Alarm bell box squawking?

[johnc86]

I have an Acenta G4 alarm panel with an 8EP42 type bell box. Recently the bell box has started making random squawking noises intermittently. Tried powering it completely down and re energising it. The sounder works in test mode and no faults are shown on the panel.

I had a look inside today but couldn't see anything obvious wrong, no loose wires and didn't seem wet inside.
Wondering if a faulty battery could cause this problem? for the cost of a new bell box I might just order a new one but wondered if anyone could suggest a fix? Could it be the battery in the bell box at fault?

Its only been up for about 2 years. Would expect one of these to last many years.

Thanks.

 

[secureiam]

so it doesn't sound like a normal alarm from the bell box?

possibly a failed piezo, as to why cant be certain, if you manually trigger the bell does it fire correctly?

 

[sparkymarka]

Known to chirp ….when battery faulty …

 

[johnc86]

Hi, If I use the LCD keypad to manually sound the alarm, it sounds as normal. Which seems odd! I thought given the bad weather recently that water might have blown in. That's possible but it seems dry in there. I suppose it could have got wet and dried out but been left damaged.

 

[sparkymarka]

Bell box battery ….

 

[johnc86]

Would it be worth removing the battery completely to see if it stops making the squawking sound intermittently?

 

[secureiam]

could be the battery fair point but only 2 years old you would expect the battery would last a little longer

 

[johnc86]

That's what I was thinking. Unlikely but possible I suppose.

 

[johnc86]

Took the battery out of the bell box, it's stopped squawking. Ordered one to fit. Thanks for your help.

Annoying how it only lasted 2 years though?

 

[johnc86]

Just tested the battery, it's charged to 5.7v. it's a 6v battery. Had the system powered up without the battery for about an hour, still no squawking. Might put the battery back in tommorow and double check the terminals for tightness. 5.7v wouldn't suggest to me the battery was at fault

 

[sparkymarka]

Voltage is no sign of capacity ….

 

[johnc86]

No, but it proves it was charged when it was removed? And it isn't having to do anything whilst in circuit (correct me if I'm wrong), isn't it just there as a backup incase of mains power failure so it still sounds/strobes?

 

[sparkymarka]

The correct way would have been to leave it in and disconnect the 12+ at the alarm panel and see what happened , and to leave it sounding a good 5 mins …