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| UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Burglar alarm problem
We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the
house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. |
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#2
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Burglar alarm problem
On Sun, 26 Jan 2020 23:56:51 +0000, JoeJoe wrote:
We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. Almost certainly a dead back up battery, 5 years tops is a generous life span. There will also be batteries in the bell box too, they last a bit longer ..but after15 years chances are they will be duff as well. |
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#3
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Burglar alarm problem
On Sunday, 26 January 2020 23:56:54 UTC, JoeJoe wrote:
We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. disconnect mains power disconnect battery if there's another battery in bellbox, disconnect or wait it out until flat.. it will be silent. NT |
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#4
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Burglar alarm problem
On 26/01/2020 23:56, JoeJoe wrote:
We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more?* We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc.** We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. You need to get the engineering manual for the alarm which will tell you how it all works. You did not mention the make and model. -- Michael Chare |
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#5
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Burglar alarm problem
JoeJoe wrote:
We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. Tim -- Please don't feed the trolls |
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#6
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Burglar alarm problem
On Monday, 27 January 2020 07:23:23 UTC, Tim+ wrote:
JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. Tim When doing that, disable the sounder first  Wear a black & white striped shirt to amuse the neighbours. NT |
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#7
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27 Jan 2020 07:23:19 GMT, Tim+ wrote:
would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you don t have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. Which probably has a knackered battery as well after at least ten years of no maintenance. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. Shouldn't sound for more than 20 mins. Operative word "shouldn't" and see above. B-) Probably best to tell neighbours you're going to do some work on the system after the false alarm and it might sound a few times. Don't tell 'em it's going to be decommisioned... Get access to the external sounder(s) and some ear defenders. Open the external sounder, it'll sound due to tamper, disconnect it's battery. Switch off the mains power to the panel and it'll probably fall silent. Open the panel disconnect it's battery. Leave mains disconnected, take fuse out of SWFCU? Job done. -- Cheers Dave. |
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#8
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Burglar alarm problem
On 26/01/2020 23:56, JoeJoe wrote:
Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? Yes, its a common failing. The battery will no longer be able to supply the instantaneous power when the mains goes off. However if you check the terminal voltage its likely to still indicate a nominal 12V. The backup battery should be replaced every 4 to 5 years. I replaced mine 7 days ago after around 4 years of use. I stick a label on the front of the alarm control panel with the replacement date as the years seem to fly by without noticing with such items. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
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#9
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Burglar alarm problem
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#10
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote:
These things can very noisy for a *long* time. It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
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#11
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Burglar alarm problem
In article ,
alan_m wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: These things can very noisy for a *long* time. It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. as a Scene of Crime officer said to me "Burglar alarms alarm burglars" -- from KT24 in Surrey, England "I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle |
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#12
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Burglar alarm problem
In article
, Tim+ wrote: Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. On a 15 year old system, I doubt the backup battery in the bell box will last for a long time. -- *Middle age is when work is a lot less fun - and fun a lot more work. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#13
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Burglar alarm problem
On Mon, 27 Jan 2020 09:30:07 +0000, Martin Brown
wrote: On 27/01/2020 02:59, wrote: if there's another battery in bellbox, disconnect or wait it out until flat. it will be silent. That is bad advice. It will almost certainly go off in panic mode and the external bell will ring continuously until its battery dies. Will it? Does that response not violate the 'legal' time limit on the period a bell or siren may sound for? -- |
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#14
