I have a client with a Phast/Landmark system installed and four of his six keypads are not working. The original installation company is long gone and the client does not have any sw for the system. With that said can the keypads be replaced without having acces to the original code?

Travis

No

Call AMX they can probably repair the ones they have with out the need for reprograming.

I am going to take a guess here and say that the broken keypads are either the DMS or IMS keypads. Many homeowners and painters pulled the keypad faces off when repainting the room. If the keypads were powered up at the time, it can damage the keypad.
Used keypads show up all the time on Ebay. I am sure I still have some on the shelf in the warehouse.
Try and post ALL of the system components in your next post, including all the cards in the cardframe of the cf-10. We can then give you more information.
Does the The CF-10 main controller have a computer plugged into it? Some systems ran from a computer and others from the programming dumped into the master card. You can do a read on the system software with the PHAST program running on your computer, but you will not gather all the info. Depending on the complexity of the system, this may not be worth doing (repairing).
1. See if you can find a PHAST dealer to help you. Both of you would be paid from the homeowner to estimate repair costs.
2. After evaluating the original functions, find out if there are features that would need to be added or removed. This info should come directly from the user in the home. Now, see if you can duplicate these features with a Crestron, AMX, Speakercraft, VANTAGE, or Lutron system. Get a estimate of this equipment cost to the homeowner.

The IMS/DMS programming is stored on the Master controller. SO Techically, you can replace the keypads. The hard part will be setting the Keypad ID, because if they are dead, you cant read it, and if you dont have the original program, you cant get em that way...

So basically I guess I'm saying it is going to nearly impposible to correct the system at this point....

PHAST was a not so good idea 7 years ago.... You should try to update him to a new Netlinx Master controller that can work with his Working DMS pads and upgrade the others from t here.

Well, here we go again. Another PHAST nightmare. Gee, 4 out of 6 keypads not working. What a surprise. And I doubt it was the painters. They failed pure and simple, same as they always did.

I rarely had a failure with a keypad QQQ. Most of the damage and/or replacement was from thunderstorms / static discharge and faceplate removal. I would disagree that they were a nightmare. Of course, there were some poorly designed products in the line that had trouble, namely the lighting controls MLCs, but the rest of the products I had decent luck with. JMO
If 4 out of the 6 keypads are indeed dead, I would be one to change out the entire system to another, but we need more information on the components that made up this PHAST system.

The "system" consists of a Home Theater System and a distributed Wholehouse Stereo System (6 rooms) with shared sources (CD, Satellite, Tuner, etc..).


The Phast system components include:

CF-10 w/ MCU4, 3- IROUT (No computer connected)

VPT-CP Touchscreen

AS-8 Audio Switch

DMS Keypads (6) Total.


We confirmed it is the keypads by swapping out the known good ones. That also confirmed the kepads have hard coded IDs and not dependent on the port connection. There lies the problem.

What state are you in? I could reprogram it for you, get keypads, and walk you thru the redo for a cut.
Radiorhea

Sell the house. Get out quick

Even *assuming* that was the primary cause of failures, I have this strange idea that normal thunder storms (NOT lighting strikes) shouldn't cause peoples light switches and keypads to fail :-). As for the removal problems, it was a highly defective design that often failed when removed, whether "correctly" or "incorrectly". The line that they were failing because "a painter probably removed them" line was one that PHAST actively promoted for quite a while. That's it, it's the painters fault ;-)!

radiorhea,


I am in Florida. Let's make a deal... The client's very interested in a fix. (2 million dollar beach condo so the money is there). Send me an email with your info and we can talk.

I agree QQQ that it was a poor design. I don't think any keypad should fail from a user touching it with a static discharge. The removal part of the face is as much of a design problem and also a user/installer information problem. There should have been a micro switch that cut power when the face was removed. But who gives a @#@$ anymore! :) IT didn't last long enough to get refined and I don't think AMX cared to refine it. As you know there were some major internal changes at the time.
I have had more torture from other products that PHAST- that's all. BTW, have you messed with the Digilix yet? I just got back from training.

You never did say what was wrong with the keypads. Maybe it's just the face, try swapping the fronts between a good and a bad. If that's all it is, then you can pick up new keypads and swap the fronts. Just beware that there are 2 different style face connectors.

During the initial investigation we tried the various combinations between the good face plates and the keypads that were not working and it still was the keypad.