In article ,
alan_m writes:
On 03/05/2018 08:15, wrote:
Hi All

We have a house alarm keypad which needs moving. Unfortunately the wire is not long enough. Can I simply solder another bit of alarm wire to it to extend it? Probably about 1m.

I seem to recall somewhere that the resistance of the cable run is relevant hence the question.

Thanks in advance


You would possibly have to extend the cable by thousands of metres for
any resistance changes to be noticed by an alarm box.

As alternative to soldering maybe consider gel connectors used for
telephone wires
Example (random ebay listing)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/20-Pack-2-W...d=352017373664

No need to strip the wire, Just push in the two wires to be connected
and use a pair of pliers to push down the mechanism to make the connection.

You might be lucky, but they are designed for solid-core telephone
cable, not stranded alarm cable, and that is likely to make a
difference to the quality and longevity of the connection. They
are designed to cut into the surface of the solid core coper to
make a good connection, but the connection with strands which can
just move out of the way is likely to be much poorer.

Also note that alarm cable now comes in the traditional tinned
copper wire (good stuff) or in copper covered aluminium (CCA)
which is the cheaper grotty stuff, which is to be avoided.

Which reminds me - I picked up a reel of alarm cable from Maplin
last week (proper copper). At 80% off, it was down to about the
same price as CPC's regular price.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]