My wifes mums friend (really!!) is an electrician and engineer so I've put a call into to him.

If he doesn't work with this type of alarm all the time, he will be just as lost as the next man.

You need it looked at by a professional.

To summarise previous posts:

- Your battery is almost cetainly dead and of no further use. Dispose of properly.

- The battery failure has PROBABLY damaged the main circuit board, very common on ADE kit (and others)

- Remove battery, turn off mains.

- If the external sounder is silent that is faulty as well; it should go off for 20 minutes

- Reapply mains power WITHOUT BATTERY. It should work, or show some signs of life.

- If it's still dead your system will need replacing, a new battery won't help (you may even destroy it too)

may have a result here!!!

Just;

turned off the power

took out the battery

power back on

alarm went off - and turned off with normal code

- now seems to be working fine (minus the battery)

any thoughts?

strange though that that the power seems to be route through the battery rather than straight to the alarm box.

you'd have thought that the box is directly feed by the mains and the battery then feed from that?

... but what do i know??

- now seems to be working fine (minus the battery)

any thoughts?

NO the system may not be working fine the board may be damaged and by powering it up without a battery and leaving the mains on will DAMAGE The system further and possibly even cause a fire.

You should down power the system straight away until you are 100% certain that the panel is okay and all its components are functioning correctly.

You also would appear to have a fault with the external sounder.

You would as others have said be best advised to get the system looked at by a professional as false economy now may have disaterous effects, I went to a job yesterday wherby the panel and the new battery had melted because the panel had not be checked correctly( I will post pictures in the gallery later)

you'd have thought that the box is directly feed by the mains and the battery then feed from that?

It is, but a failed battery can/does affect the main circuits.

Get your electrician (if he's still coming) to eyeball the main circuit board for signs of damage. The battery charging circuit may be damaged even if the main alarm functions OK on mains only.