Honeywell VISTA-20P Ademco Control Panel, PCB in Aluminum Enclosure

Replaced an ADT Safewatch (same as Vista 20P) that was installed before we bought the house and recently taken out in a lightning surge. This version has chip revision 10.24. I only connected the two entry wired zones from the old alarm. We don’t arm it or have it monitored - just use the chime for door open events! Since we don’t have any alpha keypads (6160), I was able to setup and disable all unused zones via the 6150 “fixed” keypad by using the *56 procedure and watching a video. If I ever wanted a monitored alarm, I probably would go with Ring (using the wired sensor adapter) due to cost but this is a dependable alarm. My only knock is it’s susceptible to surges with the AC transformer difficult to place on a surge suppressor.

Muy bueno

Would definitely purchase again

Purchased this panel directly from an authorized Honeywell dealer. This was to replace an existing Vista 20se which did not support the Tuxedo Touch console. The unit powered up correctly, but 20 minutes later AC failure was displayed on the console. I assisted the installer in tracing the failure to a burnt power brick. The unit was considerably hot and could have caused a fire. The installer checked all power leads and verified the board was properly cased in the panel. On further examination, there was a loose 1/2 inch solder lead found under three components. This leads was snipped during construction and was causing a short between several components. This led to a short in the external power brick which overloaded the unit. The enclosed power brick had no thermal fuse and continued to short until the unit literally burned up. Upon removing the solder lead and replacing the brick the unit continued working correctly. I have not observed any issues since that time. I personally contacted Honeywell Customer support and they completely ignored my information. I was told that any issues with the unit were in the hands of the installer and dealer. They wash their hands of any responsibility if the unit burns down your house due to manufacture defects. I would use this product at your own risk, and keep a smoke detector nearby.

This is a great price for a new and up-to-date 20P. Resistors, lock/key and documentation provided were complete. However, be aware that although the image on the main page showed the unit with a battery, the unit received did NOT have a battery. Also, the image did NOT show a power transformer but the unit did come with the necessary power transformer. Neither the battery nor transformer are mentioned in description. Hopefully this will be corrected by the seller, and if not for this Id have rated this listing with 5 stars. As for the batteries: Typical Vista 20P kits that are furnished with a battery include a small (4.5ah) 12V battery. I have learned that this small capacity battery is hardly sufficient to sustain a typical system over repeated or extended power outage(s), as necessary to ensure reliability for security and emergency (i.e. panic & fire/smoke detectors). My practice has been told to use no less than a 7ah battery in a Vista 20P at a minimum. Even then, one must consider that batteries are living things and will degrade over time, even if not used. For this reason I run my Vista systems with two 7ah batteries in parallel (providing 14ah support to the Vista), and also with the power transformer connected to a UPS. Using the UPS helps protect the Vista power supply from utility/power line fluctuations and spikes, from lightening damage, and also prevents discharge/recharge cycles on the Vista batteries thereby extending their service life too. I replace my batteries in my UPS every two years and in my Vista 20Ps every three years. Failure to regularly replace batteries can also lead-to equipment failures because the battery cells can short-circuit thereby drawing higher current from the power supply. Disclaimer: I am not an authority on this subject matter. The statements made are my own opinion and may not be accurate. Use them at your own risk.

no info on the ad as to what motion sensors will work with this CPU. I had to open the box, and panel to check for compatibility. My mistake to buy this. I will eat the cost, but I will not recommend this to anyone who asks about my home security. Out $80 bucks but its my fault. Honeywell has been a trusted name for me, not any more...is there a less then 1 star rating?

Love it

So my Journey began with an old Brinks / ADM system that got reset and I couldn’t find installer codes to recover. It was 25 years old anyway. I wanted to keep my existing wired sensors including C0 detector but I also wanted to be able to expand the system by adding zones. The Vista 20 P was just the thing. I was able to replace the old Brinks BHS3000 system by simply swapping the boards within the enclosure. Yes they were the exact same housings. This kept me from having to pull back all the wiring and feed them into the new enclosure. This allowed me to simply disconnect each wire, one at a time, and re land it on the Honeywell board. Took me a total of 20 min. For good measure the enclosure door was a perfect swap so all the labels are correct. That was the easy part.... Then came programming. With the included manual and quite a bit of help from YouTube, the system is now working. It takes a bit of patience to learn how to read the manual. The YouTube videos provided a great deal of clarity. I used a 6160RF key pad to allow for wireless sensor expansion and remote key fob use. After About three hours I had it working at least as well as my old system. There are some tricks to it like in zone 1 you have to use one of the included terminating resistors if you plan to use it for a door or window switch. Also if you want the zone chime to work on the doors or windows only, you have to create a “Zone List” which has to be Zone List #03. Spent at least an hour figuring that one out. Wouldn’t have put so much time into that one item but my wife and kids like having the door chimes. Bottom line is the system upgrade cost me approx $140 with one keypad (I’ll be adding more later) and it was actually more capable than what I had expected. Keep in mind it’s designed for a professional installer so don’t expect plug-and-play but once it’s up and running it’s a solid, scaleable system. I’ll write more as I take advantage of the features.

Works as expected

Great panel good price