I am doing my first alarm system DIY that involves replacing an old FBI XL2 panel with a Concord 4. I am using the hardwired connections off from FBI installation and adding a wireless zone. As expected, I have run into issues that I don't understand and would really appreciate it if someone could help with the following two:

(1) Smoke detector: Here is what I did with the four wires inherited from the FBI panel -

White with EOL resistor - the joint between the wire and the resistor connected to ground (connector 22 on panel). Other side of the resistor to Zone 7 (connector 23).

Green - to ground (connector 22)

Red - to Zone 8 (connector 24)

Programmed the sensor as a group 26 (fire), NC.

Problem: I am getting fire alarm, alarm open error. Did I wire the sensor correctly? Or do I need to program it as an NO sensor? Also, the panel came preprogrammed with Zone 7 defined as a group 13 (instant perimeter), NC sensor. Since I am using this with the smoke alarm, do I need to reprogram Zone 7?

(2) Siren/speaker: With the FBI panel, I had two wires coming from the siren and going into a standalone printed circuit board labeled speaker (not part of the panel). The PCB has a 5-wire ribbon cable coming out at the other end. Two of the wires in the ribbon are not used (cut and taped over) while the other three went on to the panel as follows:

Brown - marked + LA1064 and connected to a 12V output on the panel (connector 21 on FBI XL2).
Blue - connected to fire and burglary output (+ve) on the panel (connector 22 on FBI XL2).
Gray - marked - LA1063 and connected to a fire and burglary output (-ve) on the panel (connector 23 on FBI XL2).

To replicate the above on Concord 4, I did the following:

Brown to +12 V (connector 9 on Concord 4)
Blue to Out1
Gray to Ground

Did I connect the siren correctly? I am confused by having this extra PCB on the wiring from speaker/siren and three wires from it to take care off.

Thanks a ton for reading through this!

 

My first observation is that you should never put the resistor of a fire device in the panel. The reason being is if something shorts the wirein the field the smoke detector zone is now bypassed and you home could burn down. Move the resistor to the smoke! The red and black wires are normally the power of the smoke detector and should go to the auxillary power of the panel. This should be a 12v DC power connection, don't hook it to the transformer input!
The other two wires are your circuit wires. It sounds like you may have them wired correctly but the zone programmed wrong. All fire devices should be N.O. The Concord 4 has an input for a speaker on terminals 7 and 8, would probably be simpler for you to hook the wire from your speaker straight to these terminals and by pass the driver board. I am by far an expert on these but hope this helps.

 

Yes, smoke detectors are normally open devices, and the resistor goes across the terminals of the last smoke in the loop (technically there should be a end of line relay involved, but for a small residential system, we'll take what we can get...).

Look at the section of you install instructions concerning smokes, especially 4 wire. I don't have the Concord-4 manual available, at the moment, but on a Concord ultra, if you use a specific zone and set it for fire, it automatically configures the smoke detector power to interrupt so that the smoke can be reset. This is a critical issue, otherwise, the only way you can reset this thing is to manually disconnect power.

Concords have pretty DIY friendly instructions, I know the info is there...

 

Thanks so much!

Got the siren to work. As suggested, I did not need to use the siren driver with Concord 4. Connecting the two wires from siren directly to the speaker terminals on the panel was enough.

But I am still struggling with programming of the smoke detector. I followed the instructions -

(a) go to learn sensor menu
(b) choose partition 1
(c) choose sensor group 26
(d) trip sensor - I used an smoking piece of wood to do so and smoke alarm duly tripped.

The problem is that there was no response from the keypad. I was hoping that a NO condition would be recognized and smoke alarm sensor learned by the panel. This did not happen. Is there some other way of programming a smoke alarm?

And lastly - this is embarrassing even to ask - I am adding my first wireless alarm to the panel. It is a GE Crystal Door, Window NX650. I got the item with absolutely no instructions and have no clue as to how to mount and program. Could someone please guide me into right direction here? I went to GE site and couldn't find anything there either.

Thanks a ton again, this is a great site and you guys are fantastic!

 

"Zone input 8 can be used with 4 wire smoke detectors that latch and remain
in the alarm state until power is removed, then restored to the detector. The panel provides this power interruption from terminal 24 (zone 8) only when zone 8 is learned in as zone type 26 (fire) AND 2-wire smoke option is turned on"

In other words, red wire(+) goes to terminal 28, black wire (-) goes to terminal 22 as well as the zone common wire, and finally, the NO wire goes to terminal 23. You then have to turn on the "Two Wire Smoke" setting under the "Onboard Options-Inputs" portion of programming (it defaults "off").

As for learning in the wireless sensor, follow the same procedure you did for the HW smoke (Learn Sensors Menu). When it asks you for a sensor group, type in "10" (I'm ASSuming you are putting this on a delay door and not a window). It will then prompt you to "trip sensor X". Take the cover off the sensor, this will pop the tamper switch causing the sensor to learn in.

 

Thanks so much!

I guess you meant red wire (+) goes to terminal 24 (zone 8). That's what I did. All other connections as you suggested - black and green to GND, white to NO. Turned on the "Two Wire Smoke" setting. Then started the "Learn Sensor" process as follows:

Set partition to 1.
Set sensor group to 26.
On screen "Trip Sensor" - chose sensor 8.
Used smoking wood to trip the smoke alarm.
Nothing happens - the panel gives no indication it recognized anything and keypad screen still shows "Trip sensor".

Also, I don't understand how I need to program Zone 7 (terminal 23 with NO wire). When I come out of programming menu, I get "Sensor 7 Open" message, which makes sense as it came factory programmed as a group 13 (instant perimeter), HW, NC sensor.

 

You need to program zone 7 as a type 26...You can use the resistor to learn in the smoke (rather than the smoking wood). Put one leg of the resistor on terminal 23 and let the other leg hang there (for now)...Go into Learn Sensors and do what you've been doing (zone type 26). When it prompts you to trip the sensor, bring the other leg of the resistor up to zone 22. This will learn the zone in as NO. You can then unhook the resistor from term 22 and 23...