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HONEYWELL RADIO REPAIR CALL - ARE YOU AFFECTED - 4G RADIOS
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Ken
I have Product Liability questions all on the same item listed above. See the attachments before responding. This effects a big part of the industry.
Questions:
1. What is the obligation of the manufacturer to get this information out to everyone possible that purchased these products in this industry?
2. What is the obligation of the alarm industry to advise their customers of the problem and rectify it? What is a reasonable time to rectify the problem (hours, days weeks, month)?
3. What is the obligation of the central stations who knows which dealers have these 4 G transmitters as well as when they were put in service to get this information out to them that they are monitoring for and provide them with a list of their accounts that can be affected if at all?
4. What is the liability for any of the above that fails to make sufficient attempts to insure that this problem is known in order to rectify it before a failure or loss (Fire, burglary etc.) with no notification to the authorities and there is a loose as a result of a failure to do so?
5. What is the liability on the alarm company that fails to address this problem when known and does not do so before a loss regardless of whether they use your contract or not?
6. What is the obligation to provide some financial compensation (of which there is currently none stated) to the alarm company that has to go out and correct the problem that they have stated as the manufacturer has officially recognized and provide a fix for with the understanding that they have the software problem that has existed at no fault of the alarm company and should bear the cost to fix it in all cases?
7. Does the industry have the possibility of a class action law suit against the manufacturer to seek financial compensation for the cost to go to each job site to install new software to address this problem since they are not the cause but make the repairs for such? (your opportunity here as I stated possible gains)
8. What is the liability from the manufacturer (yes I know that they have a disclaimer in their instructions on all their products) with regards to a delay in letting the industry know (see the date codes that they stated November 3, 2014) and there was a loss before this document when out that can be attributed to the failure of the 4 G transmitter?
Your responses these questions I am sure will prove a response from a lot of the industry members. The NYFAA just sent these notices out and Honeywell stated to me today that they will only send the repair kits on a case by case basis and not provide them in advance so that alarm companies can be prepared, only after a failure
This is a very important topic and timely topic. The related two attachment are necessary to these questions so posting them without such will be useless.
For this one do not use my name or any reference to me or my company as well as any hint of me but use from:
ANON
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Response
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Honeywell has identified certain problems with some of its radios and you need to be sure none of the radios you installed in your subscriber's systems include these problem radios. If they do then you need to fix them. Whether you can fix them for the reimbursed expense Honeywell offers is questionable, and if you have enough of them it may warrant seeking additional compensation from Honeywell.
A manufacturer and a dealer have responsibility to repair the faulty equipment. The effort to notify all involved and the urgency to effectuate the repairs would depend on the severity of the consequences of the faulty item. If I understand the Honeywell announcement correctly the equipment involves radios for fire and security systems. Communication failure has obvious consequences and exposes the dealer, the central station and the manufacturer to liability. Bottom line is you know about it now; get it fixed.
Reimbursement for your expenses can become an issue. The more radios you have the more work you have in front of you. On the other hand, more radios means you're a better customer and Honeywell may very well want to keep it that way. Providing the information or kit to make the repairs is of course the least Honeywell could do. Paying you a reasonable amount for your time and labor is something it should consider.
The Honeywell announcements are below. Thanks to the alarm guy too afraid to publisize his name for bringing this to my attention.
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Automation and Control Solutions
Honeywell Security Products Americas
2 Corporate Center Dr. Suite 100
P.O. Box 9040
Melville, NY
11747
Honeywell has discovered a low probability anomaly that in certain conditions will cause the IPGSM-4G radio to enter a failure state.
These failures manifest themselves as:
• No messages are sent from the communicator
• Local communicator Fault, and comm. failure conditions
• The communicator red Fault LED may be on solid
A power cycle is required to restore the radio.
Our records indicate that this issue appeared in production units, with a date range of Nov 3, 2014- July
30, 2015 (Date codes X307 through Y211).
Communications Failure Notification
o[1]7 Fire Alarm Control Panel local annunciation will be triggered by a radio fault.
o[1]7 AlarmNet will send a communications failure message to the central station in accordance with the
account’s supervision interval.
Firmware Upgrade
We have created enhanced firmware to address this behavior. See the table below for the appropriate
firmware versions affected.
Radio Models Affected
Firmware
versions
Firmware required to eliminate
the possibility of this issue
affecting a system
Link to Instructions for
upgrading firmware
IPGSM-4G/IPGSM-4GC V3.0-
V3.02
V3.0.7 or greater IPGSM-4G Firmware
Upgrade Instructions
A radio firmware upgrade kit (part# UPG-KT) and a laptop is required to upgrade the firmware to
the latest firmware version. The firmware upgrade kit is available at no charge upon request.
Honeywell strongly recommends that you upgrade all affected radios utilizing the UPG-KT at your
next site visit.
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Direct Wire #181
Technical Updates Directly To You
Subject: Anomalous firmware interaction with radio module that may cause
communication failures and require a hard reset.
Products: U.S. and Canadian Radio models: GSMX4G, GSMXCN4G GSMV4G,
GSMVCN4G, IGSMV4G, IGSMVCN4G, IGSMHS4G, IGSMCFP4G,
GSMVLP4G (for L3000), GSMVLPCN4G.
