2GIG GC3 or GC3e: Properly Replacing a Bad Sensor

Hey, DIYers, Jarrett here from AlarmGrid. Today we're going to be covering how you would replace a bad sensor in a 2GIG GC3e system. Normally when you go ahead and replace bad sensors on the system, thing that probably pops up in your head is, let me go into the programming, and I'm just going to replace the serial number for that sensor that is having an issue. When you get that new sensor, you get a new serial number with it, you can just go into the programming, and just swap out the serial number. With the GC3e, it's not as simple as that. Right. If you try to do that, then it's a possibility the sensor could have an issue even further with the system. Basically, like one of the errors that you can have is what's called bypass that device. If you go ahead and try to replace that serial number with the new one, and you go ahead and save the changes and everything, you're going to see that the sensors, or it's probably going to say, bypassed at device. What that means is that the sensor is bypassed, and the system is completely ignoring anything that's going on with this sensor. If it folds, if the system is armed and it faults, it's not going to see it. It's just going to completely ignore what's going on with it, because it's bypassed. Now some other abnormal activity could probably happen, as well, if you go ahead and try to do that with the sensor. There's a few things that we have seen. So to avoid all of that, it's best that you actually go into the programming, completely remove that zone that was having the issue, save the changes, go back in, and then reprogram that zone with the new sensor. That's what we're going to be covering later in this video. Now, it is going to be a few more steps than just going in and replacing the serial number. However, if you want to avoid all of those other issues that would waste even more time, then you want to go in and just get those changes done, replace that zone with the new one, and that's it. So, now if you want to go ahead and replace the sensor, then, basically, you're just going to go into the main programming of the system. And we're going to be using the installer code for this. So what you want to do is, up at the top right of the screen, you normally see a 2GIG logo. So if you tap on that, it's going to bring up this keypad. This is actually going to be taking you directly to the installer programming, or the installer toolbox. So we're just going to type in 1561, that is the default installer code. And now you're just going to go into System Configuration, and then, up at the top left, the Wireless Zones. Now this is going to bring it to your zone list. Right. If you scroll down a little bit, you'll see all of your different zones that you have. You're going to locate, or you're going to look for that zone that's having an issue at the moment. In this occasion, we have a sensor programmed to zone 1 right now, just a normal 5800-Series sensor, because the 2GIG systems can work with Honeywell for the 800-Series sensors. So, we have it programmed on Zone 1. As you can see on the left side, you can spot that. But on the right side, it shows you all the settings for this device. Now as you'll see, I mean, you'll see the serial number right here. And you do not want to, as I said, you do not want to just replace the serial number. You want to completely remove the zone. So we're going to tap on the trash can. And you're going to reset Zone 1. So once you've done it, once you've reset that, and, basically, you've confirmed that it's not even saying Wireless Zone 1 anymore, just tap on Return to System Configuration. Hit the back arrow. It's going to prompt you to go ahead and confirm your changes. So you want to confirm these changes to make sure that the system is registering that you did remove that zone. So you can tap on Save. System disarmed, ready to arm. And now you're going to readd that zone. So we're going to follow the same exact steps to re-enter the program, and to get to the zone programming. This is a little bit tedious, but it's the way to ensure that your system is working correctly. So go into System Configuration, Wireless Zones. And here you'll see Zone 1 completely removed. There's nothing here for serial number, sensor type is completely nothing. All of this has been reset. So you're going to go ahead and tap on that zone that was having the issue, and you're going to Edit at the bottom, and take you to the Setup here. So sensor type, you want to go ahead and choose the one that you're setting up. Essentially, this is going to be, like, if you're using a door contact, and if you're setting it up for like an entry exit area, then Entry Exit 1. If you have like a longer delay period for when you're coming in the home, then Entry Exit 2, or Exit Entry 2. Program and motion detector, perimeter censor. You know, this is, essentially, where what you're going to be assigning that sensor to do whenever the alarm systems is armed. So, basically, we're just setting up a door contact, so we're going to be using Exit Entry 1. So Equipment Code, this is also extremely important, as well, because you want-- this is, basically, you're telling the