I tried hooking up my Ecolink DWZWAVE2-ECO to the magnetic switches that the original home security system uses. I unplugged the alarm panel, snipped two wires, stripped them back, and wired them into the header on the board inside the z-wave sensor.
When I put it all back together, nothing happened. I then tested the ecolink z-wave sensor with just a couple pieces of wire, and they successfully trip open/closed when the circuit is open or closed accordingly.
The original panel had two switches (both doors) wired in series and connected up to a single zone on the panel. There was also a resistor wired in series on the zone side. I put a voltmeter to it, and it read about 6.5 volts. That’s weird. I thought these things were passive. Could there be enough voltage drop from the panel to two doors several tens of feet away (wired in series) that a bias was needed?
I’m at a loss for why it didn’t work when connected to the z-wave sensor. Any thoughts? Is it safe to wire the sensor in series with a +6.5 V supply on the same line so I can keep the panel functional, too?
The sensors in my hardwired home security system work on a change of voltage to register open/closed. Something like 6.5V closed and 13V open… I can’t remember exactly.
They don’t work on continuity. I believe that is to prevent tampering.
I suppose I could remove the existing sensors and replace them. More work, yay!
Thanks for the tip. I’ll see if I can confirm that mine works as yours does. I bought the house with the panel installed, and I don’t have the codes. It’s essentially useless to me, so I guess it’s no big loss to lose the functionality by swapping out all the sensors … as long as they are cheap enough.
Try connecting the z-wave switch in parallel with the magnetic switch before the resistor. I think the resistance is too high for the z-wave switch to change to closed state.
Sorry, I don’t think I described what I did very well.
I snipped the wires for the magnetic switch circuit and disconnected it from the control panel. I left out the resistor; the only resistance in the circuit is the wire resistance from the 22 gauge wire to the doors and back. I wired one lead from the switch to one post on the header, and wired the other lead to the other post on the header. When I open and close the door (opening and closing the magnetic reed switch), the z-wave sensor doesn’t change states.
To make sure that the sensor wasn’t malfunctioning, I connected two strands of 22 AWG wire to the header on the sensor. When I connect the wires together, the sensor reports that it is “closed.” When I open the circuit, the sensor reports that it is “open.” So the sensor seems to work.
How about check the door switch? You can measure the resistance of the switch at the panel and short out the wire at the switch. Or hookup your w-wave and short the wire at the switch. You either have a bad door switch or wiring.
