Troubleshooting Zone Lights Indicators

Question

What do the blinking and flashing lights on my security console mean?

Answers

Flashing Zones

There are two types of flashing zone lights you may see.

Show Flashing

A slowly flashing light means that the console has not heard from that particular sensor recently. Either that Door/Window Sensor or Motion Detector is reporting a problem, such as a low battery, or some type of interference is preventing its signals from reaching the console. The second type of flashing light is a fast flashing light.

Fast Flashing

A quickly flashing light can mean two different things. If the alarm has been tripped, then the fast flashing indicates which sensor was tripped. If you see slow flashing and want to arm the console, press BYPASS. You should now see the slow-flashing light flash fast. You can arm the console now, but it will ignore input from that sensor.

Steady on/off

A steady on light indicates that a particular door or window is open, or motion is detected. A steady off light means that the particular door or window is closed, and no motion is detected.

Battery Light

Indicates that the nine-volt battery in the console has been drained and should be replaced.

Armed Light

Indicates the unit is armed and ready to activate.

Troubleshooting

If you see a slowly flashing light, try changing the batteries in all your sensors. Then clear out the console and reinstall everything. Check which devices are around the console and sensors. Devices such as cordless phones, microwaves, TV/entertainment centers, etc. can occasionally cause interference with X10 signals. Try moving the sensor transmitter (the part with the batteries in it) to a different location, as far as the wiring on the magnetic contacts allows. Also, check to see if the sensor magnets for a door/window sensor are mounted onto metal. If they are, that could be the cause of a problem. You can use spacers (even popsicle sticks) to raise the magnets off the metal about 3/4 inch.