system what kind of sensor you're programming. If you're setting up, like, one of the 2GIG thin door contact, you choose that. If it's going to be recessed door contact, you choose the 2GIG Recess Door Contact. Smoke detector, you want to choose Smoke Detector. You're assigning this zone to that specific sensor. You're telling the system what sensor it is that you're using. So for a Honeywell door sensor, a 5800-series, we're going to be choosing Existing Door Window Contact. And then we're going to go to serial number. So this is where you want to get the sensor serial number, go ahead, and you can manually enter that. Or you can put the system to learn mode, and you can have it pick up the sensor automatically when you fault it. So if you tap on Learn, it's currently listening for it. So if we fault the magnet from the sensor, it's going to pick it up. Just tap to accept. And there you go, you have the new serial number programmed. So now that you have the serial number programmed, you can go ahead and move forward with setting up the rest of the settings here. You have Smart Areas Assignment. Basically, if you have any certain partitions, you can go ahead and assign the sensor to that partition. You have the equipment age, sensor loop. You want to make sure the sensor loop is set up correctly. Now, I mean the thing is, if you are manually programming the sensors, then you want to make sure that you're choosing the right loop. But if you go ahead and auto enroll the sensor, just like I did, then, normally, it would just program that loop automatically. But you always want to make sure it's matching up with the sensor to make sure the sensor is working correctly. And then you have the Transmission Delay, Voice Descriptor, Sensor Reports, Supervised or Supervision, and then the Sensor Chime. You can enable, disable these options if you want to, just make sure that you're configuring this the way that you like the sensor to work. Now once everything is configured, and correct to your standards, then just go ahead and click on Return to System Configuration. And then hit the back arrow. And now it's going to bring up this window. It's going to go ahead and ask you to save the changes, just like earlier. At this point, once you've confirmed everything is correct, just press Save. System disarmed, ready to arm. OK. I thought it was going to talk. So now, once you have the sensor programmed, you just want to test it out, sure it's working correctly. In this instance, I did just fault the sensor by accident, but, and it did pull it up. But now as you can see, it is pulling up on the system. It's not exactly giving me a voice description or voice enunciation, because I didn't enable that. So, if you did want to go ahead and hear-- hear the voice enunciation any time a sensor faulted, or a door sensor, then you would go into the programming, and enable of the chime, or the sensor chime. You can choose voice only. You can have a certain chime go off whenever the door is opened. However you want to set it. So, just first things first, you just want to set fault the sensor and make sure it's working correctly. Second thing is you want to make sure you can bypass the sensor. As you can see, when you fault that sensor, it should bring it up right here, and you see a bypass option down here. Another method to go ahead and bypass a sensor, is to go into the programming. So if you go into System Settings at the bottom, we're not going to go up here, but if you go down here to System Settings, you can tap on that. You can go ahead and just enter your master code. The default master code is 1111. Now right at the top, you'll see Bypass Sensors, go into there. You'll see the sensor that we have programmed. Now if you're trying to, whichever sensor you program, whatever zone it's on, you're going to look for it in that list that pops up. And if you can go ahead and bypass it, then you're fine. Once you've gone ahead and done the bypass, I mean, two bypasses, essentially, you just tap on Bypass, and you hit the back arrow. But once you've confirmed everything is working, and the sensor has been successfully bypassed, then you just go ahead unbypass it. And if you do want to go ahead and actually do a full system test with the sensor, like if you want to make sure that the sensor is actually tripping the alarm whenever the system is armed, then just make sure that you're notifying the central station first, or put the system in test mode, so that you make sure you're not causing any issues or causing any alarms to have the police dispatched, anything like that. So just keep that in mind. But once you've made sure everything is correct, and the sensor is working fine, then you're good to go. Just go ahead and pop the sensor in place where the bad sensor was, and you're all set. And that is how you replace a bad sensor in a 2GIG GC3e system. If you have any further questions about the 2GIG GC3e or alarm systems in general, please reach us at support@alarmgrid.com or go to our website, alarmgrid.com. If you find this video helpful, please like or subscribe. If you want notifications of future videos, please click the bell icon. This is Jarrett with AlarmGrid, you have a great day.