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27/01/2020 10:42, The Other Mike wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jan 2020 09:30:07 +0000, Martin Brown wrote: On 27/01/2020 02:59, wrote: if there's another battery in bellbox, disconnect or wait it out until flat. it will be silent. That is bad advice. It will almost certainly go off in panic mode and the external bell will ring continuously until its battery dies. Will it? Does that response not violate the 'legal' time limit on the period a bell or siren may sound for? Yes. But it only happens in the event that the bell box finds itself cut off from the control unit. Older ones are not very smart once isolated. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
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#15
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Burglar alarm problem
On Monday, 27 January 2020 09:30:10 UTC, Martin Brown wrote:
On 27/01/2020 02:59, tabbypurr wrote: On Sunday, 26 January 2020 23:56:54 UTC, JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Power cut with dead backup battery will put the external bell box into a state where it thinks someone is up to no good and ringing. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. disconnect mains power disconnect battery if there's another battery in bellbox, disconnect or wait it out until flat. it will be silent. That is bad advice. It will almost certainly go off in panic mode and the external bell will ring continuously until its battery dies. Most likely the bellbox battery is dead. If not it will ring briefly until OP disconnects the battery. That should only take a minute. A perfectly effective method. If it is a half decent alarm it will have an anti-tamper microswitch in the main control panel that will go off immediately when you try to open it. The procedure is put it into engineering mode with a code and take out the correct screw from the panel first. If you have watched your service engineer carefully enough then you will know which one it is. You need the engineering service manual for the unit to know the right details for any given system. OP doesn't need anything more than a ladder and basic hand tools, and is presumably asking because they don't have the info you specify. If they do, great, they already know how to do it easily & silently. NT |
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#16
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Burglar alarm problem
On Monday, 27 January 2020 12:18:59 UTC, Martin Brown wrote:
On 27/01/2020 10:42, The Other Mike wrote: On Mon, 27 Jan 2020 09:30:07 +0000, Martin Brown wrote: On 27/01/2020 02:59, tabbypurr wrote: if there's another battery in bellbox, disconnect or wait it out until flat. it will be silent. That is bad advice. It will almost certainly go off in panic mode and the external bell will ring continuously until its battery dies. Will it? Does that response not violate the 'legal' time limit on the period a bell or siren may sound for? Yes. But it only happens in the event that the bell box finds itself cut off from the control unit. Older ones are not very smart once isolated. Older ones are normally dead once isolated. NT |
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#17
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Burglar alarm problem
"alan_m" wrote in message ... On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: These things can very noisy for a *long* time. It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. Dunno on that last. If most ignore alarms going off, no need to leave when the alarm goes off, just keep on looting. |
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#18
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Burglar alarm problem
"charles" wrote in message ... In article , alan_m wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: These things can very noisy for a *long* time. It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. as a Scene of Crime officer said to me "Burglar alarms alarm burglars" My neighbours dont. I always respond to the alarms going off and so do most of my neighbours. And we have prevented some attempts at burgling too. |
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#19
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Lonely Auto-contradicting Psychotic Senile Ozzie Troll Alert! LOL
On Tue, 28 Jan 2020 04:31:30 +1100, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again: My neighbours dont. They don't what? Talk to you? Of course they don't! If they did you wouldn't need to troll on these groups all NIGHT and DAY long, just so you can talk to someone. -- Marland revealing the senile sociopath's pathology: "You have mentioned Alexa in a couple of threads recently, it is not a real woman you know even if it is the only thing with a Female name that stays around around while you talk it to it. Poor sad git who has to resort to Usenet and electronic devices for any interaction as all real people run a mile to get away from from you boring them to death." MID: |
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#20
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Lonely Auto-contradicting Psychotic Senile Ozzie Troll Alert! LOL
On Tue, 28 Jan 2020 04:29:11 +1100, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again: It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. Dunno on that last. If most ignore alarms going off, no need to leave when the alarm goes off, just keep on looting. Hardly out of bed, and you are in auto-contradicting mode already, eh, you clinically insane senile cretin? LOL -- addressing nym-shifting senile Rodent: "You on the other hand are a heavyweight bull****ter who demonstrates your particular prowess at it every day." MID: |
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#21
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Burglar alarm problem
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#22
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27/01/2020 17:52, ARW wrote:
