Ok, for those of you at the forums that can't wait for the video of this mod to come out, here it is. This is by no means perfect, but it works for the time being.
Before I delve into this, let me state that these should only be used as an EXTRA line of smoke detectors, and should by no means be used as a replacement system for what you already SHOULD have in your homes.
DO NOT RELY ON THESE THINGS TO SAVE YOU FROM A FIRE!Now, on to the project.
I was looking for a way to tie my smoke alarms into my x10 system so that i could trigger macros to turn off all appliances, turn on all lights, flash a post light out by the road, email pics to me, call me somewhere and the like. I have a detached garage, and an alarm from there should trigger something in the house as well.
I started out with the following:
1) a Fire Sentry model 0914 Smoke Detector (2 for $6 at the Big Box Store)
2) a Powerflash Module
3) a UM506 module
I later decided that a cat 5 jack would streamline the modification and that an external power source would be beneficial.
This takes about 30 minutes per alarm.
Here's how to do it.
1) Remove the battery, and open up the detector.
2) Attach two wires across the RED and BLACK wires of the piezo element (this will later be connected to the powerflash)
3) Attach two wires across the leads of the test button (connection to the um506)
Note that I did this on the back side of the board to eliminate interference with the test button when re-assembled.
4) As an option, I also connected a third pair of wires to the battery input.
5) Once these connections are made, I place dabs of hot-melt glue to the wires as an insulation to prevent shorts in the board.
6) Run the three pairs of wires out through the back of the unit (I ran mine into the battery compartment) and put the detector
back together.
The next steps are optional.
7) I picked up a female cat 5 plug for about 50 cents and mounted it into the battery compartment by cutting a hole in the side of
the detector. This was hot-glued in.
The wires from the inside of the detector are hooked to the female plug (three line telephone plug works too)
9) I next connect the plug output to a)the powerflash b) the um506 c) an external power source (battery and 120).
Depending on the final location of the alarm, I either run a cat 5 wire through the ceiling to a nearby closet, or just down the
wall.
10) Now that the connections are made, I set the powerflash (set to sense current and continuous on) to it's own code (per
alarm) and the UM506 to a code I have set in AHP to trip all alarms.
11) In AHP i have a macro set up so that when a single detector goes off, the UM 506's all activate, this trips all the other alarms.
You can kind of get the idea from there.
Note that
not all alarms will hook up the same -- this is just one example.
I wouldn't recommend long wire runs from the units, either. I chose to power mine from a house voltage/ battery source for the obvious reasons.
It should also be noted that when one alarm does trip, it's a real pain to get the system back to normal. This is due to the massive amount of macro events that occur. (I use a combination of AHP and X10 Dispatcher to handle the macros) I don't mind the trouble in resetting the system, because I'm paranoid about having ANOTHER house fire.
Also, in the future, I might make this work with the DS10A, but for now, the powerflash suits my needs.
Any questions will be gladly answered either here, or at
www.bdshost.com/ac
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