Troubles on burg zones

[mcampbell]

 Have had recent issues with troubles on multiple zones. Some zones are fire and I can attribute them to ongoing construction. (Dust, paint, etc.) I had taken this system over and realized after these troubles began happening that "zone resistors" was set to NO in PC Access. In talking to tech support, that is not that big of a deal because even if they are set to NO my fire devices will still show trouble when they are in fact in trouble. What I am trying to do is recreate troubles on burg zones in an effort to ascertain the difference between "zone resistors" ON or OFF. All of my burg devices are normally closed. All of my resistors are wired in series. Some perimeter, some interior as you would see in a normal system. But try as I may, I cannot get a perimeter zone to give me a trouble at the keypad by removing the resistor from the circuit. Regardless of if the entire circuit is intact or if I just strap it out at the panel. Regardless if I have "zone resistors" ON or OFF. With all that being said, how can I get troubles on an intact burg circuit at random, but I cannot recreate one by disrupting or removing resistance. Please enlighten me. Thanks in advance.

 

[ano]

 Have had recent issues with troubles on multiple zones. Some zones are fire and I can attribute them to ongoing construction. (Dust, paint, etc.) I had taken this system over and realized after these troubles began happening that "zone resistors" was set to NO in PC Access. In talking to tech support, that is not that big of a deal because even if they are set to NO my fire devices will still show trouble when they are in fact in trouble. What I am trying to do is recreate troubles on burg zones in an effort to ascertain the difference between "zone resistors" ON or OFF. All of my burg devices are normally closed. All of my resistors are wired in series. Some perimeter, some interior as you would see in a normal system. But try as I may, I cannot get a perimeter zone to give me a trouble at the keypad by removing the resistor from the circuit. Regardless of if the entire circuit is intact or if I just strap it out at the panel. Regardless if I have "zone resistors" ON or OFF. With all that being said, how can I get troubles on an intact burg circuit at random, but I cannot recreate one by disrupting or removing resistance. Please enlighten me. Thanks in advance.

First, welcome.
 
Keep in mind, the EOL resistor setting ONLY covers zones 1 - 16 built into the panel.  Any add-on zone boards ALWAYS require EOL if the setting is on or off.
 
Here is how to troubleshoot.  Open PC Access, connect to the panel, then open the Status/Control tab on the right. Select Zones.  For each zone at the end you will see a loop value.  This indicates what the panel is seeing for that zone. A zone closed should read 111 to 136, or 0 to 20. An open zone should read 255.  If you have a EOL in series with the zone it should read 137 to 157, but typically 148 to 151.  If your numbers are outside these, that can cause trouble.  21 to 35, 81 to 110, and 158 to 200 is trouble.  Fire zones can be different than these depending on a few factors. They are typically 26 to 43 when secure.
 
So check your readings.  Also, the Omni requires 1K EOL. Some other systems can be different so make sure you have the correct value.

 

[mcampbell]

Thanks for the welcome. I appreciate your response as it helps me understand the values in the loop column of zone status. To elaborate a little. If I have a NC contact on my main panel with a resistor in series and I remove that resistor, should I not receive a trouble at my KP? This is with "zone resistors" set to YES.

 

[ano]

Thanks for the welcome. I appreciate your response as it helps me understand the values in the loop column of zone status. To elaborate a little. If I have a NC contact on my main panel with a resistor in series and I remove that resistor, should I not receive a trouble at my KP? This is with "zone resistors" set to YES.

If Zone resistors are set to YES, then either a short or an open is considered an alarm, and a 137 to 157 is a "secure."  This is so that either NO or NC contacts can be used.  The EOL goes in parallel with a N.O. contact or in series with a N.C. just like you say you have.
 
A "removed" EOL and an open contact is the same thing because they are in series. So to answer your question, if you REMOVE the EOL resistor then the zone will be NOT READY and alarm.
 
For a wired zone, "trouble" is pretty rare and indicates a wire problem or the wrong EOL used.   (With wireless sensors, "trouble" can be a low battery also.)