Using the Backdoor to Enter Programming on a Honeywell L5200 or L5210

Hi, DIY-ers. This is Michael from AlarmGrid, and today, I'm going to be showing you how to use the backdoor method to get into programming on a Honeywell Lynx Touch L5200 or Lynx Touch L5210 security system if you become locked out of programming. The two reasons you would become locked out of programming either because you don't know the installer code for the system, the default is 4112, but if you find that that code is not working and you don't know the code, then you're locked out of programming. Or because you chose to not allow the installer to re-enter programming when you exited programming last. You always want to choose Yes when exiting programming, so that way, you don't become locked out. But should you become locked out, you can get back into programming using what's called the backdoor method. It requires you to reboot the system and then press and hold the Home button. And then once the system loads back up, you perform a special sequence of commands to get into programming. So I'm going to show you that here. The first thing I want to do on our L5210-- and the L5200 is going to follow the same process, also the L7000 will follow the same process, but we're using an L5210 today and I'm going to be showing you first how you become locked out of programming. So we're going to choose Security, we're going to choose More, and we're going to choose Tools. And then we're going to enter in our installer code which ours is at the default 4-- I entered two 4s, I will try again-- 4112, 4112. There, now we got into the menu. So you see, when I choose Program, it does take us into programming so we aren't locked out of programming right now. And so I'm going to exit out of programming and it's going to ask me, do I want to allow the installer to re-enter programming, and I'm going to choose Yes just for demonstration. Yes is what you always wanted to choose, and you're going to see it allows me to re-enter programming just fine. But now, this time when I exit programming, I'm going to choose No. And it won't lock me out right away, I'll actually be able to get in if I immediately go back into programming, but we're going to wait around for five minutes or so and we're going to see that we indeed get locked out programming, and then I'll show you how to get back in. So we're going to choose this back button here and we're going to choose No, and it's going to ask us if we're sure and we're going to choose Yes, we are sure. And once we wait around for a little bit, we're going to be locked out of programming. Now, you never want to do this. You always want to choose Yes, allow the installer to re-enter programming, so that way, you don't become locked out. But for our demonstration, we're going to wait around and then you're going to see that it's not going to allow me to re-enter programming. OK, so we waited around for about five minutes or so, and now, when I choose Program, it won't allow me back in. See, nothing happens when I press Programming. So we are officially locked out of programming and now we're going to have to use the backdoor method to get back in. So I'm going to return to the main screen here, we enter in our master code when it asks for it, or it goes away, that's fine too. But we are the main screen of our L5210 security system, and now, we're going to do Security, and we're going to choose More. We're going to choose Tools, and we're going to enter in our master code this time. Ours is at the default of 1234. This code is usually changed for security purposes but we have ours at the default. So 1234. And that takes us to what's called the Master Tools menu. That's this menu right here. So we're going to perform a reboot by choosing Test, and then we're going to choose Reboot. It's going to ask if I'm sure and I'm going to choose Yes, and it will begin the reboot process. Now, if you don't know the master code for your Lynx Touch system, then you can alternatively open up the panel, disconnect the backup battery, and then unplug the transformer to power down the system and then plug the transformer back in and the system will be in the reboot process and you can essentially do the same thing. But in our case, we do know code so we're just going to use this menu option. That's a lot easier than having to open up the panel and mess around with it. So we're going to choose Yes. And then as soon as it lights back up, we're going to press and hold the Home button. And we're going to hold that down until the system fully reboots. And you'll know that it fully reboots because you'll either get the green Ready to Arm bar at the top or you'll get a yellow Trouble Condition bar at the top of the screen. So we're just going to keep it held down until that happens. There will be a part where it boots up with system standby displayed. You don't want to release it at that time, you want to keep it held down through the process. And then once it comes back up, we're going to quickly choose Security, and then Arm Stay, and then a keypad will appear and we're going to choose Clear followed by double zero, and then we'll get into programming. So you'll see that here. So just wait while the system reboots. OK, we're going to choose Security, and then we're going to choose Arm Stay, and we're going to enter in Clear 00. And then we can choose Program, and it allows us back into programming after we were locked out. So that's the backdoor method right there. If you did get into programming this way because you didn't know your installer code, it's a good idea to go into the Installer Code option and make sure your code is 4112. So that way, even if you lose the code, you can look it up because this default code is posted all over our site. You'll be able to find it even if you lost it for whatever reason. So we're going to set to 4112, and we're going to choose Done, and then we can exit programming. And this time, we want to choose Yes to allow the installer to re-enter programming so that way we don't become locked out again. So we'll choose Yes, and then we can just go back to the main screen here. And so that's how you get into programming on a Honeywell Lynx Touch L5200 or Lynx Touch L5210. If you become locked out, use the backdoor method. So if you have any questions about the Lynx Touch systems like the L5210 or the L5200 or about alarm monitoring service, send an email to support@alarmgrid.com and we'd love to help you out. If you find this video helpful, make sure to give it a thumbs up the low to like the video, and remember to subscribe to our channel for updates on future videos. We hope you enjoyed the video. Thank you.