VMAX® IP Plus™ Second Generation Relay Wiring

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Affected Roles:  Administrator, Owner

Complexity:  Medium

Last Edit:  July 30, 2026

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Sensors and Relays

The VMAX IP Plus (2nd Generation) NVR supports external alarm devices through dedicated Sensor Input and Alarm Output relay terminals. These terminals enable external devices, such as door contacts, PIR sensors, strobes, sirens, and warning lights, to communicate with the recorder.

**NOTE:  Relay (Alarm Out) contacts can withstand up to 24V/1A.  If it is connected to an external circuit over 24V/1A, issues may occur with the system.

This article explains how to wire external alarm sensors to the VMAX IP Plus Second Generation NVR and configure the relay output to activate external devices such as lights, sirens, or strobes when an alarm event occurs.

Supported/Affected Devices:

• DW VMAX® IP Plus™ Series

Terminal Table

Sensor Setup (Input)

To set up a sensor with the VMAX® IP Plus™, open the Setup Menu and select Alarm.  Among the Alarm options, select Sensor.

• No. – designates which Sensor In port at the back of the NVR is being configured.
• ON/OFF – set to ON to enable the configuration.
• Cam – Select the camera channel associated with the sensor. The selected camera can display as a pop-up and perform alarm actions when the sensor is triggered.
• Relay – select an Alarm Out port that the configuration will use for the relay setup.
• Preset – set a PTZ camera to move to a preset position when the sensor is triggered (requires PTZ setup)
• Dwell – set the recording period that will trigger when the sensor is activated.  During this period, the selected camera (Cam) will record if the recording Schedule includes a Relay mode.
• Pre-Alarm – set an amount of time to delay before triggering the sensor and alarm.  The Pre-Alarm recording mode is always continuous and follows the recording speed that is set in the Record settings
• Type – select the incoming sensor type as N/O (Normal Open) or N/C (Normal Close), depending on if the sensor circuit must be opened or closed to trigger

Relay Setup (Output)

Relay outputs can be used to trigger an external device such as a siren, light, and other options.  Below are a few examples of wired relays.

• Relay Activates Light – In this example, when the relay is triggered by an external sensor, the relay will trigger, causing the light to turn on.  Only one power wire is switched in this example by using the COM (common) and N/O (normally open) connections of a relay

The port markings indicate:

• A – Normally Open (N/O)
• C – Common
• B – Normally Closed (N/C)

As a result of the configuration below, when the relay is triggered, the circuit will close and feed power to the lightbulb.  With power now flowing to the external device, the VMAX® IP Plus™ will cause the strobe light to activate.

Configure Recording Schedule

Note: After configuring the alarm, verify that the recording schedule for the associated camera(s) is set to Sensor. Without a Sensor recording schedule, the NVR will detect the alarm event and perform configured actions, such as relay activation, but it will not record the event.

Menu → Record → Schedule

Choose one of: