Teken Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 (edited) I haven't purchased anything yet except the Smoke Bridge and battery-only Smoke/CO detector I got as a set a year or more ago I was inquiring prior to making any further purchases after seeing this thread. Since I'm planning everything to be hardwired and interconnected via that method, the only thing I really need OneLink for is communication to the Smoke Bridge and the one OneLink only smoke/CO detector. As I understand it, the SA521CN would act as the bridge between hardwired units and any OneLink units you have. If one of the hardwired units were to activate, then the SA521CN would send that via OneLink to any wireless units. That's correct - I use this hybrid method in my home right now and works just perfectly. For me the advantages of the *One Link* system is it allowed me to have battery only units in areas I wanted to monitor and not have to worry about running wires. It also enabled me to have a measure of fail over in case of a surge event that could take out the 120 VAC smoke alarms. Lastly, because they are all interconnected via the *One Link* system they extend the fire protection grid in my home which is directly linked to the security alarm panel which then relays the same information to the Central Station (CS). Having the Insteon Smoke Bridge is just the icing on the cake as it allows me to create emergency lighting scenes to ensure a well lit path for everyone in the home. Speaking for myself only the SB was one of the best hardware releases from Smartlabs. Edited May 9, 2016 by Teken
MrTinker Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 Thank you for confirming the proposed setup should work as I think Currently my house has six hardwired smoke only alarms (FireX). One in each of the three bedrooms, two outside those bedrooms in the hallways and one in the basement. I have a ranch so I can access any wiring for the main floor alarms in the attic fairly easily. I want to replace the existing FireX with the proposed hardwired BRK smoke detectors and add CO detectors (one on each floor) and will hardwire the one for the main floor (likely very close to one of the existing hallway smoke detectors) so extending the wiring to that should be pretty easy and straight forward. The reviews I read of the smoke/CO combo units from First Alert weren't great (it *seemed* like it was the CO part false alarming was the issue) which is why I was going with separates.
Teken Posted May 9, 2016 Posted May 9, 2016 Thank you for confirming the proposed setup should work as I think Currently my house has six hardwired smoke only alarms (FireX). One in each of the three bedrooms, two outside those bedrooms in the hallways and one in the basement. I have a ranch so I can access any wiring for the main floor alarms in the attic fairly easily. I want to replace the existing FireX with the proposed hardwired BRK smoke detectors and add CO detectors (one on each floor) and will hardwire the one for the main floor (likely very close to one of the existing hallway smoke detectors) so extending the wiring to that should be pretty easy and straight forward. The reviews I read of the smoke/CO combo units from First Alert weren't great (it *seemed* like it was the CO part false alarming was the issue) which is why I was going with separates. I haven't read too many reviews of the battery only smoke / co units. But know many of the false alarms people get per year are normally user issues or placement issues. I don't know how many still use ion vs photo sensors but many times basic dusk build up along with those who smoke have caused many false nuisance trips. Couple this with people not running the exhaust fan long enough after a long steamy shower / bath. To those who insist upon letting water boil on the stove forever and having a smoke detector only mere feet from said appliance?!?! That is just a recipe for disaster along with the fact so many people are too lazy to do any of the basic checks per month / year. I've written about this problem probably more times than I care to recall - so when I read, hear, or see people die or lose everything they own. Simply because they were too cheap, lazy, to do a monthly fire check by pressing the *Test* button. Never mind changing out or measuring the batteries based on the change of DST. Its quite sad to know it could have been avoided . . .
mcwxlsxn Posted May 10, 2016 Posted May 10, 2016 Not sure what happened to mine and Teken's recent posts about my follow-up to the OneLink and Smoke Bridge. Hopefully a moderator can explain what happened. Anyways...the recent First Alert SA521CN that I purchased (six), do not have OneLink on the front or back. Just an FYI for all others. And in case they don't resurrect my missing posts; I tried a new Smoke Bridge and a new First Alert SA521CN, everything worked fine but the documentation seemed to be a little off. If they can't get my missing posts, I'll try to re-write the whole pairing method that I used.
MrTinker Posted May 10, 2016 Posted May 10, 2016 Not sure what happened to mine and Teken's recent posts about my follow-up to the OneLink and Smoke Bridge. Hopefully a moderator can explain what happened. Anyways...the recent First Alert SA521CN that I purchased (six), do not have OneLink on the front or back. Just an FYI for all others. And in case they don't resurrect my missing posts; I tried a new Smoke Bridge and a new First Alert SA521CN, everything worked fine but the documentation seemed to be a little off. If they can't get my missing posts, I'll try to re-write the whole pairing method that I used. Thank you in advance for taking the time to redo that (if needed). I just placed the order for new detectors for my house so I may need that info soon What you said is interesting (OneLink no longer listed on the front or back of the detectors). The pics on Amazon show it no longer shown on the front (just Wireless), but they still showed it on the back. It will be interesting to see what the one SA521CN I ordered looks like when it arrives. Of course, more importantly, I'm hoping it works as expected with the OneLink detector and Smoke Bridge I have. Thanks to everyone for the advice, guidance and information!
mcwxlsxn Posted May 10, 2016 Posted May 10, 2016 Thank you in advance for taking the time to redo that (if needed). I just placed the order for new detectors for my house so I may need that info soon What you said is interesting (OneLink no longer listed on the front or back of the detectors). The pics on Amazon show it no longer shown on the front (just Wireless), but they still showed it on the back. It will be interesting to see what the one SA521CN I ordered looks like when it arrives. Of course, more importantly, I'm hoping it works as expected with the OneLink detector and Smoke Bridge I have. Thanks to everyone for the advice, guidance and information! I'll get that post in shortly so you should have no issues linking the two devices. Regarding the Amazon and OneLink designation on the back; that's what I was commenting on originally. Because none of mine from now and back in August 2015 had OneLink printed anywhere on them. I noticed Amazon had the picture with the back showing OneLink but I just double-checked mine last night and there was no "OneLink" printed on the back. I imagine yours won't either.
mcwxlsxn Posted May 10, 2016 Posted May 10, 2016 I re-purchased a Smoke Bridge and First Alert SA521CN after my initial attempts failed back in August 2015. Plug SB into wall. Hold "Set" on SB until blinking green. Add device using ISY. Hold "Set" on SB again until blinking green. Hold "Test" on Smoke Alarm until "chirp" begins. SB LED changes to blinking red. Test finishes, SB did not change LED color or stop blinking. Pressed "Set" on SB. LED goes back to solid green. Query nodes/devices in ISY and statuses are back to normal. Added 6 additional Smoke Alarms to the first Smoke Alarm using the method described by First Alert. Tested all Smoke Alarms and received my programmed notifications without issue.
MrTinker Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 Interesting. I believe I added the Smoke Bridge to the ISY (994) how I would any other Insteon device (using "New INSTEON Device" in the admin console, entering the address and a name and letting it auto discover the type). Then hit the Set button and linked the SCO500 to it. My new detectors should all be here before the weekend so hopefully I can get them installed and tested. I'll report back when I can.
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