700l tamper fault

[catch22]

Hi,

 

Hoping for some advice. We moved in to a house with securitech 700l alarm (5 pirs and one door contact) it has worked fine other than a couple of false alarms - I think from the dishwasher not being fully closed at night and releasing steam.

 

We've got building work going on and they knocked the bell box, setting off the alarm. The internal alarm turned off with the code but the external bell didn't until it timed out after 10-15 minutes or so. They've replaced the bell box cover but the tamper red light flashing won't clear from the keypad, the wires to it may have been damaged as they are loose as that part of wall was dismantled and being rebuilt.

 

My wife called the company that serviced it and replaced battery about a year ago and they said I could disconnect the tamper wires in the main box while building work is going on rather than paying their £100 call out fee to do a very quick job. Sounded a good idea but perhaps I need to just get them out as I'm not really sure what to do.

 

My plan is to turn off the mains power, open box, (maybe put in code if tamper alarm goes off again), disconnect tamper wires, close box, turn power back on.

 

If the alarm won't stop I'll turn power off again, remove battery from panel and fuse from spur then turn power back on. There's scaffolding so I can get to the bell box easily if that would help.

 

Do you foresee any issues with this plan? 

 

Would the alarm still function without the tamper circuit? If not would an alternative be to link out the tamper circuit with a wire?

 

We had planned to keep the alarm as it was working fine but the way everyone refers to it as an antique makes me think better to get a new one while the house is being rewired. Sods law it would pack in soon after otherwise. So if I need to just deactivate it short-term that's not a major problem.

 

Thanks for any advice you may be able to offer - even if it's just to tell me to cough up to get a professional in to sort it!

[sixwheeledbeast]

External sounders are designed to sound if you tamper with them, doesn't matter if the mains is on or off it's the same.

You need to know what your doing to disable it, otherwise you will be fighting with it while it's blasting away.

Tampers are closed circuits so it's not just the case of removing wiring.

The budget, simplest but annoying solution would be to power down the system, mains and battery which will still trigger the external alarm for 15 minutes.

However, at this point it will be dead you can continue with the building work, with no system for now.

 

I would look at quotes for upgrading what you have and maybe decommission the system at the same time.

Most companies are likely to have separate engineering and design/quoting departments, so expect multiple visits.

In short, the sensible thing would be to get someone out, yes.

The system is old and should be looking towards an upgrade of at least the electronic bits for reliability.

[MrHappy]

6 hours ago, catch22 said:

 securitech 700l alarm

 

here's a car from 1994-

 

 

do you seen many in daily use ?

[catch22]

2 hours ago, MrHappy said:

 

here's a car from 1994-

 

 

do you seen many in daily use ?

Yea, I appreciate that. Previous alarm engineer said if it's not broken don't fix it, so I took their advice.

 

Think the way to go is disconnect it for a few weeks until the house is rewired and get a new system installed then.

 

Any idea roughly what I should be paying for a new one? 

[UKAlarmGuy]

2 hours ago, MrHappy said:

 

here's a car from 1994-

 

 

do you seen many in daily use ?

Nice car there 

[sixwheeledbeast]

I agree with the engineer at the time, if you have had regular maintenance on the system, it's been looked after and it's serviceable that's fine.

It's the building work that you then need to re-evaluate this decision. The design may need reconsidering depending on what works, disturbing older components is bound to lead to faults and headaches in the near future.

Depending on what type of work you are doing, I would have someone in after structural stuff is done. They may get an opportunity to get some cables in or checked over before walls/floors are finished.

Pricing will vary based on location, kit spec and any company approval. If you are happy with and trust the place you have been using they are best to ask first.

[catch22]

Thanks.

 

I've taken out fuse and battery for now and will take advice on upgrading/replacing once building structural work finished. Given electrician here making a mess anyway I'm minded to replace.

 

Cheers

[PeterJames]

8 hours ago, MrHappy said:

 

here's a car from 1994-

 

 

do you seen many in daily use ?

Cool analogy Im gonna use that. 

Only this morning I was trying to convince a customer exactly this. An old system is kept serviced is fine, all the while the customer doesnt need to make any changes. In my instance he had to change from digi to LAN coms. I tried to expain that its not worth bolting on kit to an old panel, because when the old panel dies you end up spend twice. Once on the bolt on, then on the whole upgrade. If you can afford it its always better to go for the upgrade in the first place.