On 27/01/2020 09:49, charles wrote: In article , *** alan_m wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: ** These things can very noisy for a *long* time. It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. as a Scene of Crime officer said to me "Burglar alarms alarm burglars" Apart from new builds and rewires I generally only get asked to fit alarms by customers the week after they have been burgled or their next door neighbour has been burgled. A frend of mine would not have an alarm as it said it showed he had something worth pinching. I tried to explain that most people could guess what he had just by his age, his property and his car. Sure enough his next door neighbours has a break in (while they were in bed) and had their car and a few other bit's stolen. That included a set of keys to their doors and their children's houses. Any well programmed in satnav in the car could give away their kids addresses. He had an alarm fitted the week after they were robbed. Main reason for an alarm is to persuade the thief that next door is a lower risk of being detected whilst in the act. Probably dummy alarm boxes (front and back of the property) work just as well as a proper alarm. Both my front and back door (and adjacent windows) are illuminated with dusk to dawn lighting with very low wattage led bulbs. This removes any dark corners where someone can hide from people passing. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
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#23
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27/01/2020 06:16, Michael Chare wrote:
On 26/01/2020 23:56, JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more?* We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc.** We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. You need to get the engineering manual for the alarm which will tell you how it all works.* You did not mention the make and model. Or that the engineers code might be changed and locked out? -- Adam |
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#24
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote:
JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. ********:-) NT's suggestion is the best one so far. 1 minutes work and a couple of minutes of outdoor siren. 30 minutes at most. Do it on a Sunday morning when the Churches are polluting the air with their bell ringing. -- Adam |
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#25
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Burglar alarm problem
In article ,
alan_m wrote: Probably dummy alarm boxes (front and back of the property) work just as well as a proper alarm. Most boxes have LEDs these days. Those which don't likely not working. Are you going to keep the batteries changed regularly - given any box worth the name is difficult to get at? -- *I didn't drive my husband crazy -- I flew him there -- it was faster Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#26
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Burglar alarm problem
ARW wrote:
On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. ********:-) NT's suggestion is the best one so far. 1 minutes work and a couple of minutes of outdoor siren. 30 minutes at most. Do it on a Sunday morning when the Churches are polluting the air with their bell ringing. Working at height on a ladder trying to open a bell box with rusted screws? Seems to me it would be a lot easier just to replace the battery in the console! Of course if the OP has the service code no fannying around necessary. Tim -- Please don't feed the trolls |
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#27
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27/01/2020 20:36, Tim+ wrote:
ARW wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. ********:-) NT's suggestion is the best one so far. 1 minutes work and a couple of minutes of outdoor siren. 30 minutes at most. Do it on a Sunday morning when the Churches are polluting the air with their bell ringing. Working at height on a ladder trying to open a bell box with rusted screws? Seems to me it would be a lot easier just to replace the battery in the console! Of course if the OP has the service code no fannying around necessary. Why replace the battery in the main panel? The OP wants the alarm to NOT to work. -- Adam |
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#28
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
On 27/01/2020 19:48, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article , alan_m wrote: Probably dummy alarm boxes (front and back of the property) work just as well as a proper alarm. Most boxes have LEDs these days. Those which don't likely not working. Are you going to keep the batteries changed regularly - given any box worth the name is difficult to get at? Many dummy boxes come with a small solar panel that keep batteries charged and the flashing leds working for years without maintenance. Before installing a dummy box to my existing alarm I did replace the no-name chinese batteries with a reputable branded batteries. After around 5 years use I had to again replace the rechargeable batteries in the dummy box. Boxes only have to be installed out of reach by anyone without a ladder. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
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#29
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
ARW wrote:
On 27/01/2020 20:36, Tim+ wrote: ARW wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. ********:-) NT's suggestion is the best one so far. 1 minutes work and a couple of minutes of outdoor siren. 30 minutes at most. Do it on a Sunday morning when the Churches are polluting the air with their bell ringing. Working at height on a ladder trying to open a bell box with rusted screws? Seems to me it would be a lot easier just to replace the battery in the console! Of course if the OP has the service code no fannying around necessary. Why replace the battery in the main panel? The OP wants the alarm to NOT to work. Well thats one answer to it going off in every power cut but replacing the panel battery will also achieve this without risking life and limb. ;-) Tim -- Please don't feed the trolls |
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#30
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
