Phantom Troubles on DSC 1864

TrashPanda

New Member
Hoping somebody can help provide some insight as I have been struggling with this for a bit.
 
I have a basic full hardwired setup using a DSC 1864 panel (4.62 firmware), two lcd keypad and a System Sensor Cosmod device connecting 2 wire smokes and co2 sensors. The Cosmod device is powered by the pgm pins of the panel.  Smokes are connected to zone 1 and CO2 zone 2.
I am having two issues related to phantom alerts that can not be cleared unless I power cycle the panel. The first is if I remove any smoke sensor I get an expected trouble. When the sensor is reinstalled the panel still shows a trouble but when I select on the trouble it then says "no troubles exist" and still get the yellow triangle.
I see the same phantom trouble after I exit programming mode. In the logs I see the following:

  • Installer Lead In

  • Installer Lead Out

  • CO2 Alarm Trouble

  • CO2 Alarm Trouble Restore
All events have the exact same timestamp.
So looks like both issues are related to a fire trouble occurring that then causes a phantom trouble that can only be cleared with a power cycle.  Also if I test the smoke or CO2 alarms and *72 I will get a phantom trouble as well.
Spoke with the vendor where I bought the equipment from and haven't been able to help.  They said it is not expected but also could happen.  Since this is pretty repeatable I feel like something else is wrong.
Thanks
 
Is this a new installation that hasn't worked right from the start, or was it working before and suddenly these problems appeared?
 
What brand/model are you using for the smokes and CO detectors?  How many of each?
 
What zone definitions did you configure for zones 1 & 2?
 
A diagram of how you've wired the COSMOD2W to the panel and the detectors , including EOL resistors, etc would help us see if you've got any wiring issues.
 
Cocoonut,  Thanks for responding.  This is a new install as I was upgrading from an older 15 year old DSC system and have been having issues ever since installing it.  At this point I have removed the smoke and CO detectors and just jumpered the the terminal for zone 1 and 2 and am still able to reproduce the issue of having a phantom trouble after a true trouble.
 
My programming settings from the default settings:
 
001 - 08 41 00 00 00 00 00     // Setting Zone 1 to Fire and Zone 2 to CO2
013 - Bit 1,3,5,6,7                   // Set Bit 1 to be normally closed loops
015 - Bit 1,4                            // Disabled Bit 7 which disables phone
101 - Bit 1,15                          // Alarm is audible / Zone requires EOL resistor
 
With this setup If I create a true trouble by removing the 5.6K resistor across zone 1 or zone 2 a true trouble is generated.  Once I re-attach the resistor the fault listed as the zone will go away but a phantom fault stays that says "No fault Present" when selected.  As I mentioned this will clear if I power cycle the panel.
 
From my debugging it seems that any fire or CO2 fault will create this phantom trouble once it is cleared.  From a lot of searching I have not found any other posts of people having a similar issue.  With that I am wondering if this is an issue with the the 4.62 firmware that was released in Nov of 2019.  Does anybody have 4.62 and are able to create a fire or CO2 fault and have it cleared when the trouble is corrected?
 
I am really struggling with this and stuck with a simple DSC alarm as I am not doing wireless and wanted to use the envizalink ethernet adaptor.
 
Thanks for any help.
 
Since you tried removing the detectors and just putting the EOL resistor on the zone, it seems like this is a possible problem with the panel.  I looked over your zone defs and they look ok to me.  But I'm not an expert on the 1864.
 
You could try calling DSC technical support to see if they know of a firmware problem.  They are supposed to support dealers, rather than DIY users, so they might tell you to contact the dealer you purchased from.  But it's worth giving them a try.
 
RAL,  Thanks for following up and taking the time to look at the programming settings.  At this point I am pretty confident it is a firmware "issue" with 4.62 as I purchased a different DSC panel (1832 with 4.62) and see exactly the same behavior.  I did reach out to DSC and already got the reply saying that they only support dealers.  Will try to contact the vendor again to see if they will push the issue but I guess my only options will be to find a panel with older firmware or move to a different brand panel.
 
If I am looking for a 100% wired panel with an open interface to Home Assistant would my only other option be a Vista panel?  I know ELK is an option but not looking to spend that much money.
 
The fact that you get the same behavior with a 1832 seems pretty conclusive that it is either a firmware problem or a configuration problem.  In looking at all the configuration options, I don't see anything obvious that might cause false trouble conditions.
 
The Honeywell Vista series is a good panel.   One of the pros who used to post here frequently in the past used to recommend them over  DSC. 
 
Hoping somebody can help provide some insight as I have been struggling with this for a bit.

I have a basic full hardwired setup using a DSC 1864 panel (4.62 firmware), two lcd keypad and a System Sensor Cosmod device connecting 2 wire smokes and co2 sensors. The Cosmod device is powered by the pgm pins of the panel. Smokes are connected to zone 1 and CO2 zone 2.
I am having two issues related to phantom alerts that can not be cleared unless I power cycle the panel. The first is if I remove any smoke sensor I get an expected trouble. When the sensor is reinstalled the panel still shows a trouble but when I select on the trouble it then says "no troubles exist" and still get the yellow triangle.
I see the same phantom trouble after I exit programming mode. In the logs I see the following:

  • Installer Lead In

  • Installer Lead Out

  • CO2 Alarm Trouble

  • CO2 Alarm Trouble Restore
All events have the exact same timestamp.
So looks like both issues are related to a fire trouble occurring that then causes a phantom trouble that can only be cleared with a power cycle. Also if I test the smoke or CO2 alarms and *72 I will get a phantom trouble as well.
Spoke with the vendor where I bought the equipment from and haven't been able to help. They said it is not expected but also could happen. Since this is pretty repeatable I feel like something else is wrong.
Thanks
This happens when you reset the Cosmod module. It is a oddity of that module and 1832/64. You can reset the phantom trouble from the top screen with *259# without the rebooting. There is no desire to fix it from DSC. The Cosmod itself throws some troubles when the IDC is good for some reason as well. One last item, the PGMs do not have enough power to run the COSMOD set up especially on inrush current on start up. Change to a switch OR run a relay from the PGM and full aux power to the module. (The fire power supply module has high current PGMs).
 
Back
Top