Where Trust Is Money

When installing the complex wiring for most burglar alarms you will find that there is usually a “legend strip” on the long wiring connector strip on the panel, that should match that on the instructions, so you can tell what terminals do what. Try to keep the colour coding of the devices the same where possible (i.e. red and black for 12v DC power, white and yellow pairs for tamper loops etc…) Then trim and terminate the cable sat the alarm panel.

You will find the labels on the cables come in very useful here! Keep the labels on, where possible, since it may prove useful if you change the panel at a later date. There should be a place where you can pencil in what zones do what, and a space to write the resistance of any loop or zone. Although some panel zone logic circuit scan stay activated up to 20K Ohms, it is obviously good to have a constant, low resistance reading for each loop or zone (when in a nun-triggered state), and these should be between 1 OHM (for very short runs) and about 100 OHMS for longer runs. You may find that the “global tamper loop”, that is a serial combination of all the tamper wires,could add up to a couple of hundred ohms, if there are some junction box tamper contacts in circuit too, as these all add to the contact resistance. If this (or any zone resistance) varies over time, then check your terminal screws, and junction box covers for tightness.