"ARW" wrote in message news  On 27/01/2020 09:49, charles wrote: In article , alan_m wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: These things can very noisy for a *long* time. It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. as a Scene of Crime officer said to me "Burglar alarms alarm burglars" Apart from new builds and rewires I generally only get asked to fit alarms by customers the week after they have been burgled or their next door neighbour has been burgled. A frend of mine would not have an alarm as it said it showed he had something worth pinching. I tried to explain that most people could guess what he had just by his age, his property and his car. Sure enough his next door neighbours has a break in (while they were in bed) and had their car and a few other bit's stolen. That included a set of keys to their doors and their children's houses. Any well programmed in satnav in the car could give away their kids addresses. He had an alarm fitted the week after they were robbed. Going to be interesting to see if it ever goes off due to a burglar. imo the best burglar deterrent is a ****ing great alsatian that lives inside the house. Few burglars are actually stupid enough to try it with that sort of burglar deterrent. Not cheap to feed tho. |
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#31
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
"alan_m" wrote in message ... On 27/01/2020 17:52, ARW wrote: On 27/01/2020 09:49, charles wrote: In article , alan_m wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: These things can very noisy for a *long* time. It depends on what has been programmed for the the alarm on time. I reprogrammed mine from the default 15 minutes to 5 minutes so if the alarm did go off the "bell" would only sound for 5 minutes. Very few people these days take any notice of an alarm (apart from being annoyed by it) so any longer than 5 minutes is a nuisance and if there are people in the house then hopefully the alarm going off would persuade them to move on. as a Scene of Crime officer said to me "Burglar alarms alarm burglars" Apart from new builds and rewires I generally only get asked to fit alarms by customers the week after they have been burgled or their next door neighbour has been burgled. A frend of mine would not have an alarm as it said it showed he had something worth pinching. I tried to explain that most people could guess what he had just by his age, his property and his car. Sure enough his next door neighbours has a break in (while they were in bed) and had their car and a few other bit's stolen. That included a set of keys to their doors and their children's houses. Any well programmed in satnav in the car could give away their kids addresses. He had an alarm fitted the week after they were robbed. Main reason for an alarm is to persuade the thief that next door is a lower risk of being detected whilst in the act. Probably dummy alarm boxes (front and back of the property) work just as well as a proper alarm. But its less clear how many of the burglars can recognise the dummy alarm boxes. Better to use a dead normal alarm from ebay or facebook etc. Both my front and back door (and adjacent windows) are illuminated with dusk to dawn lighting with very low wattage led bulbs. This removes any dark corners where someone can hide from people passing. Doesnt work with any of my neighbours places, no one can seen the whole backyard. Cant actually see any of the backyard with almost all of them, |
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#32
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Lonely Auto-contradicting Psychotic Senile Ozzie Troll Alert! LOL
On Tue, 28 Jan 2020 14:21:59 +1100, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again: Main reason for an alarm is to persuade the thief that next door is a lower risk of being detected whilst in the act. Probably dummy alarm boxes (front and back of the property) work just as well as a proper alarm. But its less clear how many of the burglars can recognise the dummy alarm boxes. Better to use a dead normal alarm from ebay or facebook etc. You just HAVE to auto-contradict, eh, you senile pest? Both my front and back door (and adjacent windows) are illuminated with dusk to dawn lighting with very low wattage led bulbs. This removes any dark corners where someone can hide from people passing. Doesnt work with any of my neighbours places, no one can seen the whole backyard. Cant actually see any of the backyard with almost all of them, You just HAVE to auto-contradict, eh, you senile cretin? -- Kerr-Mudd,John addressing senile Rot: "Auto-contradictor Rod is back! (in the KF)" MID: |
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#33
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Lonely Auto-contradicting Psychotic Senile Ozzie Troll Alert! LOL
On Tue, 28 Jan 2020 14:13:57 +1100, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again: He had an alarm fitted the week after they were robbed. Going to be interesting to see if it ever goes off due to a burglar. Going to be interesting to see if you ever manage NOT to auto-contradict, you clinically insane auto-contradicting senile asshole! -- Sqwertz to Rot Speed: "This is just a hunch, but I'm betting you're kinda an argumentative asshole. MID: |
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#34
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
On Monday, 27 January 2020 20:40:41 UTC, ARW wrote:
