| This article describes the procedure for fitting a hard-wired burglar alarm system in a house or other properety which has been pre-wired.
Introduction
Many new-build houses are thoughtfully fitted with the required cabling to install a hard-wired burglar alarm. This is usually done as a partnership between the builder and an alarm company in which the alarm company install the required wiring at the 'First Fix' stage. The cable installed will usually be 6 core, but may be 8 core. The alarm company then hope to contact the buyer of the property to install the alarm for them. There is no obligation for the property purchaser to use the alarm company to install the alarm. In fact it makes the DIY install very easy - the hard part of running the cables has already been done!
What to Expect
As you are probably aware, all alarm systems comprise:.
- A Control Panel - the majority of pre-wired installations are wired for what is termed a 'Blank Endstation'. Blank Endstations consist of a 'Blank' Control Panel (no keypad on the panel) and a Remote Keypad (RKP). Occasionally, the property will have been wired for a Stand-alone Control Panel (keypad on board).
- Detectors - the property will usually be wired with the intention of installing Passive Infra-red (PIR) detectors and occasionally magnetic contacts on the front and rear doors. The property may also have cable installed for internal sounders, Personal Attack Devices and smoke detectors.
- External Sounder - the cable for an external sounder is usually left hanging out of an outside wall of the property.
So, you should expect to see cables for each of the above.
Determining the Cable Functions and What Goes Where
At the whim of particular cable installers, the cables may be simply left hanging out tof the walls at various points or they may be hidden behind blank surface plates.
Control Panel - Blank Endstation or Stand-alone?
There are two main types of Control Panel - Blank Endstations; which comprise a control panel and a Remote Keypad (RKP) and Stand-alone Control Panels which have a keypad on the panel. The vast majority of pre-wired installations are for the Blank Endstation type.
The cables from the detectors and sounder(s) are always routed back to the Control Panel. So somewhere in the property there will be a point where multiple cables are routed. In the case of a Blank Endstation this could be hidden in places such as the meter cupboard, loft, cupboard under the stairs etc. In the case of a Stand-alone panel this will usually be close to the main entrance to the property.
In the case of a Blank Endstation there should be a point near the main entrance for the RKP - this should have a single 6 core cable.
Detectors
Properties are usually wired for PIRs. The cable for these is usually sited in the corners of the room and close to the ceiling. Occasionally the cables may have been routed into what appear to be pre-installed PIRs - these are usually decoys fitted for aesthetic reasons.
If there are cables near the front and/or rear doors then these are probably for magnetic door contacts (or possibly for a personal attack device). You can decide whether to fit a door contact or a personal attack device.
Occasionally there may be cables at positions that may at first seem odd - these may be for smoke detectors or internal sirens.
Sounder(s)
The cable for the outside sounder is usually obvious, but if cables have been installed for one or more internal sounders then these may be harder to identify. For example if a room already has a cable for a PIR in the corner of the room and there is also another cable in the room, then this can be used for an internal sounder or a smoke detector.
Identifying The cables
At this point you should have identified the type of control panel required and where to fit it. You should also have an idea as to the number and types of detector and their positions. The next step is to identify where each of the cables at the control panel goes to. If you are very lucky the cable installer will have labelled the cables at the control panel - e.g. Living Room PIR, Outside Sounder. However, in the vast majority of cases the cables are not labelled.
If you have already purchased the control panel then you should fit the control panel and pull all the cables through the rear of the panel. Do NOT apply power to the control panel at this stage.
If the cables have not been labelled (or the labelling is confusing) then you will have to identify and label each cable using the following method. You will need a continuity tester or multimeter.
- At the control panel, select one cable and strip a few centimetres of the outer sheath to reveal the individual cores. Strip two (say RED and BLACK) of the individual cores by around a centimetre and twist them together.
- At one of the remote locations strip the same two core colours (RED and BLACK). Put the continuity tester across the RED and BLACK cores. If there is zero resistance (closed circuit) then that cable is the one you selected at the control panel. If there is infinte resistance then move to the next remote location and so on until the closed circuit cable is found. The cable can then be labelled at the control panel.
- Repeat step 2 for each cable (ignore the identified cables) at the control panel until all the cables have been identified.
Choosing the Equipment
At this stage you should be ready to specify the equipment you need. Remember that all hard-wired equipment is compatible, i.e any detectors and any sounder will connect to any control panel.
For guidance on choosing equipment please read the articles on choosing PIRs, Control Panels and sounders, the design examples and other informative articles on this website.
Planning the Installation
Now you have all the equipment you need, the next stage is to plan how you are going to configure the sytem.
The cable installer will have had a system configuration in mind when he installed the cables. This will most likely be something similar to the following.
Your Control PAnel will have connections for 8 detection zones and as such you should connect each individual detector into a separate zone. Once the detectors are connected you can decide how each zone is configured on firstly the FULL SET Program (used when the premises are totally unoccupied). Typically this will be configured along the lines of.
- Zone 1 - Entry/exit zone. This is a timed zone which allows the alarm to be set/unset within a set (user programmable) time. The detector(s) connected to this zone are usually a magnetic contact (or PIR) at the main entrance to the property.
- Zone 2 - Inhibited zone. This zone type will not trigger an alarm if the premises have been enterd through the timed zone. If the premises are entered through any other route then this zone behaves as an Immediate zone. A typical example of this is where there is a magnetic contact fitted on the front door (zone 1) and there is also a PIR in the hallway (zone 2). On entering the property through the front door the timer will start due to Zone 1 being triggered. After passing through the front door the PIR on zone 2 will detect you. However it will not signal an alarm until the timer expires.
- Zones 3 to 8 - Immediate Zones. Detectors on these zones will alarm immediately.
The above is a basic setup. Zones may additionally be set as fire zones and other attributes.
All control panels have one or more PART SET programs. Using the above example a typical PART SET program, where the upstairs is occupied at night, will be something like the following.
- Zone 1 - Immediate.
- Zone 2 - Inhibited.
- Zone 3 (or whichever zone(s) is(are) going to detect someone coming down the stairs) - Entry/exit zone.
- Remaining zones - immediate.
You should now have an idea of how the setup is going to work.
The Installation
The physical installation of the various detectors and other devices is described in This Article
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