Boy this is a great forum.
It seems we all manage to get ourselves in some sort of a pickle - it sure is great to have a place to find some help in these matters!
I Have an Ademco 15p Alarm System Installed in a home with 2 6150 Keypads. (We've long since stopped paying for monitoring.)
One of the keypads had a sticky #3.
Instead of replacing it, can the system be reprogrammed so that the 3 isn't needed?
Currently to arm it, you push #3. How can this be changed?
Currently, our arm/disarm code includes the number 3. How can this be changed?
Searching this forum I learned to punch in 6321 800 to access programming. Now the screen says 20 and there's 2 right pointing arrows.
Please help out - what needs to be done to reprogram this keypad/alarm???
Thank you!!!!
You change the user code from run mode, not from installer programming.
Exit programming by entering *99
From the keypad that all the keys work, enter:
[current master code] + 8 + 02 + [newcode] + [new code again]
You have to do this in a continuous set of keystrokes. If you hesitate more than a couple of seconds between key presses, it will kick out of code programming.
All of this is in both the user and installer manuals: Websearch using the phrase Vista 15p (or 20p) installer (or user) manual.
Thanks Mr Ron!
Your help is invaluable!
Using your instructions, resetting the user code took 10 seconds.
Looking at the manual - it's hard for the unfamiliar to glean the right info.
For instance - it seems to indicate that each keypad has to be programmed. But it's unclear if I can simply unplug each keypad and swap their locations. (Thus negating the sticky #3 problem.) Would doing this necessitate reprogramming?
Again, your assistance is highly appreciated.
The keypads don't care where they are, physically. Their address settings are electronic logic, they are all wired in parallel. Swap away. (power down to be safe)
I went through the entire users guide looking for powering down but saw nothing.
Would this mean unplugging the AC and disconnecting the battery - or would that wreck the programming?
Thanks again for your fine assistance.
Yes, disconnect one lead of the battery and pull the AC plug. Your info will not be erased.
Originally Posted by MrRonFL
You change the user code from run mode, not from installer programming.
Exit programming by entering *99
From the keypad that all the keys work, enter:
[current master code] + 8 + 02 + [newcode] + [new code again]
You have to do this in a continuous set of keystrokes. If you hesitate more than a couple of seconds between key presses, it will kick out of code programming.
All of this is in both the user and installer manuals: Websearch using the phrase Vista 15p (or 20p) installer (or user) manual.
What's the procedure for adding a code?
If you mean a secondary user code on a 15p/20p, that would be [master code] + 8 + [2 digit user number] + [new code].
In my copy of the installer manual it's on page 6-4.
Thanks for the info! I was able to successfully reset the master code on my vista 20p
I am leasing a house that has a Honeywell Ademco 6150 alarm system already installed, but we don't know the alarm code. Is there a way to reset the master code? I would really like to use this system since 4 of my neighbors have been burglarized in the last month.
Originally Posted by Daytona
I am leasing a house that has a Honeywell Ademco 6150 alarm system already installed, but we don't know the alarm code. Is there a way to reset the master code? I would really like to use this system since 4 of my neighbors have been burglarized in the last month.
Daytona, Honeywell/Ademco 6150 is the model number of your keypad, not the control panel. The 6150 keypad fits virtually every single Ademco control panel made in the last fifteen years or so.
Code programming is different for different models, so if you can find your control panel and get the model number, we can advise you. Your CP will be in a steel cabinet roughly the size of a bathroom medicine cabinet, typically in a basement or closet or furnace room. Inside the cabinet door you should find a schematic with the model number on top.
As long as you're at it, do you know how long it's been since the system was used (meaning the last time it was armed), and how old is the standby battery in the cabinet? Is it all hardwired or does it have wireless sensors? More than five years suggests replacing batteries if you want to use it trouble-free.
I don't have a schematic in the panel-box or what I can tell is a model number, with the panel cover off, I was able to remove the side cover with the title security system module. I have a circuit board with 17 filled wire clamp-ons (where you screw down a wire) then 21 through 25 are filled with wire clamps that lead to a phone block. All the house's CAT 3 cable ends up in this panel as well. The home was built in 07. Any ideas or codes off the circuit board that could help identify which model I have? I appreciate the help!
Ah, yours is installed in a structured wiring system instead of a traditional standalone alarm enclosure.
I'm gonna guess that its a Vista 20p.
Look on the edges of the motherboard. There will be a part number that usually starts with SAV lettered right on the phenolic base. It may be on a label on the largest chip on the motherboard, as well.
Whoops! You beat me to it, MrRonFL; posted while I was trying to ask more question. Thanks, I hadn't figured this one out.
Daytona, if you do have a Vista 15P or 20P, here's a link to the manual you need.
http://www.alarmeengros.com/installation15P.pdf
It says SAVS15P3
Does that mean it's a Vista 15p?
I contacted the owner and was given the initial builder code. I ran through the procedure to change the master code and at the end the display just says 'FC'. No additional beeps or anything.
