Startup Problem

[DougP]

I am installing an m1ez8 to replace a brinks system that appears to have been incorporated into builder installed wiring (built 2003).  There are no EOL resistors.  The only components I reused are the wiring and the various contacts (door and window contacts with one motion sensor).  I have one m1KP with the jumpers installed on the board and on the keypad.  I plan to add a m1KPAS once the system is set up.
 
When I first connected power, the power light came on steady and the status light blinked continuously (a little faster than once per second.  At first, the keypad displayed a line of black squares across the first line.  After a few minutes, characters started streaming across the top line (looks like machine language???).  I have disconnected the power and battery.
 
I searched and cannot find an answer to this problem.  I am concerned that I have a bad board or a bad keypad or that the firmware is corrupted.  I do not have the module to connect via serial port or ethernet so my only access to the system is via the keypad.
 
Any ideas?  I am new to this, so be gentle.

 

[RAL]

Hi Doug - Welcome to Cocoontech!
 
Sorry you're having trouble.
 
Are you testing this on a bench, or do you have it wired up to all the old system wiring?
 
A good thing to try would be to wire up just the keypad and the EZ8 on a bench to eliminate everything else as a possible cause of the problem.
 
Normally, when you power on the panel and keypad, the keypad will display the keypad firmware version for about 1 second, even if the data lines to the M1 are not connected. 
 
One thing you could try is disconnecting the green and white Data A and Data B wires to the keypad and see if that changes what you see when it is powered up.  If you still see the black squares and streaming characters, that suggests that it is the keypad that is the problem.  If instead, you see the firmware version and then "lost comm" displayed, that would indicate that the keypad is ok.
 
If the keypad seems to be ok, then either it is a bad EZ8 or bad wiring between the EZ8 and the keypad.  Check to make sure you have things wired correctly to the data lines. If you have the two wires reversed, that will cause problems.

 

[DougP]

It is not a bench test.  To do that do I just have the board, power, battery and keypad or do I need to do anything to the input or output terminals?
 
I have triple checked the wiring (red, green, white, black).  Everything is where it should be at the keypad and the board.  I get an ohm reading from the keypad end of the data lines when power is off, so I think they are uncompromised.
 
I will try disconnecting the data lines to see if the keypad acts differently.

 

[DougP]

Following up.
Nothing changed when I disconnected the data wires.  Still a row of black squares.
Direct-connected the keypad to the panel, and had the same result.
I will contact the vendor.
Thanks for your help.

 

[RAL]

Following up.
Nothing changed when I disconnected the data wires.  Still a row of black squares.
Direct-connected the keypad to the panel, and had the same result.
I will contact the vendor.
Thanks for your help.

 
It does sound like a bad keypad, but there is one other thing to check.  Use a multimeter to measure the AC voltage from the transformer to the board at the AC input terminals on the EZ8.  You should see 16VAC to 19VAC.
 
If the AC voltage is ok, then measure the DC voltage at the +VKP and NEG terminals on the EZ8 to the keypad. And also measure at the keypad end.  You should see about 13.2VDC.

 

[DougP]

Okay.
AC 18.4 vac
+VKP 13.4 vdc
end of line 13.4 vdc

 

[RAL]

Okay.
AC 18.4 vac
+VKP 13.4 vdc
end of line 13.4 vdc

 
Ok, those values all look good.  At this point, my guess would be that the keypad is bad.

 

[DougP]

Thanks for your help.