Burglar alarm bell box

Probably a daft question, but I wanted to check...

I noticed earlier today that the top of the alarm bell box is missing! Old and brittle plastic?

A search on Ebay comes up with what seems to be a choice of bell boxes with sirens and LEDs inside, and 'dummy' bell boxes.

I don't need the innards so, will a dummy do the job? Is the 'dummy' just the fully featured box minus the features?

Reply to
F
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En el artículo , F escribió:

When I fitted them years ago, the dummies were different. They omitted the backplate that fixes to the wall, instead having a lip along the bottom with screw holes for fixings. They wouldn't fit the non-dummy backplates.

This style:

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Things may be different now, however. And there's a far wider variety of different styles available.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

A further thought... am I correct in suspecting that the dummy boxes are minus tamper switches?

Reply to
F

Pointless fitting a taper switch in a dummy box. I doubt that they are even vaguely weather proof either. Unsuitable as a replacement housing.

Reply to
Bob Minchin

That's what I thought.

And that's what I wanted to know.

I just need to find a box, then, without the innards that I've already got in the damaged box.

Assuming the currently exposed-to-the-weather contents are going to survive!

Reply to
F

En el artículo , F escribió:

The old-style boxes had to have the components (siren, SCB, tamper snitch) fitted separately. If it's a horn-type siren and the installer was daft enough to have fitted it with the horn pointing up, there's no way it'll have survived the weather.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

If possible I would ask the sounder manufacturer if the dummy will do what you want. You may well find that the innards of your box have corroded anyway. They are not that expensive to replace. The alarm sounder that I have can be put into a standby mode using the control panel so that you can take the cover off without the tamper switch setting it off.

Reply to
Michael Chare

I fitted it with the horn pointing down...

Reply to
F

En el artículo , F escribió:

Weren't daft, then were you? :)

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Not this time!

All I need now is a recommendation or two for a replacement non-dummy box. Honeywell AG6/WB ActiveGuards seem to be fairly common and reasonably priced.

Reply to
F

Could I recommend Honeywell AG6/WB ActiveGuards, as I have heard that they seem to be fairly common and reasonably priced? :)

Reply to
GB

Maintenance mode on my panel also prevents the system from sounding.

Reply to
F

Yes, but the sounders are a bit independent. Mine would go off if tampered with even if the panel was in engineer mode. I have to use engineer mode to switch the strobe off and on a few times in quick succession if I want to take the cover off the sounder.

Reply to
Michael Chare

It might make sense to use the same brand as the control panel, though I think other brands should work. Downloading instruction manuals can help determine this. I bought a Texecom Odyssey 3, but that was to work with a Texecom control panel. I chose the control panel because I can access (check and control) it via the Internet.

Reply to
Michael Chare

Ah, OK. The panel is (an ageing) Scantronic 9448 so that might be a problem.

Reply to
F

I bought the Honeywell AG6/WB ActiveGuard but am a little unsure of the wiring in the present broken box as I haven't been up the ladder yet.

The new box expects five cores: TR- (negative tamper return), V- (negative supply), ST- (negative strobe trigger), V+ (positive supply) and S- (negative sounder trigger) but I suspect that when I get up the ladder I will find just four cores with a strobe connection to the Scantronic 9448 panel missing.

However, the instructions for the new box say that 'for panels without a strobe output the ST- should be connected to the SW-'.

Three questions: are S- and SW- one and the same (and just an inconsistency in the instructions)?

and

if I do make the link, will the strobe activate when the sounder activates?

and

if the strobe will activate, would the additional power drawn by the strobe be an issue?

Reply to
F

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