Terminal Blocks and EOLR

[carealtor]

I'm working on reworking the wiring for the alarm in our new (to us) house.  I'm pretty sure I want to use a DIN rail and Terminal Blocks to terminate all the incoming wires.
 
A few of the zones have an End Of Line Resistor in the box.  What is an elegant way of dealing with these resistors in a DIN terminal block environment.  I'm a complete noob at DIN terminal blocks.

 

[drvnbysound]

I'd the the first to advocate for terminal blocks if there is a good reason for them, but not sure why here... Why would you terminate alarm wiring into DIN rail terminal blocks instead of the panel's terminals? What benefit do you expect to gain?

 

[carealtor]

Neatness

 

[Del91574]

And introducing twice the amount of failure points. Coming from someone with 20 years of field experience and works in the fire/security and control world.
 
I'm all about putting a system in neatly, but you need to realize when an idea gets to the point of little to no return and increases the likelyhood of wiring or junction issues. If you can go straight to the hardware, do it. Dress your cables accordingly and plan your install/terminations.

 

[bluelake321]

A few of the zones have an End Of Line Resistor in the box.  What is an elegant way of dealing with these resistors in a DIN terminal block environment.

 
The elegant and proper solution - move them to where the belong (End Of Line). They do no good in the can. If you are not going to move them to the end of the line (at the sensor), just disable EOL resistors (assuming your panel supports this) and get rid of them.

 

[carealtor]

Good point.  The thing is, this is an ADT installation and I don't have the access or knowledge to change (disable) anything.  I'm skilled enough with wiring that I have no problem with cleaning up the horrible wiring job that I was left with.  I'm going to move it all into a different can and will make it nice and neat.

 

[Neurorad]

I like the use of slotted wiring duct in an enclosure, though it adds some complexity, and really eats up real estate.
 

 
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/857029_10151747463955925_2088120911_o.jpg?oh=7f9b8d6f4d5aa0f6ac54f9aaf69f2bed&oe=59167F2A
 
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/1490865_10151804715470925_643892162_o.jpg?oh=dab6ece6276376f7902c620f4cfbc333&oe=59473790
 
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/r270/10275293_10152170397940925_3724134750725083594_o.jpg?oh=906420f708ffce76831244a432ed2d7d&oe=594C2453
 
Lots of enclosure layout ideas at the Elk M1 website.
 
http://www.elkproducts.com/make-me-famous

 

[Del91574]

The elegant and proper solution - move them to where the belong (End Of Line). They do no good in the can. If you are not going to move them to the end of the line (at the sensor), just disable EOL resistors (assuming your panel supports this) and get rid of them.

Not possible on some panels and honestly, if there's more than a single device per zone, their use for supervision purposes is not going to generally be beneficial, especially with a series wired loop and multiple cables inside the panel wired in series.
 
I'm an advocate for neatness, however the more complexity that is added to the system unnecessarily, it's the law of diminishing returns and increasing the likelyhood of introducing issues.

 

[carealtor]

I'm sure nobody cares, but I thought I would follow up on this anyway...
 
Upon further investigation, it turns out there is only one EOLR in the panel (there are none at the contacts) and it is on zone 1.  There was such a mass of wires in the panel and I saw the 1 resistor and assumed there were more under all that wirie, but there were no others.  I'm a big noob at this, but I'm learning.  And I now know that the 20P panel has to have a resistor on zone 1.  The ADT installer obviously knew this and did it right.
 
One thing the ADT installer did that I don't like is that he left the wire from the fire sprinkler system unused.  Next is to educate myself on how this should be handled.

 

[pete_c]

Curious ...thought that you needed EOLR resistors on every zone (8) for the 20 P. 
 
How is the panel working with only one EOLR on zone 1?  Are you going to move the EOLR in the panel to the switch end?
 
Diagram below shows EOLR's on Zones 1-8.
 
 
What loop values are you getting on the rest of the zones?
 
Here is a diagram for wiring the 20 P. 
 
Note that I am only familiar here with the OmnPro 2 stuff and googled for this document.  I know nothing about the 20 P and here have EOLR's on every zone (48 zones).  The choice is is no EOLR's or all EOLR's - all or nothing for the OP2 panel.
 

 

[carealtor]

https://www.alarmgrid.com/faq/can-zone-1-be-used-for-burglar-on-a-vista-20p
 
As for all other zones requiring EOLR, I've read in several places (forums) that that requirement can be programmed out, which is evidently the case in my panel.  However, I have not yet verified this in the programming done by ADT.  I checked the resistance across EVERY contact at the panel and none showed any indication of a resistor.

 

[pete_c]

If the panel is still managed by ADT then I would leave it alone.  If not then I would program it to your liking with the Honeywell Compass software.

 

[Del91574]

If the panel is still managed by ADT then I would leave it alone.  If not then I would program it to your liking with the Honeywell Compass software.

Not possible Pete.
 
Blue uses a proprietary version of the 20P with some features modified in the software itself, including programming options and default values. Can't remember if EOLR's can be deleted, but possible on the normal 20P. Zone doubling (multiplex) is not possible on the ADT panel but is on the 20P.
 
Connection to branded panels is not possible with Compass (First Alert, Pro 1, ADT, etc.)

 

[bucko]

I terminate my device wiring to V66 phone blocks, and then neatly go to the panel. I can easily map,troubleshoot zones, have a lean and organized wire.
 

 

[upstatemike]

Interesting that so many people wire direct. I have always followed a policy of using two rows of phone blocks with field wiring terminating on the top row and equipment on the bottom row. I then cross from field to equipment as required. That way I never touch the field wires again no matter how often I reassign them to a new function or change out old equipment for new. Over the past 30 years I have made many changes but never worried that the run from the attic is now 6 inches too short to reach the new equipment panel or whatever. It also prevents wear and tear on field wires when I change things since only the cross connect wires get touched. It also helps to keep my documentation orderly since the block number plus connection position gives a natural reference to put into a spreadsheet.
 
My equipment room has 24 split blocks (100 connection points per block) which comes out to 2400 connection points to keep track of. I can't imagine trying to manage that with direct wiring or terminal strips.