Control panel models: VISTA-21IP, VISTA-21iPLT, V21IPPCB
September 2015
Dear Valued Honeywell Customer:
We have discovered a low probability anomaly that in certain conditions may cause the radio models
listed above to enter a failure state and require a power cycle to restore normal operation of the radio.
These failures manifest themselves as follows:
• No messages are sent from the communicator
• Local communicator fault, and comm. failure conditions can occur
• The communicator red Fault LED may be on steadily
A local physical power cycling of the radio is required to restore the unit to normal operation
Our records indicate that this issue appeared in production units with a date range of Nov 3, 2014 –
September 11, 2015 (Date codes X307 through Y254).
The table below identifies the updated firmware version that will be made available for each radio and
control panel model:
Radio Models Firmware Version
IGSMCFP4G 3.0.7 or greater
IGSMHS4G 2.11.29 or greater
GSMX4G, GSMXCN4G, GSMV4G,
GSMVCN4G, GSMVLP4G (for L3000),
GSMVLPCN4G
2.10.75 or greater
IGSMV4G, IGSMVCN4G 2.12.5 or greater
Control Panels – Vista 21 Family Firmware Version
VISTA-21iP if using VISTA-GSM4G* 2.10.75
VISTA-21iPLT if using VISTA-GSM4G* 2.10.75
V21IPPCB 2.10.75
* VISTA-GSM4G radio does not need to be updated or exchanged.
We have created enhanced firmware to address this anomaly. It will be completed shortly for use in
upgrading impacted sites and will be incorporated into new production radios and Vista-21IP Control
panels being released into production in the near future.
Direct Wire #181 Page 1 of 3 9/11/15
Direct Wire #181
Technical Updates Directly To You
Initial List of Part Numbers for Building of New Units
The enhanced firmware will start in production beginning Monday, September 14 for the following
specific models:
• GSMX4G
• GSMXCN4G
• GSMV4G
• GSMVCN4G
• IGSMV4G
• IGSMVCN4G
• IGSMCFP4G
• VISTA-21IP
You can identify a unit with the newer enhanced version by looking for the appropriate firmware revision on the outside of the box. Normal timeframes will be required to build stock and get inventory into ADI distribution centers.
Second List of Part Numbers for Building of New Units
If the radio is not shown in the above Initial List, it will be part of this second list. A subsequent notice will be sent when these remaining models have started in production with their appropriate new firmware.
What to do should you locate an impacted unit:
Radios
Should you identify a radio impacted by this issue, Honeywell recommends you take the following
actions:
1. Replace the radio with a newer version radio that has firmware version equal or greater than
those listed in the above table, or
2. Upgrade the existing radio (takes less time than swapping the radio) using a laptop and a
Honeywell supplied upgrade kit (part number UPG-KT)
In addition, you should:
• Verify that the radio is programmed with an appropriate AlarmNet service plan for the
installation (e.g. – Daily Supervision, Monthly Supervision, Commercial Fire)
• Verify (you can use AlarmNet Direct remotely if desired) that the communicator fault time
of the communicator is set to a NON-zero (00) value. A non-zero value will enable local
annunciation to the panel of a communication failure. If left at 00, communicator faults will
not be annunciated locally. NOTE: on iGSMV4G units, enable the "Notify Panel of"
program option for “Both IP and GSM” faults to ensure proper annunciation.
Direct Wire #181 Page 2 of 3 9/11/15
Direct Wire #181
Technical Updates Directly To You
• Ensure that the panel is programmed (you can use Compass remotely if desired) to
supervise the communicator to provide a fault alert
(Note: Panel supervision of the communicator is standard on Low End Vista models
(Vista-15/20 class) and optional on the high-end VISTA controls. Make sure that this
feature is set on appropriately for the panel being used)
The radio firmware upgrade kit, part number UPG-KT, is designed for use with a laptop. Note that this
upgrade kit is being made available at no charge upon request. We are working to ramp up
production and get additional volumes of the UPG-KT which should start to become available in
limited quantities late next week.
In addition to upgrading or replacing units that may be directly impacted by this anomaly, Honeywell also strongly recommends that you upgrade all units within the date code range indicated utilizing the UPG-KT at your next site visit or new installation.
VISTA-21iP Control Panels
NOTE: This issue affects VISTA-21iP controls only if used with a VISTA-GSM4G radio. This issue
does not affect the VISTA-21iP if using IP only.
Should you identify a VISTA-21iP installed with a VISTA-GSM4G module impacted by this issue,
Honeywell recommends you replace the control panel pc board with a Vista 21iP replacement kit that has a firmware version equal to or greater than that listed in the table above. Use replacement kit
V21PCB-RP.
Refer to the instructions included in the upgrade kit for replacement procedure details.
We are committed to keeping you informed during this firmware transition period. Future correspondences will be forthcoming with release information of radio firmware updates. Additionally, we will be posting these announcements on AlarmNet Direct to ensure awareness of the releases. All firmware releases will be posted on https://mywebtech.honeywell.com/, where they may be downloaded for any required radio upgrades.
To request an upgrade kit, please call Honeywell Technical Support:
Monday through Friday 8:30AM to 8:00PM
AlarmNet Tech Support 1-800-222-6525
Intrusion Tech Support 1-800-645-7492
Thank you for your continued support for Honeywell products.
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