On 12/8/2013 3:31 PM, Tekkie® wrote:
The Daring Dufas posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP


On 12/2/2013 8:46 PM, Tekkie® wrote:
The Daring Dufas posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP


On 11/22/2013 10:12 AM, Tony Hwang wrote:
wrote:
On Friday, November 22, 2013 1:35:28 AM UTC-5, Danny D'Amico wrote:
Dead alarm system troubleshooting advice requested ...

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5540/1...fcb528ab_o.gif

Yesterday, I had been messing with the main breakers, and accidentally
shut the main 200A breaker without turning off the power generator
switch;
so the Generac kicked in; and I heard the alarm system in the garage
vehemently complaining with persistent loud beeps.
I immediately reset everything, and I thought it was all ok.
Then, today, the alarm system sounded three loud long beeps, and
went totally dead.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5522/1...e48ee609_o.gif

Troubleshooting with my Fluke after removing the alarm system external
wires shows the external ELK-TRG21640 16.5VAC, 45VA power-supply
transformer plugged into an outlet has an open secondary, and when
plugged into an extension cord, there is no voltage from any of the
three screws on the secondary windings:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/1...d64103f6_o.gif

If I thought it was that simple, I'd just replace the transformer;
but I wondered why the backup battery didn't run the alarm system.
Testing the 12V 5AH battery out of the alarm system shows it's 13.5
volts DC (no load open circuit voltage), which, at least seems OK

(I don't know how to load it though):

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3731/1...d9f59f77_o.gif

So, two things must be wrong:

1. The ELK AC transformer secondary opened up suddenly

2. Maybe the power supply inside the alarm system box went bad suddenly

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3751/1...ff0ca903_o.gif

Do you think shutting the breaker without turning off the generator
could have blown the alarm system?


What can one say about these pixs? Alarm systems
are crap, installers are crap. I love the tywrap
around the w1 & w2 leads as a strain relief.

I like the wiring detail. Funky


I've always taken the extra time to install everything as neatly as
possible because it makes it so much easier for me and anyone else
coming behind me to service any system I install. I worked for one
little creep some years ago who wanted everything thrown in as quickly
as possible without taking any time to think ahead, I didn't work for
the freak for very long and I can always spot a system thrown together
by his company. I've got a link to the last system I was able to install
by myself back in 2009 before becoming too ill to do much of anything on
my own. I wasn't doing a lot in the way of alarm systems but most of
what I was doing was phone systems, automated attendant and VRS gear,
computer systems, computer networks, video surveillance systems, point
of sale systems and access control systems. I've always made my own
backboards, painted them light grey and drew a 6" grid with a pencil on
them so that when the backboard was mounted level, the grid was level

I haven't seen anything that neat and organized in
a long time. Now the use PC boards and stuff
everything in an undersized cabinet to hide the
shame...

Simplex must have stock in butt splice
manufacturers. Then they install the heavy stuff
at the top of the cabinet so if it moved it falls
on you.

I got stories**nightmares of my own...


A lot of manufacturers will put power supplies at the top of a cabinet
so that cool air is drawn in at the bottom to help cool components. A
friend of mine who worked telecommunications in the military for NATO
in Europe told me about large Siemens phone switches which were designed
with the power supplies at the bottom so the rising heat would keep the
electronic circuitry dry. Those switches were designed that way because
air conditioning wasn't that common in Europe back then. An
AT&T electronic switch of the same era would die if the air conditioning
failed to keep the temperature below room temperature. ^_^

TDD