Hi, I am new here.
The house I moved into has a security system (Safewatch 2000) that I never activated with ADT, or got the code from the prior owners. Although the touch pads have displayed communication error, the system worked fine in that opening a door or window resulted in a chime.

Something seems to have happened today. All the touch pads indicate an 'OPEN CKT'. I am not sure on what I need to do. I am hoping it is simply a battery problem. How do I track down where the problem lies and fix it.

Thanks.

 

A SW 2000 is a slightly modified version of the Ademco Vista 20se system. That's the installer manual you need to search for in order to get control of this system. You can check the previous threads in this forum. Most of the Ademco type panels have similar traits (but are different from model to model). The installer code is probably 6321.

Open Circuit means that the keypads are not getting data from the control. Normally this means a loose wire. You may need a new battery, sometimes they fail in odd ways. What you can do is shut the panel down (see the FAQ), and power it back up after checking the connections and fuses on the main PC board.

 

Thanks. I got a multimeter and tested the battery. It was 13.4V. I have also got the installation manual and am trying to make sense of it. Are there any low hanging fruit (such as the battery) that I should test first ?

Where do the touchpads get its power from? There are three touchpads all have some power as the green LEDs (backlight for the keys) are on and all are displaying the 'OPEN CKT' message.

On the control panel, the installer wrote "splica in attic". What is a splica ?

Thanks.

 

That's probably bad handwriting for Splice in attic. It could be the telephone line it could be one of the cables for any other circuit. The keypads get their power from the aux power terminals on the control. That open circuit means that they are getting power, but are not getting information from the control.

Especially if there's been any recent work in your attic, it's not unlikely that the splice may be were some one found it needful to repair a damaged cable, or even decided that it was easier to tap the keypad wiring there for an additional keypad drop rather than run a cable all the way back to the control.

It's kinda hard to even guess.

If power down and restart didn't clear the problem, I would have to say your best bet is to try to follow the cabling in your attic.

A real simple test. Power down. Dismount any one of the keypads and bring it back, with it's wiring harness, to the main panel then install it directly to the terminals on the panel. If it works there, then the problem is the wiring between the control and the keypads.

 

I unplugged the transformer from the wall and then unplugged a battery lead. Then connected the battery lead and power. Noticed a spark when connecting the battery lead. On reading the FAQ again I realize that the order is opposite to the FAQ. Does this matter ?

In your last post you said
What connections /. fuses should I have checked ?

When plugged in, all the touchpads were beeping. Although they still display 'OPEN CKT' the keypad appears to be functioning, as I silenced the beeping by pressing a key.

Could you please clarify :
The wiring to the touchpads are through the walls. For this experiment I assume I am to detach the touchpads from the terminals on the panel, and then wire a touchpad through the new wire directly to the terminals on the panel.

What wiring should I purchase from Radio Shack for this test?
Do I need to unplug all the touchpads when I run this experiment ?

I am assuming that this could not be caused by RF interference between the wireless module and my wireless 802.11b network.

I apologize for the extreemly novice questions and appreciate your help.

 

The reason for the specific order of power up/down is that some panels react oddly if the battery is disconnected after the ac power is removed. Its uncommon, but it's better to avoid an additional complication. Nearly all modern alarm panels will not boot up on battery power alone, they need the 60hz from the power line to synchronize their internal clocks.

The SW2000/vista 20se has a 3 amp fuse on the upper left side of the main PC board. It rarely blows (it protects the battery circuit), but it's a common sense test (eliminate the obvious).

The connections to check are the ones on terminals 4, 5, 6, and 7; especially 6 & 7. Since the keypads have power 4 and 5 are probably not a problem, that is the 12vdc power output from the control. 6 and 7 are where the keypad data is transmitted and returned. Take a look at the wiring diagram that is normally on the inside of the control panel door, or at the back of the installer manual.

Any 4 conductor wire will work. Most alarm panels are wired with old style telephone wire. Heck, for tests like this, I usually just use a set of 4 differently colored alligator clip jumpers.

Depending on which keypad design you have; the keypads will either have a quick connect plug on the back, a set of screw terminals or a hardwired set of pigtails. Just make note of which colors/terminal are connected to which color coming out of the wall where the keypad is mounted, and match that color at the main control. For this test, you only need to remove the wires that are on terminals 6 and 7. This will disconnect the data lines to the keypad harness running through the house. The power lines won't really matter, just make sure that the ends where you remove the one keypat have tape or something on the ends to make sure they don't short against one another. It's only 12vdc.

Wireless networking has no discernable effect on hardwired alarm controls.

 

Ok - went through the power cycle again. Each of the touchpads beep once 10 seconds apart. When I looked at the cables connected to the terminal 4, 5, 6, 7 I noticed:

1. One 4 wire cable connected to wireless board
2. One 4 wire cable
3. One 6 wire cable (two sets of wires to power - terminals 4 & 5)

With the power off, I disconnected terminals 6 and 7 from the 4 wire cable. When I powered up, two of the touchpads came up fine. One of them indicated 'Open Ckt'.

I then swapped a working touchpad with the one that displayed 'Open Ckt', no difference - it was not the touchpad.

I then shorted the data lines at the point of the touchpad - my multimeter showed a short at the panel. So I am assuming that the wiring from the touchpad to the panel is OK.

What else could it be ?

I am now running fine without one of the touchpads connected. What else could the problem be ?

How do I get the installer code and how do I reset the master code ?

Thanks.

 

What I was getting at was for you to connect a keypad directly to the terminals at the panel (leave the ones for the wireless connected as well) with all other keypads and their wiring harness disconnected. An ohm reading on these data terminals with the system powered down is basically meaningless as it's reading across the data output of the data bus.

What I am trying to get you to do is eliminate the wiring harness that's run through your house as the source of the problem. For example, a wire to wire short on 6 & 7 can create the illusion of an open circuit (because it zeros out the voltage on those terminals). Also when you power up, make sure that that the keypad address(es) are set to non-addressable mode (31) by pressing 1 + 3 at power up.

 

I apologize for the confusion, and appreciate your patience as I try to figure this out.

I believe that there are two wiring harneses running through the house. Both harnesses are tied to the same terminals (4, 5, 6, 7) on the panel.

Given the above test I assumed that all three touchpads were working fine, and the problem was with H2.

I thus shorted the data wires at the touchpad, and tested for a short where the wires come into the panel (this was not connected to the terminals). *** NOTE *** H2 has been isolated at this time and is not connected to panel or touchpad. I was just testing the wires. Maybe I am still missing something!!!

So - if I understand correctly, I should unplug both harnesses (leaving the wireless connected) and then test each of the touchpads directly at the panel. Is that correct ?

BTW - I notcied that when H2 is plugged in, one of the LEDS (Red) flash. This does not flash when only H1 is plugged into the panel.

Thanks.

 

Nope, you have already isolated the problem. Harness 2 is your problem. Somewhere between the control and the keypad location there is a problem, probably a skinned wire or bad splice (did I mention that splices can be a problem?) that is grounding or shorting the data bus.

Your choices are to either trace the cable and find the problem, or pull a new 4 conductor cable back to the control.

 

What would cause this to happen ? and how do I go about verifying this assumption ?

The wiring is through walls - and this has finished bassements etc - so I doubt that I would be able to run a new wire through.

 

It could be anything from a staple that worked its way through the insulation over time, to the cable being scraped as it was dragged through the rafters, joists or walls during installation. Under the right conditions of heat and humidity, the insulation of low voltage cables have been known to simply break down.