We have an alarm system fitted before we bought the place about 20 years ago. After a recent power cut the larm will not cut off and will not answer to the reset codes or even the engineers code. Looks like a little over a hundred quid to get it fixed but I can get a wireless Yale alarm for that. Anyone have any thoughts on the Yale system as sold in Wilkinsons for around £100?
Or here for the same price
Could someone use a scanner to capture the code then disarm the system electronically?
I don't trust these wireless systems. Too easy to fool and block or be operated by accident and then when the batteries are flat.....
Brian
The total cost of repairs is around a hundred pounds which is why we are considering the yale system
What alarm panel do you have?
No idea. Its why I'm asking here
If the external sounder operates after a power cut, it is usually the battery in the main control box that causes this, but the other symptoms you have don't usually occur. I have known 4 systems that have had the external sounder operate after a power cut, 1 mine, and 3 friends, each one has been cured with a new battery, so it might be worth testing the battery first, the batteries can usually be picked up cheaply from Maplin.
Most likely the battery in the alarm panel has died - especially if it has not been changed since you moved in. It is good practice to change the battery every 5-7 years, 10 at most. It will probably be a 12V 2.2Ah unit that can be obtained on line for about a tenner or so and has push-on terminals.
If the battery has died then it is possible the panel will have defaulted to factory settings for the access codes. The manufacturer, if still in business, will be able to tell you what they are and how to change them.
Failing that a new panel will cost you no more than about £40 and they are simple enough to change. If you can access the outside box it might be worth changing that as well.
As others have said don't even consider the Yale system, not least of which because it immediately tells a burglar that it is not a professionally installed system.
Correction: If the mains supply to the panel is cut, for example by a power cut, and the back-up battery in the panel is u/s, but the back-up battery in the sounder cabinet is operational, the sounder will sound until either its battery goes flat, or the power is reconnected and the panel is reset, or possibly until some timeout is reached, whichever is sooner.
So in this situation, the sounder operates DURING AND after a power cut, and the cure is indeed simply to replace the back-up battery in the panel.
Exactly, so the panel battery is NOT the problem here, so why confuse the issue by mentioning it?
It seems clear that the power-cut spike killed his panel, and that he simply needs to replace it. This can be a DIY job, but it's probably best to do some reading around to find out how alarm systems work, how they are wired, and how the anti-tamper devices in panels work, before venturing into DIY.
Optimax mx6 But to replace that plus the new batteries due anyway plus labour charges are going to cost more than the yale. I can fit a yale system but repairing this one due to it's position will need someone paying. I am unfortunately too decrepit now to go working up ladders
Try using the default code 0123.
Doesn't work :( Neither does the reset 9999
Well at the chance of saving you £100 read
Good luck
They used to last that long many years ago, but the ones you buy today are 5 years max.
or Maplin in an emergency.
Thanks but I'll get the local alarm company in. They have people young and fit enough to get up ladders. The batteries need replacing anyway. Costs as much to get them replaced by the local company as it does to buy them from Maplins
I was really wanting to weigh up the pros and cons of either getting the old system fixed or putting a wireless system in to cover the ground floor. The couple of replies on that have decided me against wireless
[snip]
I'd have to disagree with that. Modern (Yuasa) gel lead-acid units - which tend to be designed with alarms in mind at the
2.2Ah rating - are certainly good for more than five years, especially as most have controlled trickle charging which keeps them very happy. I changed my alarm battery last year and it had been there 11 years (from the date stamp) and it was still well healthy (I tested it after removal.)We use Yuasa gel lead-acid professionally in UPS' and swapped out batteries in 2008 that had been in place since 2000. About half of them had furring on the terminals because they had never been smeared with Vaseline, but many of the good batteries we have put into reuse in a less important location where failure would not be a crisis. Testing so far shows them to still be holding full capacity.
The bit that really gets me is the so-called 'professional' alarm companies who 'service' domestic installations annually and replace the battery in the process (and charge for it!) I often wonder how many of those 'new' batteries are actually new or one that has just been removed on the same premise from someone else's alarm system? Rip-off doesn't even come into it.
No. Most likely the alarm panel has died. I suggest that you read the OP more carefully and the rest of the thread before firing off the first thing that comes into your head, which is wrong and has already been discounted.
Yes, that's where I got mine.
I did my best:-(
Where is the alarm panel located that makes it so difficult to access?
Cheers (and I am not a big fan of wireless alarms)
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