Unfortunately I read arm the alarm after thinking I had reset the code but now I can't disarm it. I will unplug the AC power and battery so I can go to work in the morning but how can I reset the system code to default, and what is the default? I am not finding that readily in the 88 page manual.
You guys are incredibly helpful, I appreciate it.
Originally Posted by Daytona
It says SAVS15P3
Does that mean it's a Vista 15p?
I contacted the owner and was given the initial builder code. I ran through the procedure to change the master code and at the end the display just says 'FC'. No additional beeps or anything.
Unfortunately I read arm the alarm after thinking I had reset the code but now I can't disarm it. I will unplug the AC power and battery so I can go to work in the morning but how can I reset the system code to default, and what is the default? I am not finding that readily in the 88 page manual.
You guys are incredibly helpful, I appreciate it.
Yes, it's a Vista-15P.
In alarm terminology, there is no such thing as a builder's code. The builder may have given the owner the installer's code or the master code. Hopefully it was the master code but we don't know yet.
Arming without knowing for sure that you have a working _user_ code is about the worst thing you could do at the keypad. You cannot get into program mode while the system is armed.
If you manage to get it disarmed, DON'T arm it again until you KNOW you have a valid USER code (Not an installer code).
Hopefully it isn't programmed to Power Up in Previous State. If you're very lucky, it will be disarmed when you power it back up. If it is disarmed, power up and press the[*] and [#] keys simultaneously within 50 seconds of powering up. This puts it in program mode. (This will not work if the system has powered up in the armed state.) A [20] will show in the display.
DON'T EXPERIMENT IN PROGRAM MODE!!!!!
Press [#]-[2]-[0] and the four digits of your INSTALLER code will display, one at a time. If the default code of 4112 is your installer code, it will display like, [04]--[01]--[01]--[02]. Whatever it displays, that's your installer code, _not_ a user code. Write it down and press *99 to leave program mode.
Do not press anything except #20 and *99 while you are in installer program mode.
Your next step is to program a master code, by entering:
[Installer code] + [0]+[02]+ [New Master Code]
This is not installer program mode, by the way, it's user programming. You can't do much damage here except to lose track of what your code is.
Check the new code by entering [New Code] + [1](disarm key) and if the keypad beeps, it recognized the code. DO NOT arm the system before testing the code!
Incidentally, just because someone tried this recently and got all confused: Don't try to use the same number for the installer and master codes. The system won't accept it.
Search the web using the keywords: Ademco, Vista-15P, user, manual. The programming for additional user codes is in the user manual, which is not as thick as the installer manual. It will also give valuable info on use your system. I recommend you print it out at your first opportunity.
I strongly recommend you make at least one other user code, even if you're the only one using the system, and pick a number you'll remember forever or can look up, like a best friend's phone number or something. I use a (very old) defunct out-of-print phone number.
The reason I always want users to have another code is that the next time you're changing your code, you could make an error and program in a number other than the one you intended. You always need a way to disarm the system: You cannot get into programming if the system is armed.
Speaking of which: If the system is still armed when you power up again---Houston, we have a problem. Post back and let us know.
Just piggy backing off what ChosunOne wrote. Be ABSOLUTELY certain you don't try *+# if more than 50 seconds go by. This is very often programmed as a hotkey combo for a Panic alarm, and will set the sounder off.
It powers up armed. Shoulda' woulda' coulda'...
What are the next steps? Is there a way to reset it or am I going to have to reprogram the whole shebang or replace a chip?
Power down and have someone press * + # and hold them _while_ you restore AC power. It's not a 100% (there are settings that can prevent this trick from working), but it's the best shot you have.
Otherwise, short of a lucky guess at a working user code (you have tried 1234?) the only other way in is via Compass software, and that's assuming that it's not been locked to another copy of the software.
That did disarm the system, thank God. I typed *99 to exit program mode but using the installer code + 0 + 02 sequence it did not work, using the master code + 8 + 02 did work so that's wonderful. I set a new mastercode but it seems the only door that triggers the alarm is our back door even though the garage door and front door have sensors. The green 'ready' light shuts off when any outside door is opened and 'not ready' appears on the display. This seems like a zone setting from when I glanced through the manual, any ideas? I really appreciate your help!
If the zones are otherwise working, the odds are that you didn't wait long enough for the exit delay to time out. (It runs even in stay and instant mode)
Thank you, guys! I was able to follow your great directions and program a new code on my Vista 15.
Now, any one know why it would beep twice every 10 minutes or so? I haven't found a mention to that in the manual... Plus, it is not coming from the keyboard. Seems to be coming from the built in wall speakers. It is loud! I can hear it all the way on my third floor.
Thanks again!
Are you sure that the sound is coming from an alarm sounder? It's very unusual for there to be more than 1-2 sirens on an alarm system in a residential system.
If there's nothing being displayed on the keypad when these sounds occur, my guess would be that there's something else in the house making the sound you are hearing. (smoke alarms and CO detectors are common culprits)
Tags: resetting, alarm, keypad, ademco, 6150, master code, user code, program mode, Ademco 6150, installer code, model number, more than
