Finding the Installer Code on a VISTA-21iP

Hey DIYers. I'm Jorge from Alarm Grid. Today, I'm going to helping you guys find your installer code for your Honeywell or Resideo VISTA-21iP. Now, today we're going to be using the VISTA-21iP. I have a 6160, a 6150 keypad. 6160 is an alphanumeric, which is why you see it actually spells out, disarmed ready to arm. And then the 6160 is fixed English. So it just has the ready light and AC in the corner, letting me know that the transformer's plugged in. Now, there's going to be various situations where you might need the installer code. For instance, if you just bought a brand new system, then the code should come defaulted. And you need the installer code, because that's what you actually use to program the system, if you're doing it from an alphanumeric keypad, which is what we recommend to use for programming. Now, the installer code is what allows you to go into the programming mode and change the panel settings, the zone settings, configure zones, configure dialer delays, central station information. All that stuff you need the installer code for. Now, we also have other situations where you may have moved into a house, and there's already an existing system there. And the previous owners didn't leave you the codes. The only way to find your true installer code is to test the installer code, which is always going to be four digits, And, then the 800 command after. So for instance, if your installer code-- if you have a default system, it comes with a default installer code of 4112. That means you have to enter in 4112 800, and that'll put you into programming. The way to know if you're in programming, the screen will actually say installer code 20, if you're using a 6160. And if you're using a 6150, which is the fixed English, it will only say 20 on the screen. So right now, my panel is defaulted. So we're treating it as a brand new system. If I enter in 4112 800, installer code 20 on the screen. And then since both keypads are linked to the same system, this one also goes into programming mode, and you'll see 20 on the screen. Now, I'm just going to go ahead and exit out. Always exit out using star-99. If you do any other command, you may be locking yourself out of programming, which if you lock yourself out of programming, I'm going to show you guys how to do a backdoor method to get into programming. So what happens for those of you who the panel is not new? 4112 800 did not work. It did not take you into the installer code menu. That means you're going to have to either contact the previous owners and hope that they know it, or you're going to have to contact the previous company and hope that they give it to you. Some companies will not give you the installer code, because they claim that it is a security breach. Keep in mind, the installer code is never used or should never be used to arm the system. The only time you can use the installer code to disarm an alarm system is if it has been armed with the installer code. So that's why over here at Alarm Grid, we always keep the installer codes defaulted, and we always make sure you know the difference between your installer code, your master codes-- which, that's what you use to arm the system-- or your other subuser codes-- which is, again, other codes that you give out to maybe employees, your family members, people that come and do maintenance on your house. You may want to make extra codes for them. But the installer code is only ever used to go into programming, never to arm or disarm. All right. So going back to what I was saying, what happens if you don't know the installer code and it's not going into programming? The only other thing you can do at that point is to backdoor into the system. To backdoor into the system, you have to power it completely down. So you have to unplug the transformer and unplug the backup battery. And I'm going to show you the commands here in a second. All right, so right here, we have our VISTA-21iP. We have our backup battery. And I have my transformer plugged into an outlet out to the side. The transformer or the power supply looks like this. It's a big beige brick. And it's going to be plugged into a wall outlet. What you're going to want to do, first, go ahead and unplug the transformer from the wall when you're powering it down. So you unplug it from the wall. Give me one moment. After you unplug the transformer from the wall, you now unplug the backup battery. I'm just going to unplug the red wire. It doesn't matter what wire you unplug, the red or the black. You just need to unplug one. Once you have the transformer unplugged from the wall and you unplug one of the wires from the backup battery, we're going to go ahead and look at the keypads, just to make sure that they're completely off. After you've checked the key pads and you've confirmed that the LCD displays are now off, you know that you have power down the system completely. Some people have multiple transformers throughout the house, and they don't know which one belongs to the system. I guarantee you there is a transformer in your house. You just have to find it. I've seen installers plug this in on the roof of the garages where the garage motor plugs into. Sometimes it's not always in the most obvious spot, because they don't want anyone just coming and knocking it out by accident or trying to power your system down. So if you've got a good installer that installed the system, he more than likely put the transformer somewhere that's not in plain view. So you will have to do some searching for it, if it's not next to an outlet right next to the system. All right, so after I've confirmed that my keypads are completely off, I'm going to have the power it back on. Now, you don't have to plug the backup battery in right away. If you want, you can. It's not going to power on the system. So watch, I'll go ahead and plug the little red wire back in now. I just put it back on the lead. And again, the keypads aren't powering on. The only time the panel will power on is when you plug the transformer in. So as soon as you plug the transformer in, you have a time limit of 50 seconds. You have 50 seconds to head over to the keypad, and you're going to press and hold star and pound. Now, it doesn't matter if you're using a 6160 or a 6150. It helps if you have a 6160 if you're going to do deep-level programming. But if you're just trying to get the installer code, you can do it with either or. You just have to press star and pound upon powering up. So I'm going to plug in the transformer now just to show you guys. They start powering on immediately. I'm going to go ahead and hit star and pound. And you're going to hold it down until it says installer code 20. And it's almost immediate. So again, this is the process you would do if you do not have the installer code. Once you're in programming, you can go ahead and default or change your installer code. Right now, I have mine as 4112. If I want to change it to 4111, I have to enter my command star 20. It's already in the field, but sometimes we just want to make sure. We're going to star 20 and then our new installer code. So I'm going to hit star 20, and I'm going to change it to 4111. [DINGING] Those three things are to confirm that the code has been accepted. And if I want to try it-- oh, by the way, it jumps to the next field after you've completed that field. If I want to test out my installer code, I'm going to hit star 99 to exit. It brings me back to the main screen. And again, remember, I just changed my installer code to 4111. So that means I have to use 4111, and then 800 after that. So I'm going to enter in 4111 800. And that should put me into installer programming. Now again, I was just showing you guys that you can change the installer code to make it your own. Another thing you can do. If you want to display the current installer code, you can hit pound 20, and it will actually scroll through the numbers 4111. so. It gives you four dings, and it will actually show you the current installer code. So as you saw, it said 4111. I'm not going to leave it as that. I want to default it. So again, I'm going to do my code to enter it-- to change it, which is star 20, 4112. Jumps to the next field. And I'm just going to hit star 99 to exit out. Yes. So that is just a quick video. As you can see, if you have a new system, your system should be defaulted with the installer code 4112. If you're moving into a house and you don't have your installer code, you will need to do the backdoor method. Sometimes, companies can even lock you out of doing the backdoor method. If you try the backdoor method and you hear a long error tone beep when you press and hold star and pound, that means you are locked out of programming, and that the panel is bricked. So more than likely, the best option at that point would be to replace it with a brand new one. But if you guys need any help whatsoever, feel free to contact us at support@alarmgrid.com. If you found the video hopeful, make sure you hit Like underneath. Subscribe to the YouTube channel and hit the little bell icon to enable notifications, so whenever we upload new content, you get notified. I'm Jorge, and I'll see you guys next time.