Wiring for Whole House Chime

[upstatemike]

I am having somebody do the pre-wire for an M1 and one of the requirements is for all external doors to chime when they are opened and the system is disarmed, and to be able to hear the chime from anyplace in the house. I know how to set the zones to chime the keypad but how do I make sure the chime is audible in remote areas? Does the main speaker chime as well and do I just wire a bunch of small 32 ohm speakers to that output?

 

[LaurentR]

I am having somebody do the pre-wire for an M1 and one of the requirements is for all external doors to chime when they are opened and the system is disarmed, and to be able to hear the chime from anyplace in the house. I know how to set the zones to chime the keypad but how do I make sure the chime is audible in remote areas? Does the main speaker chime as well and do I just wire a bunch of small 32 ohm speakers to that output?

I don't know how to make Out1 chime. However, you could always record a chime as a custom message and play it with a rule if you have a zone violation.

Laurent

 

[123]

The chime tone, or Only voice emanates from all speakers connected to the M1's Output 1.

I have a small speaker hidden behind each KP1 keypad and that does a good job of distributing sound throughout my home (plus the main speaker). All speakers are wired together and connected to Output 1. Be sure to wire them appropriately so that the total impedance is not less than 4 ohms.

 

[LaurentR]

The chime tone, or voice, emanates from all speakers connected to the M1's Output 1.

I have a small speaker hidden behind each KP1 keypad and that does a good job of distributing sound throughout my home (plus the main speaker). All speakers are wired together and connected to Output 1. Be sure to wire them appropriately so that the total impedance is not less than 4 ohms.

I don't think Out1 chimes the tone. I thought it did just the voices, and the keypads beeped for the chime?

Laurent

 

[123]

I don't think Out1 chimes the tone .... the keypads beeped for the chime?

Thanks Laurent! I stand corrected; the chime tone is generated exclusively by the keypads.

I normally use Chime=Voice. With the speakers mounted behind the keypads, I hear Voice and Tones coming from the same place! I had to walk over to the main speaker to discover that it remains silent if Chime=Tone.

 

[upstatemike]

OK, I'm hearing set chime=voice and then mount speakers behind each keypad plus any additional speakers I might need. The electrician is putting 2-gang boxes at the keypad loacations to protect the wire from drywall installers... will that be a problem for using the flush mount backbox? I hate to have the wire left unprotected but what is the best strategy to rough-in for the flush-mount boxes?

 

[CORT]

OK, I'm hearing set chime=voice and then mount speakers behind each keypad plus any additional speakers I might need. The electrician is putting 2-gang boxes at the keypad loacations to protect the wire from drywall installers... will that be a problem for using the flush mount backbox? I hate to have the wire left unprotected but what is the best strategy to rough-in for the flush-mount boxes?

If you are using the flushmount boxes, then you will have to remove the 2 gang boxes when you go to install your keypads. Speaking from experience, it is not too hard to do once the sheet rock is hung because the cutout for the back boxes is a bit larger than a 2 gang box. Thus, you will have some space to see what you are doing as you do the install. To make things easier, I suggest leaving the two gang box in place for now and attach the box to the stud from the inside of the box with 2 screws. Go ahead and remove the nails that hold the outside of the box to the stud. This way, the wire is protected during sheetrock installation, and removing the box is easier after the sheetrock is done.

I also suggest that you run cat5 and at least the usual 4 conductor wire (alternatively a second cat5 wire) to your keypad locations to give yourself the greatest flexibility in installation. You just need one cat5 per keypad for an elk system if you are using a data base hub at the can, but you might want to take advantage of the extra input and output available at the keypad sometime. Hence the extra conductors.

Take lots of pictures of your walls before the sheetrock is hung to know where wires, pipes, etc. go. You can't imagine what you might want to locate at a later date.

Good luck.