My neighbour's burglar alarm has suddenly taken to going off at random. She has 3 IR sensors, one of which goes on and off when you wave your hand at it, but the other 2 now seem to be permanently illuminated. Does this suggest faulty sensors? I imagine it would be a coincidence for both to fail at the same time, especially as they appear to be on separate cables. Could a fault elsewhere cause 2 out of 3 not to work?
Any advice welcome
I had a problem a couple of weeks ago where 2 PIR's failed. The LED illuminated when it detected movement but it was not talking to the alarm. After investigation, both the PIR's failed at roughly the same time.
"Stuart Noble" wrote
Ask for her installation/instruction manual. Somewhere in this you should find instructions on performing a "walk test". This allows you to put the control panel into a mode whereby it bleeps or buzzes each time it detects movement in a particular zone. This will be as good a test as any of the passives. Also in the instructions there will be details on how to omit zones. If you find a particular passive faulty on the walk test, try omitting it when setting the alarm and see if the false detections still occur.
HTH
Phil
Possibly a nearby lightning event damaged a couple? Some of the more expensive ones do self-tests and this might be its way to indicate the self-test failed. I noticed that one particular make I had used in a couple of places had noticably dropped in sensitivity and speed of response compared with the others which were still behaving as they originally did, so they don't all last forever. That's another reason to do walk tests and replace weak units from time to time.
Thanks. This is 20+ years old and activated with a key, so I doubt if there's a walk test mode. Of course the manual is missing, and there's nothing to indicate a manufacturer's name on the case. Time for a new system maybe
Assuming all the wiring is OK, you're probably right to replace the whole system. B&Q are doing a multizone wired system for about =A370 which includes: Multi-zone panel (4 zone I think) Alarm Bell
3 PIR sensors 2 door sensors and a roll of cable.Don't know if they're any good !!! Anyone tries them ?
I think I might try replacing the box and the sensors and leaving the bell and original wiring intact. Quite how one would stop the thing going off if it has its own battery I'm not sure
Hi Most of the old keyswitch panels did have a walk test but not as we know it now. The key has 3 positions OFF TEST/MUTE ON. Turn it test or mute and the zone light will show if the zone is clear (usually red above green below) As for the pir's change them all 20yrs is a good innings for any device and at the cost these days cheeper than going back in a week or so to change the one that works when it fails.
HTH
CJ
She hasn't just had a new carpet fitted has she?
My fitters nailed through the wires. To add insult to injury,I called out an alarm repair man so I could send them the bill, and he reckoned it was just chance. It was only when I was fitting the new one that I found the short. (so I paid him for nothing) And the VCR failed at the same time - expensive carpet that one :(
Andy
I think she has had a carpet fitted recently as it happens. I'll look into that
I'll check again but I don't recall a test position.
Hell, she's not short of money. I'm going to tell her to get a new system installed, especially as I'm the one crawling out of bed in the middle of the night when she's away.
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