm hoping some of the HAI experts on here can chime in and point me in a direction.

 

[ano]

I am seeing several of my sensors show up incorrectly and I'm not sure why. 

So are you using a Quickbridge and not the GE receiver, the 42A00-2?  The 42A00-2 is the way to go. As I remember the Quickbridge, the battery supervision didn't work. 
 
An outdoor temp sensor reads "ready" or "not ready" based on the high and low limits you set for the sensor. If the temp is outside these limits, it's not ready, otherwise ready. 

 

[TheCodeMan]

The only identification I can find on the wireless bridge is the faceplate which says ITI Wireless and there is a small sticker on the back that says GE Interlogix Inc. Not sure which one this is but I'm assuming the GE one. I just disconnected the battery from my panel and that eliminates the Not Ready message. I am having another issue now. I ran a test of my alarm last night and neither of my sounders would make noise. This morning after setting my alarm to away mode, I noticed all of my glass break sensors were in a Not Ready state. I'm thinking the addition of the wireless bridge is drawing too much power from the panel. 
 
I am using 20+ glass break sensors, 8 smoke alarms, 4 old style console pads, 4 Omnistats, an internal and external sounder, a relay board and 2 internal zone expanders. Could I be overloading the OmniPro? 
 
Can a standard OmniPro panel battery be connected directly to the wireless bridge?

 

[ano]

So there are a few versions of Quickbridge. I think one has two wireless channels and the other has 8. There is an LED on the front for each zone. The HAI GE receiver has a two character alpha-numeric display. If zone 14 is in alarm, it will display 14 then AL.
 
The Quickbridge has a wire loop antenna, the HAI receiver has two tan thick antennas. 
 
Each receiver uses power, as does almost all sensors, so that has to be taken into account, but you are probably fine. The alarm will shut off the power if it draws too much. For the wireless zones not working, have you replaced the sensor battery? They last 5 to 10 years. When were they last replaced?
 
To debug the alarm you need to measure the voltage at each zone to figure out the problem. It could be the zone or setup. If you have no idea how an alarm works, and if nothing works and you don't know how to fix it, maybe it's time to call an alarm company for service. 

 

[RAL]

The panel is limited to providing 1A of current to all the devices (consoles, keypads, expansion boards, sensors, smoke detectors, etc) that are powered from its 12V supply.  The two horn outputs can draw another 1A (combined).  So, yes, it's possible to overload the OP-II's power supply.
 
You'll need to add up the current draw requirements for all of the devices you have connected to see where things stand.  Note that some, such as a smoke detector draw little current most of the time, but draw higher current when in alarm mode.  So you may find that things appear to be ok when not in alarm mode, but die when an alarm condition occurs and the panel becomes overloaded.
 
I'm not understanding your question about connecting the battery directly to the wireless board.  What is it that you want to accomplish?
 


 

 

[TheCodeMan]

I powered everything down at the panel, external battery as well. When I powered back up, everything was working correctly again. The wireless bridge that I have has the eight LEDs and the loop antenna. Is that the one that the battery supervision doesn't work on?
 
My question regarding the battery at the wireless bridge - could I disconnect the aux power feeding the wireless bridge from the HAI Omni and connect an external battery to the wireless bridge instead, so it would not be pulling power from the main Omni panel.

 

[ano]

I powered everything down at the panel, external battery as well. When I powered back up, everything was working correctly again. The wireless bridge that I have has the eight LEDs and the loop antenna. Is that the one that the battery supervision doesn't work on?
 
My question regarding the battery at the wireless bridge - could I disconnect the aux power feeding the wireless bridge from the HAI Omni and connect an external battery to the wireless bridge instead, so it would not be pulling power from the main Omni panel.

So that is the 8 zone Quickbridge.  There are at least two versions of it.  It doesn't use that much power, so I would connect it to the panel.  It's not a great idea to power different parts with different power supplies. It is more things that can go wrong.  
 
It really doesn't sound like you have more than a amp draw. Unless you have many sensors, you probably are OK.  
 
The Quickbridge supervision for battery is the battery level in the sensors. Some sensors support this, others don't.  Is the low battery yellow LED on in the front?  If it is, you need to replace your sensor batteries.  I would just say replace the low sensor battery, but the fact is, if one is weak, they probably all are. 
 
I would leave the Quickbridge alone, but replace all your sensor batteries. Most are easy.

 

[TheCodeMan]

Just getting back around to this. I have a total of four control pads (the old in-wall style), 29 magnetic entry and window sensors, 17 glass break sensors, 9 four-wire smoke detectors, an internal and external horn sounder connected. Also an 8 port relay board, using only three of the ports. I do have two zone expanders mounted on top of the Omni Pro and most all of the zones are full. The wireless is mounted in a LeGrand plastic panel in a 24 x 41 steel building (non-insulated) about 30 feet away from the main house, and about 40 feet away from the main Omni panel. There are four windows in the building, two on the Legrand panel side and two in the back of the building so about 40 feet away from the wireless panel. 
 
I have tried two different magnetic sensors and even with new batteries, they don't have enough range. I can stand five feet away from the panel with the LeGrand door open and pull the sensors apart behind my back and they don't register. I can hold them out in front of the panel and they do register. I'm about to throw in the towel on this solution and just go with a basic Abode setup. I really wanted to tie in to my Omni so I have total house control, but the inability to find any expanders or other parts on the market make it almost impossible. 
 
BTW, I do have two dedicated Cat 5 runs to the LeGrand panel so I have 16 wires available. If I hardwire, I would have to stack on the zone board since I only have a few zones open.
 
Given what I'm looking to do, put sensors on 4 windows, and three doors, do you have any other recommendations for how I might be able to tie into the Omni?

 

[kurtmccaslin]

You can put multiple wired sensors on a single input in series.   You would get an alarm if any of the sensors are tripped, but you will not know which one.   That normally works well, if for example, you put 4 garage windows on a single input.   It is not difficult to find the source of the alarm.   I home run wired all of my sensors to the panel, and then hooked them in series in the panel.   That way I can unwire and troubleshoot a problem with an ohmmeter.   However, I have never needed to do that for my system over the past 6 years.   Wired is very reliable.
 
Remember, only one EOL resistor for the entire circuit.