Burglar alarm problem

[Bowness72]

Hi,

My girlfriend's house alarm has had a bit of a meltdown. From what I understand, she walked through the door last weekend and put in the code but it didn't work and started sounding. I got there about an hour later to find it had stopped making a noise and don't think the box outside was even flashing. When she opened the door it started sounding again. As you might expect, the timing wasn't brilliant....these things never are, it was Saturday evening about 7:00pm so wouldn't have been able to get anyone out to it. She isn't bothered about keeping the alarm so I set about disabling it to stop the noise. I disconnected the control panel and also the sounder in the hallway and then switched the circuit back on, which all seemed fine.....until I checked by opening the door, at which point the outside box sounded and started flashing again. I switched the circuit off again but the smoke alarms are also on the same circuit so want to be able to put them back on again. Like I said, she is quite happy to forget the burglar alarm but obviously wants the smoke alarms working.

Can anyone make any suggestions without having to get alarm engineer in ?

Thanks

 

[sparkymarka]

knowing what make of alarm panel would be a start ! even better post a picture of it....

 

[EightyTwo]

I assume that you've tried obvious default passwords like 1234...

The disable the alarm, you need to do (at least) three things: disconnect the battery in the bell (ladders required), remove the mains from the panel and disconnect its backup battery.

Once you've got your ladders up to the bellbox, arm yourself with an electrical screwdriver (2.5-3mm flat blade), a pair of side cutters and a pozi or flat blade screwdriver to take the lid off. By the time you get the lid off, the bell will have started to sound. This may happen as you are undoing the screws or as you take the lid off. Whenever it is, bells are pretty loud when you've got your ear next to them, so be prepared for the noise and don't fall off your ladder! You could always wear earplugs...

Once inside, look for the battery connection. This might be wires from the battery going into screw terminals, a wire or staple link between two terminals, a little rectangular plug (jumper) pushed onto a couple of pins 0.1" apart or another type of switch. Look for things labelled "BATT" or "BATT LINK". If you're cutting wires, cut them one at a time to avoid shorting anything out and cut them fairly close to the terminals so that they can be reconnected later, if required. You also need to remove the +12V supply from the panel. This could be called +, +12V, HOLD-OFF, or something else and is often a red wire.

By now, the bell should have stopped. Put the lid back on and go into the house. The panel should be powered from an FCU (fused spur). Remove the fuse completely. Open the panel and disconnect one of the spade terminals on big battery. Chuck the spur fuse into the panel and do the lid up.

And that's it! Put the kettle on for a celebratory cuppa and put your ladders away.

As Sparkymarka says, if we knew which panel and bell you've got, we could give you more specific instructions.

btw, any alarm company worth its salt should come out at 7:00pm on a Saturday. I would, but not all the way to Leeds!