Firefighter FF345: Program to 2GIG GC2

Hi, DIY-ers, this is Frank at Alarm Grid again. And we're back in the video lab. Today we're working with the 2GIG Go Control 2 panel. We're going to work on the Firefighter FF345. This is made by Encore, and is a 110 volt smoke detector integration module. So it's a way for you to integrate your existing hardwired high voltage smokes to your 2GIG Go Control 2 panel, which we're going to show you how to program.

We've done an introduction to the device already, but basically this is a little tiny listening device that sits beside one of your smokes. When one of your interconnected smokes goes off, it will trip all of them. The one that is beside this listening device will trigger the listening device to go into alarm mode and will send that signal back to the panel using the seven digit serial number and loop 2 on the module.

So we're going to show you how to program it in just a second here. But this is the actual device itself. Now we're going to pop it right open, so you can see what's inside. We're actually getting a tamper here on the other panel that we programmed earlier. OK, so we're going to show you how to learn it in and also manually enter the serial number. So we can close that right up, because we have the serial number on the back side as well.

Let's see here. So we're going to start by going into programming. So on the bottom right of your Go Control, it says Go Control there. We'll click on that, and we'll enter your installer code, which by default is 1561, unless you've changed it. If you did change it, you'll want to use that code. Once you're here, we can click System Configuration. You're now in Programming.

Now, the 2GIG Go Control programming is question based. So the first question is actually zone programming. So this should be fairly easy. You can scroll down. I'm sorry, you can scroll right to go to different RF sensor numbers, so different zone numbers. If you already have existing zones programmed, you want to basically jump to the next available zone.

For today's purposes, let's say you have five zones programmed. So we can just enter 06, and that'll put us right into zone 6. And then hit the Down key. And it'll say select RF sensor type. So this is where we're going to select the response type for the zone. So you can actually go right here and just click through until you find the 24 hour fire. This is going to be a smoke detector live at all times.

So we'll go ahead and accept that. Move down to the next selection. Now we have the equipment code. So the FF345 has the same equipment code as the 5816, which is actually a Honeywell part. The 2GIG panel does support Honeywell sensors. So the 5816 is a wireless door and window contact that uses Loop 2. So this is actually going to be programmed the exact same way. A lot of third party pieces like this are mapped to the same Loop technology that the 5816 is, because that was the most popular sensor for a long time.

So the equipment code for the 5816 is 0637. That'll say Honeywell door window 5816. You can then hit the Down key, and it'll say the serial number. So there's two ways to do this, as I mentioned earlier. You can take the seven digit serial number from the sticker on the back of the unit. Or there's a seven digit serial number listed on the inside of the tamper cover, if you've already wall mounted this or ceiling mounted it. The other third option is to auto enroll.

So I'm going to show you how to auto enroll and manually enter. But basically you would just map this seven digit number, 0344047. And then you would hit the Down key. And the equipment age, you can just put new here. Doesn't really matter. Then the loop number, you would enter two, and keep moving down. We're going to back up to here. Go back to the serial number. Clear that out. We're going to hit Shift, and then Learn. And this will put the panel in learning mode.

So I'm now going to pop open the panel and clear the tamper on my other system there. OK, and now we can see RF transmission received. We have the ID number here. And now we can basically go ahead. I'm actually going to cancel this. And we can just do that one more time here. So we're going to press and hold the Tamper switch. And you'll see RF transmission received. You have the ID number. And we can click OK.

And now we have the serial number listed here in the field. And we can just go ahead and hit the Down key to accept. You can choose new or old. This is a new unit. The loop number again, we'll set loop two. Hit the Down key. Voice descriptor is a way for you to have a voice description on this unit. So it's already going to say fire. We can label this as something that you want it to read out.

Now, there is a limited library as far as what will read out on the panel. So for right now we'll skip that. But if you wanted to add your own custom descriptor, you could just enter. You could insert and scroll through using the Right key, or you can enter the three digit code for the specific custom alpha descriptor there. So we'll just go ahead and hit the Down key.

We always want to enable reporting on sensors, especially if you have central station monitoring. That was what would allow the fire signal to send to the central station. So we'll hit that Down one more time. And supervised. We want do want to have the sensor supervised. If the sensor ever goes offline, for any reason, whether it be interference, maybe the battery dies all of a sudden, without setting a low battery alert, which shouldn't happen. But if there is ever a time when this is not communicating with the panel, then you would want to know. And the supervision is what allows that. So we want to keep that enabled.

Hit the Down key. Now you can choose a chime. Chimes are generally designed for doors and windows, so you know when things are open and closed. This will trigger an alarm when it goes off. So we don't need to have a chime. Hit the Down key again, and you'll get your summary screen here. The zone type will be 24 hour fire. The 5816 equipment code is 0637. We have the serial number, new equipment age, loop number two. And then we left the voice descriptor blank for now. But you could set up something custom in there if you want. The reports and supervision are enabled.

So we would now just click Skip, unless we had any other sensors to enroll. It'll jump us to the next question, which is wired sensor. Well actually just go ahead and hit End. And that will give us a summary screen again. And we'll keep Save Changes checked off and hit Exit. And you'll notice the panel will power off quickly and reboot so that the software can update. And when it comes back online, you'll have a fully functional FF345 listening device that will connect to your interconnected smoke detectors.

So let me just get this back in here. So this will actually hinge right into the bottom side of the unit. Snap shut, and then you have your listening device. If this tamper is ever opened, you will get a trouble on the panel. When you close it, after you close it and mount it, you can then clear it just by hitting the Home key and entering your master user code.

Once that is installed, you always want to test, especially with fire equipment. You would just go up to the smoke detector. You want to mount this within three to six inches of that smoke, and press and hold the Test button. It will trip that. That'll go over to the panel here, and will give you the ability to make sure that the system is actually sensing the fire signal from the unit. Always put your system on test with your central station if you do have live monitoring at the time, so that you can avoid any phone calls or false dispatches.

And just realize, this is a listening device. It is a fire protection device. It is not a life safety device. You should have interconnected smokes throughout your home to protect and individually sound for those reasons. So it's important to not rely on this device for any life safety reasons. Your fire marshall and building code will require specific high voltage smokes, and those are the ones that we're going to piggyback off of with this in order to get a fire alarm in the panel.

We do also recommend setting up at least one or two RF smoke detectors that have their own sounders on them and will also communicate with the panel. That's a way to ensure that if this device ever fails that you have primary smoke detection through the form of independent smoke detectors that can communicate directly with the system. The 5808 W3 is the Honeywell part that will work with the 2GIG Go Control. The other part is the 2GIG Smoke Three, and it actually will support smoke and heat detection. So if you have any further questions on the FF345 listening device, then you can email us at support@alarmgrid.com and subscribe to our channel.