Honeywell L5100: Getting Back Into Programming After Being Locked Out

Hi DIY-ers! Sterling from Alarm Grid here. Today we're going to show you how to get back into your LYNX Touch L5100 System Programming screen if you have locked yourself out. This will also work if you don't have your current installer codes. If you bought a house that had a LYNX Touch and you weren't sure what the installer code was, this will allow you to get into the programming, where you can then change and access that installer code programming.

This is one of the most popular questions we get. Not exactly sure why Honeywell added this feature to this panel. It's a unique thing to the LYNX Touch that no other Honeywell system has, but we're going to highlight how you, first of all, are locking yourself out, so you can avoid it in the future. Then for those people who have locked themselves out, we'll show you how to get back in, so you can continue to use your system.

First, we're going to show you, getting into programming, you hit more, Tools, enter your installer code. We have it set to the default, 4-1-1-2. We're not quite into programming yet; we're on this screen here. But if you hit Program, you see at the top it switches over to System Programming, and we are now into all the options that allow you to program your zones, and your other system settings. Any time you're making your changes and you get to this screen, if you hit the back arrow, you're asked this prompt: "Allow installer to re-enter programming?" This is the key screen, and this is where everyone gets tripped up. If you were to hit Yes, you're telling the system, Yes, do allow me to get back in. If you hit Back, More, Tools, enter the installer code, and hit "Program," we're back in, no problem. If we hit Back and we happen to inadvertently say No, or we don't know why they're asking us this and we hit No, they do ask you Are you sure? Which should prevent some accidental lockouts, but if you're confused, you don't know why they're asking you, and you hit Yes, and then we back out, we will no longer be able to get back into programming.

A weird quirk is that we are allowed to get back in as long as we've just said No, so it's about a minute or so would have to elapse before you would actually be locked out. To avoid having to wait a minute, I'm just going to arm my system, then do a disarm. Now if I try to go back into programming, I'm allowed to get to this screen, Program, Test, Rules, Events, Initiate, Download, and Schedules, but if I try to hit Program, the screen doesn't go anywhere. We have people call us all the time and say, hey, my LYNX Touch is not working, what's going on? If I ask them, is it because you can't get into programming, and they say yes, we know that they've been locked out. We've now locked ourselves out, and we're going to show you, if you've done this, how to get back in. What you're going to need to do is power-cycle your panel. There are three different ways to power-cycle a LYNX Touch. You can use the tabs along the top, pop them open, open the case, remove the battery on the inside, and unplug your transformer. That would fully power the system down, then you can power back up.

A much easier way to do it is by doing a system reboot, from the panel programming. You can do it from two screens. You can do it with your master code. You can go to Test, and you have a handy Reboot right there. The system would power-cycle and we'd get back in. We're not going to do that yet, because I want to show you the other way to do it, which is by going to the programming section, punch your installer code, 4-1-1-2. We still can't get to Program, but we can go to Test, Diagnostics, and then Reboot. You hit Reboot. It will ask you, are you sure? We are. We do want to power-cycle the panel. The panel boots up. You get this pretty little prompt as it loads up everything for the panel. We're going to wait for this screen to go white and then come back up. Load in all the files, screen goes white, goes black, then comes back up. As soon as this comes up, red system standby, you have to press and hold the Off key, which is this open padlock. You have to press and hold until the red bar at the top switches green, ready to arm, then you let go and press it again. You have a keypad, and this is what's important clear; you hit Clear, and then 0-0. Then, now when you hit Program, you're back in.

Obviously, that was perfect for when we locked ourselves out. Again, if we did not know our installer code, and we weren't necessarily locked out, but weren't able to get in because we didn't know the code, that's a way to get in without knowing the code. Now we're back in, and if we were to exit, and we say yes this time, our system is unlocked and we're back into programming. Hopefully, this will help you out if you've locked yourself out. If you have any questions, or you're not able to get back in, please leave us a comment below. Make sure to subscribe to our channel.