Newbie help - Caddx NX8e fire alarm reset

[Wambro]

Hello,
I decided to jump into installing my own system in my new home and was
bench testing a smoke (DSC FSA-410BST). I tripped the system for fire
on the bench and then shut it down by simply pulling the plug. Now
when I installed the panel in the home plus the 10 DSA smokes (EOL
relay plus prm-4W module) in sequence and hooked it all up, the panel
keeps flashing "Fire" and Zone 8 trouble. It is also annoying in that
the sounder inside the keypads (both are LCD pads) keeps going off and
is only silenced temporarily by pressing a key. I did a panel reset
(*8, 9713, 910#), but nothing seems to reset the "fire" condition. How
the heck do I reset this? Thanks!

 

[alarman]

Disconnect the fire zone wiring from the panel, but leave the power
connected to the smokes. With an ohm meter, measure the resistance of the
loop. It should be near 3.3k. What do you get?

Place a 3.3k resistor across the fire zone on the panel, and try a reset
again. Does this clear the trouble?
js

 

[joe]

If you haven't changed any user codes, try entering "1234" (Default User
Master Code) to silence the trouble condition, or enter whatever you've
chosen for a User Master Code... BTW: you cannot be in programming mode and
cancel alarms/troubles at the same time... Regards, Russ

after 1234 to silence as Russ points out then press *7 to reset

 

[alarman]

I also measured the resistance across the smoke loop when disconnected
from the panel but powered by the AC. I got 2.2K Ohm. Js indicated it
needs to be 3.3K Ohm - will the panel still see termination with 2.2K?
This is clearly the value of the Napco FT2200 EOL relay I used. Will
the Caddx work with this resistance, and if not, can I drop a 1K
resistor in parallel across the terminals to make up the difference?

The eol relay is supposed to simply open the loop if power to the smoke
detectors fails. The Napco model sounds like it has a built-in eol resistor
as well. Caddx panels use 3.3k resistors on the zones. Adding a resistor
might work, but I would get a new eol relay without any resistor and then
add the 3.3 at the eol relay. Do not place any resistor at the panel
terminals.
js

 

[alarman]

The 2.2 is already across the last smoke. Adding another in parallel there
will only reduce the total eol resistance value.
js

 

[Wambro]

Thanks for all the good advice. I was at the house today and the 1234,
*7 did the trick to turn off the fire alarm state. I was pressing the
heck out of 1234, but missing the *7. Funny how that can happen when
the !#$% thing won't stop squaking in your face!

I also measured the resistance across the smoke loop when disconnected
from the panel but powered by the AC. I got 2.2K Ohm. Js indicated it
needs to be 3.3K Ohm - will the panel still see termination with 2.2K?
This is clearly the value of the Napco FT2200 EOL relay I used. Will
the Caddx work with this resistance, and if not, can I drop a 1K
resistor in parallel across the terminals to make up the difference?

Thanks again - great supportive group!

 

[Wambro]

Oh, to be clear, I was thinking about dropping the 1K resistor in
parallel across the C and NO terminals of the last smoke, not the Caddx
NX8e. Thanks

 

[Robert L Bass]

Oh, to be clear, I was thinking about dropping the 1K resistor in
parallel across the C and NO terminals of the last smoke, not the Caddx
NX8e. Thanks

Adding a resistor in parallel will not add to the present value.
It will decrease it. To be specific, a 1K Ohm resistor in
parallel with a 2.2K Ohm resistor would give you roughly 680
Ohms. That's not precise, but neither is the nominal value of
the resistor.

Your best bet will be to either open the EOL relay and install
the additional resistor in series with the existing resistor or
replace the EOL relay.