Too Many Wires in Smoke Alarm
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rossj81
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Too Many Wires in Smoke Alarm

by rossj81 » Sun Jan 26, 2020 3:38 pm

I moved into a house where the smoke alarms were knackered (ground floor was both disconnected and expired, and the first floor was missing completely), so I bought two Aico Ei141RC alarms. The first floor fitting had the normal number of wires (L, N, E, IC) and took five minutes to fit. I then removed the ground floor fitting only to discover that it's connected to the house alarm and has an sprawling mass of wires. Like a complete tool, I disconnected the old fitting without taking any photos, and now I'm flumoxed as to what goes where ::confused::

There are 9 wires: 4 red, 2 black, 1 blue, 1 white, 1 green/yellow. So obviously green/yellow is E, blue is N, and presumably white is the IC. I then used an ammeter to check which of the reds is really L. That leaves 3 red and 2 black, and I don't have a cooking clue what to do with them.

The old smoke alarms are Ei150s, and the security alarm is a 12 year old Gardtec, I think model 370 581/582.

Does anyone have experience connecting a smoke alarm to a house alarm, or even better specs on how to connect a Gardtec? Any other ideas?

Mr White
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Re: Too Many Wires in Smoke Alarm

by Mr White » Sun Jan 26, 2020 9:06 pm

Usually mains smoke alarms are NOT connected to a burglar alarm as the burglar alarm will have no control over the smoke alarms. Burglar alarms can have 12v smoke detectors connected to them.

Also the Ei 150s appear to NOT have auxiliary connections, so unless you have missed something I doubt it connects to your burglar alarm. (One thing is for sure, you can't connect mains directly to a burglar alarm circuit)

Sadly there is not a definitive wiring code, so all I can suggest is you either trace the cables and see what they are connected to, or isolate the "extra" wires, restore the mains and find out what is no longer working.

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