I’m moving into a townhouse that already has an older security system installed (GE/ITI “Concord 4” I believe). I found the control panel and four sensors: Three door, and one motion.
Question #1: What do these door sensors do, exactly? The more modern ones I’m familiar with have two pieces, but these old ones only appear to have one piece that sits above the door frame. Do they detect the metal in the door itself somehow, or are they missing the other contact part?
Question #2: From what I’ve read, in order to hook an older system like mine up to SmartThings I’ll need to disconnect each sensor from its “zone” terminal in the control box and instead connect it to a NodeMCU (or similar board). However, it does not appear the sensors are connected to any of the “zone” terminals currently. They are instead twisted around the wires going into the Touchpad terminals. What’s that all about?
You are missing the magnet piece for the sensor. Somebody must’ve removed them.
The good news is that any magnet will work, so that part is easy to replace. It’s just that the original comes in a pretty case.
As far as hooking it up to smartthings, by far the easiest way is to use Konnected. Developed by a community member here and has become quite popular. They should be able to help you with any other questions.
Does the existing touchpad turn on? Does it show a status for the existing zones? Can you get that status to change by holding a magnet up to the sensors?
If my memory of my old ADT system is correct, the image of the mystery component in your setup is the siren.
In my previous home I had a wired security system. I never used any of the system other than the door and window sensors. I tied them to Eco-LInk contact sensors and it worked well. Not a full alarm system but I only wanted to self monitor.
The diagram shown is much like the system I had.
As MarkTr said the component shown in the picture tied closest to the keypad is the siren., although I am not sure that is what you are asking. If the wires from the sensors are not connected to the zone terminals it sounds like someone disconnected the sensors and just twisted the wires where they thought it convenient.
Our 2nd generation Konnected Alarm Panel boards just arrived from the manufacturer this week. We’re starting to fulfill pre-orders and will be updating the website next week to reflect the new status.
