Rissy Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Hi all, First every post as I've just taken on a house which has an alarm and i've never had an alarm before. After doing some research on it, I've come to the conclusion that I have an 800L model alarm system, although it's still not clear to me if it is a C&K one, or a Honeywell one. But it's definitely the 800L model variant as it is branded as such on the PCB in the main control box. I'm guessing they're the same, with just a re-branding. Mine is actually branded with the installing company's logo instead of "C&K" or "Honeywell". The alarm was pretty much unresponsive when i moved in a couple of months ago. Since then, I've had a play with it, using the instruction manual I found online for it. I'm awaiting a new battery i've ordered for the main controller box, and suspect that the bell box battery on the front of the house is also goosed. But I can't get up there! Anyway, the issue I'm wishing to seek help for is related to user codes. I've not played around with the engineers code. I can only HOPE (presume) that it is still set to the default, otherwise I believe this could cause me some real problems, really requiring a new alarm more than anything. However, after doing a factory reset to the main controller (all be it without a connected good back up battery), I have successfully managed to change the secondary user code from the default, but the primary code refuses to change from the default!? I was wondering if anyone else has suffered this issue, or has any ideas what I may be doing wrong, if anything (the process is the same for both primary and secondary codes being changed, and as I say, i've been successful with the secondary code). Any help is gratefully received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al-yeti Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Any reason you won't upgrade it , even if it's another £60 panel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rissy Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 OMG! My new battery arrived today. I got home from work and went straight at it and this time I managed to change the primary code to something more personal! Excellent! I wonder if having the battery made the difference?! Next move is to replace the bell box battery... To answer your question; I DO plan to upgrade my alarm system for something more modern, but after moving house and haemorrhaging money for months as a result, the funds just aren't there right now. Next year probably. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rissy Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 My next question. After a bit of research, I *think* i have a "Texecom Odyssey 4E" alarm bell box. I want to change the battery for this. Looking on the likes of ebay, it seems you can get a suitable battery pack for about £10-£25. Example link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Texecom-Odyssey-Siren-Alarm-7-2V-250mA-Bell-Box-Sounder-Battery-/192196853462?hash=item2cbfd33ed6:g:P1YAAOSwlMFZJptf Does anyone have any experience of this alarm bell box? Can someone tell me if this *IS* an appropriate looking battery? I've seen some pictures of the battery being wired into terminals rather than having a proper looking plug on it (like shown in my ebay link) - although i appreciate I may just have to cut off the plug to fit it....? A further question is: Once i'm up at the box, is it just a simple case of disconnecting the old battery and connecting the new battery in its place, while the bell box is energised from the mains? I'm just trying to prepare ahead of time so that once i borrow ladders, and get up there, it'll be a smooth and quick operation so that I can get back down again without any delays or issues. Once again, thanks in advance for any support anyone can offer me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixwheeledbeast Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Yes. Ni-Mh 1/2AA 250mAh 7.2V Consider the cost of the whole bell before you start the job. The battery may not be faulty (not enabled) but equally other components may have failed, you will only know from testing while up there. You need to be careful when replacing the battery. Not only as the sounder may ring out on opening the tamper, but also you will have to remove the strobe guard providing access to components that may shock you if you put your fingers in the wrong place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixwheeledbeast Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Also you don't need the plug on the battery lead, its terminals on all the ones I have fitted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rissy Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 I actually have no idea to the condition of the battery in it right now. I am just presuming since the main controller battery was goosed, that the bell box has probably gone the same way. what would be a good process of testing to prove if the battery in the bell box is good or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al-yeti Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Rissy said: I actually have no idea to the condition of the battery in it right now. I am just presuming since the main controller battery was goosed, that the bell box has probably gone the same way. what would be a good process of testing to prove if the battery in the bell box is good or not? If your going to go through that better change the bell if you can afford to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rissy Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 I'd like to just change the battery. I don't think the bell box is as old as the controller, since it's showing evidence of another company being round to install it. So rather than waste useful resources, not to mention, loosen my purse strings even more... Any advice? (other than "just buy new" - not understanding the fascination of buying new all the time instead of maintaining and fixing old. I like doing this. I do it with everything. It's a hobby ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJames Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 21 minutes ago, Rissy said: I'd like to just change the battery. I don't think the bell box is as old as the controller, since it's showing evidence of another company being round to install it. So rather than waste useful resources, not to mention, loosen my purse strings even more... Any advice? (other than "just buy new" - not understanding the fascination of buying new all the time instead of maintaining and fixing old. I like doing this. I do it with everything. It's a hobby ) Knowing the age of the panel its probably assumed that the bell is of a relative age. The advice given comes from the voice of experience, the panel over 20 years old, it has been on all that time, armed or not, it has been on, therefore its tired. If you left your tv on for 20 years would you expect the picture quality to be as good as new? Even well serviced alarm systems become unreliable as they get to the sort of age yours is, yours hasnt been serviced for several years by the sound of things. The problem with alarm systems is they can be a nuisance when they start making noises in the middle of the night and the owner cant stop them, engineers dont like being woken up in the middle of the night to attend to alarm systems that have become a nuisance because the owner tried to save some cash, hence when you come here and ask we give the right advice. If its not what you want to hear thats not really our problem, we can only tell you what is right, because you wont thank us if we just told you what you want to hear, when the thing is going off at silly oclock in the morning and you cant stop it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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