On 27/01/2020 20:36, Tim+ wrote: ARW wrote: On 27/01/2020 07:23, Tim+ wrote: JoeJoe wrote: We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more? We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc. We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. As others have said, you have a dead back up battery. To decommission it properly you really need the service code, not just the regular activate/deactivate code. This allows you to open the box, change sensors etc without activating the tamper circuits. Be warned that the external sounder will probably have its own battery so if you dont have the service code, removing the mains supply and the backup battery will be treated as a tamper event and trigger the sounder. These things can very noisy for a *long* time. ********:-) NT's suggestion is the best one so far. 1 minutes work and a couple of minutes of outdoor siren. 30 minutes at most. Do it on a Sunday morning when the Churches are polluting the air with their bell ringing. Working at height on a ladder trying to open a bell box with rusted screws? Seems to me it would be a lot easier just to replace the battery in the console! Of course if the OP has the service code no fannying around necessary. Why replace the battery in the main panel? The OP wants the alarm to NOT to work. On an old system with dead batteries all he need do is turn the mains to it off. Obviously the OP doesn't have the engineer codes. Some folk are just trying to make life hard here. NT |
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#35
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
In article ,
alan_m wrote: Many dummy boxes come with a small solar panel that keep batteries charged and the flashing leds working for years without maintenance. Really? Like those solar powered garden lights? ;-) But if you're going to spend serious money on a dummy, why not DIY the real thing? -- *It's not hard to meet expenses... they're everywhere. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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#36
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
On 28/01/2020 14:58, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article , alan_m wrote: Many dummy boxes come with a small solar panel that keep batteries charged and the flashing leds working for years without maintenance. Really? Like those solar powered garden lights? ;-) Similar but with a couple of AA batteries rather than the half length AA usually found in garden lights. As the LEDs in a dummy bell box are not attempting to illuminate an area around them and are flashing they take a lot less current. Dummy boxes also come with flashing LEDS and a non-rechargeable battery with a claimed battery life of around 5 years continuous operation. But if you're going to spend serious money on a dummy, why not DIY the real thing? They are not serious money and don't require a source of power from within your house. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
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#37
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
On 28/01/2020 16:50, alan_m wrote:
On 28/01/2020 14:58, Dave Plowman (News) wrote: In article , *** alan_m wrote: Many dummy boxes come with a small solar panel that keep batteries charged and the flashing leds working for years without maintenance. Really? Like those solar powered garden lights? ;-) Similar but with a couple of AA batteries rather than the half length AA usually found in garden lights. As the LEDs in a dummy bell box are not attempting to illuminate an area around them and are flashing they take a lot less current. Dummy boxes also come with flashing LEDS and a non-rechargeable battery with a claimed battery life of around 5 years continuous operation. But if you're going to spend serious money on a dummy, why not DIY the real thing? They are not serious money and don't require a source of power from within your house. A real working box costs sweet FA so why not fit two working boxes? -- Adam |
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#38
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Burglar alarm problem
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#39
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Burglar alarm problem
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#40
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Burglar alarm problem
On 26/01/2020 23:56, JoeJoe wrote:
We have a wired house alarm that was already in place when we bought the house some 15 years ago. It has several movement sensors around the house, a large metal case that all the wires come out of that holds a large backup battery and the circuitry, and a control panel. Weve used it several times many years ago, but after it went off around the clock whilst we were away on holiday and kept our very friendly neighbours up for days, we stopped using it altogether. It hasnt been used for many years, but is still connected, and the lights on the panel are on (alarm disabled). Last night it went off at 3am (not amused - luckily I managed to remember the code to reset it). By the look of it there was a short power cut just prior to it going off. Is it possible that this was caused by the backup battery not holding charge any more?* We cant remember for certain, but we believe that more than 10 years ago we had a similar incident and the alarm guy came and replace the battery, and everything has been well ever since. It is also very possible that the last time we have had a power cut was that previous incident some 10 years ago. Also, what does it take to disable it altogether? i.e. completely disconnected from power etc.** We plan to move away in the near future, so would like to leave the new owners the option to reconnect it easily if they so wish. Sorry, I was away for a couple of days. I just had a look at the system: It is called Optima Plus, and Google found nothing about it (see reason below). I managed to find the instruction manual that was pushed behind the panel. Very basic - only explains how to change the code and test the system - one page. On the back of the page the original installer wrote the location of the sensors, and the installation date: 11 July 1995... Sounds like the battery(ies) are in need of a replacement. From the advice given here I am inclined to not attempt to disconnect the system from the mains and the battery myself in case it goes off. I think I'll give the installer a ring (he is still around, I just checked), and ask him to dp it in a way that would make it easy to reverse. Thanks all for your advice - much appreciated! |
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