Broken alarm, no engineer code - what would you do?

[Trebby]

Dear all,

I would be grateful for any advice you can offer. We recently moved into a house with a wired burglar alarm. From old receipts etc I can see that it is at least 20 years old, but nonetheless was (until recently) in full working order and has an extensive number of sensors. It appears to have been serviced by Chubb in recent years, and has a contract number on the front.

We had to have some works done on the house and this has disrupted the alarm. I think the tamper had been set off and so I think the battery had been disconnected and a fuse removed. The control panel (scantronic) is hanging off the wall and has 3 wires going into it, with another 3 that don't feed into it - though cannot be certain they ever did.

Anyway, clearly I need the engineer code to reactivate the system. I'm not sure about these other wires - can anybody advise whether this sounds normal?

The issue is that Chubb refuse to come out and fix the alarm without me purchasing a contract from them. I'm not yet certain how much this costs, but I expect a lot. I feel like I'm being held to random by them.

What would you do?
A) Pay the contract fee and pay them to come and fix it?
B) Pay another engineer who will likely have to install and reprogramme a new control panel, as he won't have the engineer code.
C) Buy a cheap wireless alarm and install it myself, which is annoyingly probably the cheapest option but seems ridiculous as there is already a full wired system.

Or any other thoughts? Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Trebby]

I should add - when I say control panel, I mean keypad. The main control box is located near to the keypad.

 

[sparkymarka]

For a start ...what Scantronic alarm panel is it ? Post a picture
Scantronic panels can't be engineer locked so it may be a simple default and service
Further info on your panel would be needed to suggest what you do next

 

[Trebby]

Thanks for your reply. It is a Scantronic 9827.

 

[sparkymarka]

9800, if it's the old keypad small grey keys , then sooner or later you will have issues with the buttons , it can be defaulted , but will need a full reprogram , if it's the 9800 plus you can default the engineer and user code only, what's it showing on the keypad ?

 

[Trebby]

It looks exactly like this: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/z/5AYAAOSwVFlT1lH7/$_57.JPG

Not currently sure what the code is. Most recently I think it was R1. Though I have not tried to power it up recently as it sets off the alarm and makes me unpopular with the neighbours.

 

[sparkymarka]

It's the later keypad which is good , if the end station is a 9800 plus even better as it can be defaulted codes only , a service and replacement battery is probably all it needs

 

[Trebby]

Thanks again for your help. How do I determine what the end station is? (Is that the box on the wall nearby?)

 

[sparkymarka]

It will have more than 8 zones if a plus , it may have the zone extenders plugged on , there will be two sets of molex connectors next to the zone terminals

 

[Trebby]

Ok, from memory I'm pretty sure it is a plus then. It certainly seemed to have more than 8 zones. I will check in in the next few days, or maybe at the weekend and get back to you. May end up taking a photo. Thank you again!

 

[sparkymarka]

Ok no problem

 

[Trebby]

Hi,
I took a couple of photos of the end station. Would be grateful for any advice on whether it is a plus, and if so how I can reset the codes.

Many thanks.

 

[sparkymarka]

9800 , not a plus, it will need a full reprogram if you default this panel

 

[Trebby]

That's a shame. How long would a reprogram take for an engineer? i.e. how much is it likely to cost?! (roughly)

Thanks

 

[sparkymarka]

Would guess a service and reprogram should be an hour , we charge £55 plus vat, plus parts