Integrating "First Alert 9120 Smoke Alarms" with ELK

[felixrosbergen]

Hi All,

My new construction home came with First Alert Model 9120 AC smoke sensors with battery backup. These have 3 wires: Black (Hot), White (Neutral) and Orange (they call it the 'interconnect').

It seems i have 7 of these connect to each other on the same circuit/breaker. There is 1 located in the basement nearby my ELK panel.

I don't care to hook each up individually, i just want the ELK to report fire alarms to the monitoring service.

Has anybody hooked up this particular model before?

Has anybody used this guide or is there a more 'professional' solution available? I don't like the idea of the reported of my fire alarm being dependent on some components from radioshack that i solder together and stuff in a medicine bottle.

 

[icellama21]

Hi All,

My new construction home came with First Alert Model 9120 AC smoke sensors with battery backup. These have 3 wires: Black (Hot), White (Neutral) and Orange (they call it the 'interconnect').

It seems i have 7 of these connect to each other on the same circuit/breaker. There is 1 located in the basement nearby my ELK panel.

I don't care to hook each up individually, i just want the ELK to report fire alarms to the monitoring service.

Has anybody hooked up this particular model before?

Has anybody used this guide or is there a more 'professional' solution available? I don't like the idea of the reported of my fire alarm being dependent on some components from radioshack that i solder together and stuff in a medicine bottle.

Hey, that circuit is pretty simple and foolproof. I use the GE 350CX, it has contact closures on alarm that can trigger a security panel. It is not perfectly compatible with all smoke detectors, the test feature doesn't work when connected to non-GE detectors because it does not get the right properties on its interconnect, but it still triggers an alarm properly.

Here is another thread

http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=10787

 

[Someguy]

that link is broken. how can i find it?

 

[electron]

Correct link:

Adding 110v smokes into HA

I had expected to use low voltage smokes in my new house connected to my Omni Pro II. I just realized that local codes will require 110v smokes. None of the info I have for wiring up stuff to my Omni Pro II covers a 110v smoke. All the info is geared toward 2 or 4 wire low voltage units Some...

cocoontech.com

 

[RAL]

The idea of inter-connecting smoke alarms (e.g. those devices you can buy at Home Depot) to an alarm panel like the Elk has come up numerous times over the years on cocoontech. Many DIYers think it is a great idea. The advice from the professional alarm installers tends to be: don't do it.

Smoke alarms are often more sensitive than the smoke detectors used with alarm panels and that results in more false alarms. If your alarm panel is monitored and the CS receives a fire event code, the fire trucks are going to roll. The CS won't waste time calling you to verify that there really is a fire. Do you really want that to happen every time you burn a batch of cookies?

 

[dwalt]

I have to agree with @RAL. I picked up accounts where the previous installer had hooked AC smoke detectors to the security system. This resulted in the fire department arriving and knocking down the front door to enter and verify the false alarm. If you check the interconnect device between the ac smokes and the alarm system, it will specifically state it is not a notification device (they are designed to connect to an auxiliary sounder). There is a reason that security system smoke detectors cost 4x what ac smoke detectors cost. As an fyi, always a good idea to get a
Knox box through the local fire department. This prevents the fire department from knocking down the front door in case of an alarm.

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