Zones not reporting correctly after lightning strike

[Sarah Marsh]

A couple of weeks ago my house was high by lightning.  I lost several things in the house and the theme seems to be that everything that has failed has witherbeen low voltage items or curcuit boards tied to transformers.

Among the many things that have fialed is my ELK system.  So far I’ve replaced the M1Gold panel and the M1XEP board.  Now I can communicate with the system via ELKRP  and eKeypad (eK Pro).

Now I’m getting zone reporting issues.  One door zone is working perfectly, one zone will show violated when opened but then goes right back to normal, and the rest of the zones are showinf normal in all circumstances.

I’ve checked the status on ELKRP and they all say “Short(-), even the zone that’s working.  When I test for voltage on the zones, they all show 0, but when I disconnect a zone and test it with a voltage meter it does show 13.x.

I tried everything, including reconnecting every single zone wire.

Is the nest stop to replace the keypad?  What else can I try?

[Brad Weeks]

Are these zones on the M1 Main board or on the M1XIN 16-Zone hardwired expander? If on the M1XIN did you Enroll the M1XIN after replacing the M1G? In ElkRP2:

• Click the Send/Rcv Icon
• Click Enroll/Update Control and Devices
• From the Enroll/Update Control and Devices window does the M1XIN appear in the list under “Input Expanders (Bus Type 2)? If not click the Enroll button and it should then show in the list

Testing the Zone Input on the M1G and the M1XIN:

• Remove the wire going to the Zn terminal for the zone
• Use a short piece of wire and connect from the Zn Terminal to the NEG and watch the Zone Voltage in ElkRP2 under the Status Screen
• With the wire connected to the Zn and NEG the voltage will be 0V and when you remove the wire the voltage should go to ~13v
• If so then I suspect the actual zone input on the M1G and/or the M1XIN is OK and the issue might be the sensor itself

To test the actual door/window magnetic switch:

• Remove the wires from the M1G or the M1XIN
• If you have a multimeter set the meter to resistance or Ohms or Ω. Some meters are auto-ranging while some you will need to select a range for example 20K
• Measure the resistance across the two wires
• With the door/window closed the resistance will be either close to 0 Ω Ohms if not using the End Of Line Resistor and 2.200 if using the 2.2K End Of Line Resistor  in the loop. The reading should not fluctuate.
• With the door/window open the resistance should be O.L or Open Loop and should remain until the door/window is closed.

[Sarah Marsh]

Thanks for the help.

This is on the M1 Main Board.

In testing the zone input everything appears to be working correctly.

In testing the actual door/switch I don’t have a multimeter.  Is there another way to test this?

In doing this testing, I have now also noticed that on ELK RP when connected to the system and access the status, the AREA is also toggling between ready and not ready.  Seems like this is related…but in what way?

 

[Sarah Marsh]

Cancel hat last post about the Area also toggling.  I realize now that was because of a motion sensor I was tripping!  (So, clearly some zones are working but most are not.)

[Sarah Marsh]

Given that 3 of my zones work, 1 toggles between normal/violated, and the rest always show normal no matter what, I’m beginning to wonder if most of the small gauge wiring got fried in the strike?  I’ve lost a ton of things in the house that have had to be replaced or repaired, but they have all had a low voltage component that took the hit.  None of the 110v devices failed and not one of the surge protectors were tripped or affected.  Electricians have surmised that it probably came in through something other than the electric company…like internet cabling from my ISP.

[Brad Weeks]

Without the door/window contact connected to the M1 the M1 is responding correct so you can re-connect those sensor back to the M1. Using the ElkRP2 software under the Status screen when you open the zone the voltage should change and remain in that state until you close the zone. If you do not see a change in voltage then that sensor or even the wiring going to that sensor might have been damaged by the lightning strike. You should try replacing the sensor and retesting.

[Sarah Marsh]

Thanks for the help debugging this.  It did turn out to be the sensors.  I ended up changing out 13 window/door sensors.  The first one I replaced I opened up and, in fact, there was a little black spot right at the connection inside.  I’ll admit, replacing them was a real pain.  They are all recessed and the wire was run in the house during the build.  So access and rewiring was pretty tight!

They all work now!

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