Properly Testing the Honeywell 5800CO with a Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus

Hi, DIYers. Joe from AlarmGrid. And today, we're going to talk about how do you properly test your 5800CO with your Qolsys IQ2 system. Now, before you install a 5800C0 for your IQ2, you will want to make sure that it is compatible. We did cover this in another video, though. So if you are considering that, be sure to check that out. We do have a system or an IQ2 that is compatible with the devices that work on the 345 megahertz frequency, which is what the 5800 line does operate on. And as you can see, we do have a 5800CO right here. Now, we have programmed this to the system, so it's ready to be tested. But before we get into that, there's a few things that you're going to want to know about testing really CO detectors that are on an alarm system. If you do have your system monitored, it is very important that you put the system on test before you trigger your CO detector. Reason for this is that if your central station gets a CO signal and your system is just running normally-- as in it's not on test-- they're going to have to dispatch to it. This is even if you call them up and you try to cancel it, there is a federal law that says that if a central station gets a CO signal that they have to roll trucks. So the fire department will be coming to your house, and they're not going to be very happy. So before you do test this device, make sure that your system is on test if it is monitored by a central station. And if you don't know if it is or not, make sure that you call your alarm company beforehand just to make sure. If your system is monitored with a self-monitoring account-- as in there is no central station-- then you don't have anything to worry about. And you can really set this off as many times as you like without having to put anything on test. Now, there's two test modes with the 5800CO. There's the physical button test which we're going to show you today. That's where you press this button that sets off the alarm, and it shows you that it's working. There is also a functional test. What that is is after you press this button for about 27 seconds or so, the CO will be in a test mode where you can spray canned CO into the unit to trigger it. This is the best test to do as it really shows that the device is working 100% and the way that it was made to do. The button test does work. And it's great, but it's not going to test that functional aspect of the CO detector. So if you really want to perform a 100% test on this device, just go online, pick up a can of canned CO that's really cheap, and then you'll be able to rest assured that your device does work 100%. But today, and for many other testing purposes, doing the button test will at least show you that the device is working and communicating with your system. So as we already have this programmed and our IQ2 is not monitored by a central station, we are ready to test the device. And it's very easy to do. All I have to do is there is a small hole right here in the middle of the CO and then take a screwdriver. I'm going to put it in the hole and press the button. [BEEPING] As you can see, we did get an alarm. And it is giving us the carbon alarm sound. I'm going to go ahead and disarm it. And we just successfully completed the test. So now let's do a real test on our wireless CO detector. I have a can of CO right here. You can purchase this on Amazon or at other stores. If you go online and do a quick search you'll find lots of places to pick these up. Now this is CO, and what this will allow us to do is to simulate as if there was CO in the location. So this shows us that the detector is working properly, and that it is triggering an alarm on the system when we want it to. To do this, we're first going to have to hold the test button on the CO for two seconds. This is going to trigger an alarm. We're going to disarm that alarm and then we're going to see on our CO the green lights flashing. This will go on for about 27 seconds. That green flashing light is telling us CO is ready to accept or the CO detector is ready to accept CO. When we spray this into the detector, we should get another alarm. And that alarm, whoops-- that alarm shows us that the CO detector is actually working. So let's give it a shot. So I have my CO right here. I'm going to take my screwdriver. I'm going to trigger the test. So I'm going to hold this in for two seconds. [BEEPING] Carbon monoxide detector alarm. So there's our alarm. So we can disarm this. Carbon monoxide detector alarm. And if you-- System is now disarmed. Take a look, our green light is flashing which is telling us that the CO detector is ready to accept CO. So I'm going to take my canned CO, and I'm going to cup my hand over it just to make sure it all gets in there. But we're going to spray it in these three holes right here. That's the detection chamber. [BEEPING] Carbon monoxide detector alarm. Let me disarm this real quick. So we just sprayed CO in the detector which did trigger the alarm-- System is now disarmed. Which we have on our system now. So after you trigger the real alarm with your carbon, it may take a few seconds for the CO detector to stop beeping as there may still be carbon in the detection chamber. Once that fully clears out, it will stop. And the CO detector will stop beeping after you disarm the system. As these are life safety devices, they're a little more permanent we could say than the door and window sensors, and the motion sensors in your house. Just because if there's CO in the house or fire, you're going to want to know about it as soon as possible. Testing your COs that are connected to the system periodically will just show you that everything is working and that you're not going to have any nasty surprises if something goes wrong. If you do you have any questions, though, about 5800CO, how to interface it with a Qolsys system or alarm systems in general, feel free to reach out to us. Give us a call at 888-818-7728. Send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com, or head to our website www.alarmgrid.com If you enjoyed the video, feel free to subscribe. And if you want to be notified when we post future videos, hit the notification button below, and we'll send you an update when we do so. Thanks for watching and have a great day.