Taking Ownership of Your Interlogix Concord 4 Security System

I bought a house recently and there is a security system that was pre-installed during the initial build. The previous owner was using CPI Security, a Carolina based company, to monitor it. But there were a few problems. I wanted to monitor the system myself and there was no key to the lock box. Additionally, the master bedroom had a sensor on it meaning the door had to be closed in order to arm the system. Needless to say, I had to figure out what was what and how to take ownership of the system.

NOTE: You must know your system’s master code. You should be able to get this from the home’s previous owner.

Here are the steps I took:

1. Access the Box: I drilled out the lock on the box. To do this, start with a drill bit just large enough to not fit in the lock and slowly increase your drill bit size until the lock opens. Here’s a short tutorial on it: https://www.wikihow.com/Drill-a-Lock
2. Identify Zones: I turned on chime mode so the system would tell me when each door or window was opened (9 + System Master Code + 045 + (1 for on, 2 for off), #, *, 00, # to exit). I then went through each zone in the box and removed one of the wires to trigger an open state. I noted down which zones were for which sensors and marked each wire. I did this in case I decided to swap out the system and/or needed to reprogram it. This worked great until I found the master bedroom panic button, which tripped the alarm and I had to immediately screw the wire back in and disarm the system.
3. Access Programming Mode: I wanted to remove the master bedroom door sensor because having one there is really annoying. To do this, I needed to access programming mode via the installer code. This required a bit of research. First, I found the installation manual for the system (https://static.interlogix.com/library/466-2182-k-concord-4-installation-manual.pdf). Page 34 (40 in the PDF counter) describes how to enter programming mode. Then I found the installer code in a forum. For my system it was 2001. I accessed it via the following: *8–2001–00
4. Remove Sensor: The instruction manual describes how easy it is to do this.
5. Decide the fate of an Alarm.com Camera: The Concord 4 system supports Z-Wave, but without a way to link other devices via some software it is relegated to the wireless sensors. Another byproduct of not using a security company to monitor is that I cannot use the Alarm.com camera that’s installed at my front door. This isn’t a big deal because there’s a Ring Video Doorbell. To hook up the camera, someone hijacked the foyer motion sensor wire to provide power. In the security system box, the wire was connected to a power brick and it was jutting out the side of the box so it could plug into an outlet. This was less than ideal. So, I ripped it out. Filled in the holes with wood filler and drywall compound and disconnected the power adapter.

For me, this was sufficient for now. I know which wires go to which sensors, I can access programming mode to modify the system as I wish, and I removed some unused equipment. I hope this helps someone else who wishes to manage home security on their own.