Is my ELK M1 Gold Dead

[dman782]

I'm a newby to M1 and Home Automation.  I recently purchased a M1 Gold.  I had everything installed and began programing.  I noticed the system was constantly alerting about a low battery.  Not really caring about this situation, because I had the system down for some weeks and never really gave it an opportunity to charge the battery, I ignored the alert and continued programming as time permitted.  Finally, the time came to address the battery issue.  
 
I let the battery charge for well over a week with the M1 power switch in the off position.  When I turn the M1 on,  It powers up and shuts down in less than 30 seconds.  I have to control panels (both terminated with unique id's).  The primary is off and the secondary just flashes on and off.  
 
I began searching for answer and found all sorts of posts talking about measuring the battery charge.  I don't have measuring equipment nor do I wish to purchase such equipment for one-time use.  Since this unit is brand new, I don't think I'm having a battery issue.  That in mind, I took the unit apart.  The thought was lets start from scratch.
 
I noticed after turning the M1 on I heard a crackling sound right before the unit turned off.  The power light is one, the status light is off, and the control panel is off.  This occurs whether the battery is connected or not.  Note: My test configuration has one control panel only.
 
Since the status light is not blinking once per second, I think this may be something more than a battery issue.  
 
Any suggestions on next steps.
 
Thanks
 

 

[Del91574]

You don't have a basic or generic DMM? $20 will get you a basic unit that will outlive you and get you through most HO tasks you could imagine, including working on high voltage electrical safely (sorry, but I'm smacking my head, purchasing equipment for one time use, of which a meter definitely is not if you're doing any sort of electrical).
 
The battery and/or M1 will NOT charge if the power switch is off.

The panel was alerting to an actual condition which was ignored.
 
Most likely, your battery was or is flat, which can damage or destroy chargers and panels in a heartbeat.
 
Assuming all field wiring except AC is removed from the M1, the logical guess is you smoked your M1 with either a defective or damaged battery and ignorance of the alerts the M1 was providing in conjunction with the battery remaining connected to the panel,  and without a basic DMM, the conversation is dead at this point.
 
Either you need to meter the battery and talk to your reseller and possibly return the unit for repair or replacement (at cost, most definately) or you just learned a very expensive lesson that was more expensive than a basic meter.

 

[RAL]

A crackling sound is not a good sign.  You could remove the black plastic cover from the circuit board and see if you can find anything that looks burned.  If you do see damage, then you'll need to return the board to the distributor you purchased it from, or to Elk, for a replacement.
 
The battery does not charge when the power switch is in the Off position.  That disconnects both the AC and the battery from the M1.   If the battery was in good condition to start with, you didn't do any damage by leaving it connected and the power switch off, even for a week.  A good battery with a full charge can sit without being charged for 6 months before you risk any damage.
 
Do you have a multimeter?  You really need to get one if you expect to install your system successfully, even without this current problem.  You can get an inexpensive meter at Home Depot or Amazon for $10 to $20.
 
Use a multimeter and measure the battery voltage while the battery is disconnected.  It should be around 13V if it is near full charge. If it is lower than 10.5V, then it has discharged beyond the recommended cutoff voltage.  It might still be usable once it is recharged, but there's no way to tell just from a voltage measurement.
 
Since the M1 still doesn't power on properly, even with the battery disconnected, the other thing you need to check is the voltage that is being provide to the M1 by the AC transformer.  It should be somewhere around 16V AC.

 

[drvnbysound]

Inexpensive DMM at Home Depot here (< $20)

 

[dman782]

Thank you both for the quick response.  

Either you need to meter the battery and talk to your reseller and possibly return the unit for repair or replacement (at cost, most definately) or you just learned a very expensive lesson that was more expensive than a basic meter.

Maybe; but, your point is taken.  However, I'm still not convinced it's the battery, so I guess I'll go spend 20 bucks. And I may find out that ignorance is expensive.
 
Ral, I did take off the back for inspection.  No burns or odd smells. I just don't know if the sound it's making is normal.
 
After checking the battery voltage, I'll look into my return options.

 

[drvnbysound]

Thank you both for the quick response.  
Maybe; but, your point is taken.  However, I'm still not convinced it's the battery, so I guess I'll go spend 20 bucks. And I may find out that ignorance is expensive.
 
Ral, I did take off the back for inspection.  No burns or odd smells. I just don't know if the sound it's making is normal.
 
After checking the battery voltage, I'll look into my return options.

 
Hmm, crackling sounds ... or clicking (relays)?

 

[RAL]

Hmm, crackling sounds ... or clicking (relays)?

 
I was thinking the same thing... it's normal to hear some relays clicking.  It still doesn't explain why the M1 is shutting down, but things would seem more hopeful if it is just the relays that he is hearing.

 

[mikefamig]

Is it possible that you reversed the battery polarity at some point?
 
I would try to power up each control in a very basic config of just a keypad and power supply and no adapters or zones or anything attached to it if it is not too difficult to do. A nice think about the Elk is that you can unplug the zones and accessories from the control very easily. If it does stay powered up I would then add the battery backup and see how it deals with that.
 
Mike.

 

[Del91574]

Is it possible that you reversed the battery polarity at some point?

Not that I've tried it, but usually panels offer some sort of protection to this, either via fuse, PTC or diode protection. I'd be shocked if the M1 didn't provide for any of this (although I've never tried it).
 
The dead giveaway here is the lack of LED's, but without a meter to see whether or not any component voltages are appropriate, we're guessing as to what is hosed and what works and if there's damage or not.
 
To the OP, you need a meter to see what is wrong at this point, either the panel, components or any field wiring that may have been connected to the panel when it was powered up. As I and Mike stated, remove/unplug everything from the board except the AC transformer and power down, wait 30, power up and see where that gets you, but without a meter, it's going to be a shot in the dark as to the root cause and solution and whether or not you smoked a $300+ board and now have to eat the cost of a replacement, prorated or not, a repair or you have recourse with the reseller you purchased your hardware from.

 

[dman782]

I have a base setup for testing.  in my OP, read control as keypad. So all I have is the board, power, and 1 Keypad.  In the few seconds that it stays up, the keypad says it has ID 2.  I'm not sure if that matters.  I'm a software guy so I'm hoping there's a factory reset jumper, but thus far i can't locate one.
 
Thanks for the support all.  Headed to Home Depot in the morning.

 

[mikefamig]

Another thought is maybe a shorted wire on the control or a terminating resistor in the wrong place.

 

[RAL]

The factory default for the keypad is address 1.  The M1 will automatically enroll the keypad that is set to address 1.  A keypad with any other address needs to be enrolled manually.   But the first thing to focus on is why it isn't staying powered on.

 

[Del91574]

Peripherals don't mean a thing at this point of time, you would need to disconnect them anyways.
 
No factory default jumper or similar. Closest would be pulling the coin cell on the board.

 

[mikefamig]

I have a base setup for testing.  in my OP, read control as keypad. So all I have is the board, power, and 1 Keypad.  In the few seconds that it stays up, the keypad says it has ID 2.  I'm not sure if that matters.  I'm a software guy so I'm hoping there's a factory reset jumper, but thus far i can't locate one.
 
Thanks for the support all.  Headed to Home Depot in the morning.

The board can be reset to factory defaults through the global setting using the keypad. It can not be done with elkrp software and must be done through the keypad. See page 37 of the M1 installation manual.

 

[Del91574]

The board can be reset to factory defaults through the global setting using the keypad. It can not be done with elkrp software and must be done through the keypad. See page 37 of the M1 installation manual.

But you can load in a blank (default) program via RP which is essentially the same thing, assuming you can connect to the panel.