We have a Concord wireless security system installed circa 2005. Our house is 245 years old, has been added onto over the years, and is an historic property. We have two partitions, land line to alert the local alarm company. At the time we installed it, it was the most robust wireless system we could find. It consists of various heat/smoke and motion detectors. It is a large multi storey house, 4700 sf with 18" hand hewn logs, wood walls, brick, metal etc. It has performed flawlessly. The system is the 60=792-01-95R=32Z (32 zones).

We had a phone line failure and a tech out to repair it and at the same time we took the opportunity to install three additional smoke/heat detectors (OEM parts I had on hand from several years ago). All was working well but not long after the install, the system began throwing a phone system trouble message and the fellow that came out today could not figure it out. This system was always outside of the company's regular wheelhouse, but they did sell it to us, so sort of expected them to at least read the manual...I did some research and found an article about the telephone line trouble message and it indicated that this could be the result of voltage drop due to the fact the phone line is shared by the alarm and fire alarm. (Realize I have no idea how any of this works.) Another tech came out who is more familiar with our system and said that would only apply to hard wired alarms. We only have one--a heat sensor in the detached garage. I also had them install a wireless smoke sensor out there along with the other two sensors elsewhere in the house.

Prior to the phone line going bad we did have nearly of week of terrible subzero temps. Plus a tree fell on a power line about two blocks away and did cause a voltage surge. That however, was months ago and nothing else in the house was affected. The tech is telling me I need a new board, new remotes, and they are proposing some unnamed Interlogix board (which puzzles me because their mainstay product is Honeywell). They want around $800 for the board and two remotes and are guesstimating a two hour install. I have no problem paying people for their time, and I don't mind paying a contractor markup. But this new board seems a downgrade, and more importantly, I have found new (probably aftermarket) controller panels advertised for my system for under $200. They want $200 for the new remotes alone. And to add insult to injury, they suddenly, after nearly 20 years of paying for monitoring service they want to double it to support the "new" system. I don't consider this a new system, I consider it repaired.

I want to continue to work with this company. I trust them and with a 245 yr old house the biggest danger is fire. It would go up like a torch and the fire alarm is our best hope of surviving such an event. I do not want a smart system.... I just want to get what I have working again. We are retired and putting a kid thru grad school, and I don't want to replace this system if I don't have to.

But I am not sure I buy what the alarm co is telling me. How is it that the system initially worked fine and only throws an error code for the phone line every couple hours? If the board is bad wouldn't other aspects of the system be affected. or is it possible that there is a bad spot on the board? Will buying and reprogramming an aftermarket board fix this (any suggestions)? If not, can the board be repaired? I know that there are people in the industry that can trouble shoot and repair computer boards, so why not this?

Many thanks for your kind attention.

 

First, the model you have has been discontinued for quite a number of years. Second, GE/Interlogix got out of the intrusion alarm & life safety category in 2019, and ended any product support in 2021.

So, part of the problem is that you are dealing with "orphan technology". Not knowing what specific hardware they were offering, they were likely offering you "new old stock" that would be compatible with your installed wireless devices.

The only way to know, for sure, what is going on with your central station communications would be to listen in with a phone test set. Since most land-lines have essentially converted to being digital, alarm communications over them have become increasingly dysfunctional, The solution to the problem may well be installing a cellular communicator in place of the land-line. Hard to tell without direct information.

 

You have much to be addressed.
If it is registered as a historic property, you might be somewhat limited on what system you can install, maybe required to have UL system. Because of all the wireless you have, you are somewhat limited in replacement equipment unless you get a translator [which I don't recommend].

As mentioned in the first response, that is out-dated equipment [I have never heard of an RF32 and I have been in the industry for quite a while] -- The only GE/ITI systems I see still functioning anymore are the Concord IVs and NX panels. Finding techs that understand/fix them are getting fewer every day. If your phone line comes in through a modem then it is digital and uses less voltage than standard analog [which is likely what this system was designed to use] possibly the phone provider changed some settings. I am not so sure that phone line voltage and panel voltage are related as was mentioned by the tech. Technicians cannot bone-up on every system they come across so I wouldn't expect them to find much info before they arrive.

If the only real issue at this time is the phone line problem then I would suggest switching to cell. Phone lines in my area are rapidly going away and we are trying to get people/companies to switch, ASAP.

edit: possibly you need a new phone line monitor card

 

Thanks MrRonFL and Tpring. Ultimately we are going to have to go with a cellular system no doubt. We don't appear to have digital phone lines yet, but I assume it is just a matter of time and I can't expect our company to continue to support a defunct alarm system. I just keep thinking there is a bus error and they aren't motivated to parse thru all the arcane codes and try to figure this out. I don't blame them, but hey, they configured and sold the system. And maybe something is shorted out... But they are sort of washing their hands, so doubt I am going to get further help on this.
I did look at the board and honestly don't see anything that resembles a line monitor card, so not sure we can buy a replacement.

 

VeryVeritas
Sorry to hear of your troubles. I can somewhat relate. I have a vacation home in No. California where my GE Concord IV system has been installed since 2017. I was originally going to install a DSC Power Series (mainstay of ADT and many other respected companies) but I let my local system installer talk me out of it in favor of the GE Concord IV. The Concord IV has served me fairly well but the Installer who talked me into the GE Panel probably had NO idea that GE/Interlogix was getting out of the business in 2019. Interestingly he is NOW reccomending the DSC as a replacement for the Concord next time I have a panel issue.
I happen to agree with the others that are suggesting that you transition to a cellular communicator. In my almost 6 years with my cellular communicator(which is set up on Verizon), it has been extremely reliable, and most of the residential security industry has switched over to cellular as the main alarm reporting medium. In the next 10 years as more boomers (like me) die off, old hardwire telco circuits will likely be abandoned, simply because they will COST WAY TOO MUCH TO MAINTAIN!
There are several companies that make "dual-path" communicators (these work on hardwire copper lines or cellular) that may be perfect for you as a "bridge " I also agree with our fellow blogger who stated his concerns related to your property having a "historic register" classification. Not completely sure what "perks" go along with that, but I think I would first, weigh-in with your insurance requirements RE: security and fire alarm requirements that could affect your property classification if that is a concern. If your insurance/historical register check turns out to be a "doesn't matter", I would look at the DSC Power or Power NEO series or a Honeywell VISTA panel. Both are very mainstream and likely to give you several choices of compatible Dual-path communicator solutions. I am looking at a dual-path communicator from EyezON, a Canadian manufacturer, whose equipment is compatible with the DSC PC1800 Power Series panels as well as many of the Honeywell panels (and they also offer a UL/C rated and very competitively priced monitoring service that can be bundled with the monthly cellular service for alarm reporting. Good luck!

 

All of the telco circuitry on this (and most any other) intrusion alarm is integral to the main board. There is no separate "module" to replace. The supervision card in the manual is an additional item to make the phone line voltage specifically monitored. It's not needed for most typical residential installations (and modern panels do this inherently).
The odds that the communicator circuitry on this unit being faulty is honestly pretty slim; the problem is nearly always with the quality of the local/regional telephone network.

 

All of the above as to the system age and lack of parts is unfortunately true.

That said, post any messages you are getting from the keypad here.

Then press **, and post any messages you get from that here. Pay close attention as any messages may only scroll once.

Keep hitting ** after each run and jot down any messages that are stored in the buffer. It can take two or three go rounds to get to where there are no new messages.

Let’s see what you get and go from there