Isolating switch for external alarm bell

[Dunce!]

Hi - Can anyone please offer any advice with the following?

I would like to add an isolating switch to the external alarm bell - so that I can choose to turn off the bell regardless of the alarm state. There are 5 wires going to the bell (Strobe trigger, bell strobe / + Hold Off, Bell Trigger, Bell Hold off - Supply and tamper return) which I think are pretty standard to most alarms.

Does anyone know which of these (if any) I could safely run through a switch to simply stop the outside bell making any noise - without upsetting the alarm?

Many thanks for any advice/help,
Mark

 

[sparkymarka]

Why ?

 

[Dunce!]

The reason is so that should something go wrong I can quickly turn the noise off and gain some control while the problem is fixed. I had loads of trouble with pets setting stuff off (despite having pet friendly PIRs) and I was sick to death of it going off (and I'm sure the neighbours were too). With a switch It can go off as much as it likes while the problem is resolved. Saves me pulling the plug, fuses and battery out...

 

[Alarm Engineer]

A well installed system should never false alarm, I think you should look at your detection equipment first and the way its sited in relation to the manufactures instructions.

A switch wont turn off whist your away if it false alarms & could be switched off by mistake or even worse switched off by an intruder.

Your Pet sensors need some attention, get better ones, site them correctly or fit door/window sensors.

If you still want to have a switch it can be done but I dont think its the best idea imho!

 

[Dunce!]

Thanks for your opinion on whether I should actually do it or not :/

If anyone actually know how it can be done, that would be most welcome, thank you.

 

[Mottie]

Dear Dunce. Just put a switch in between the Bell positive wire. Make sure you put the switch somewhere easy to get to in a hurry. Perhaps put a big sign next to it saying ‘OUTSIDE BELL OFF’ so that intruders can easily disable it too.

 

[Dunce!]

That was my instinct - switching the positive - but was only asking for advice before doing it - thank you.

The sign would just be silly now wouldn't it...

 

[Mottie]

Not as silly as your idea! Surely the control panel/keypad is in the most convenient position at the moment. Why not just disable it through that? At least only you can do it. As others have said, if the alarm is constantly going off, you either have a fault or it is not set up correctly for your use.

 

[bernardgreen]

(Strobe trigger, bell strobe / + Hold Off, Bell Trigger, Bell Hold off - Supply and tamper return)

The bell is powered by a battery inside the bell box, and is prevented from sounding by a voltage on the + Bell Hold Off . Cut the Bell Hold off wire(s) and the bell will sound until the internal battery goes flat.

This is to prevent the alarm being disabled by cutting the cable to the bell.

To achieve what you want to achieve you will have to disconnect the Bell Hold Off wire (s) from the control panel and immediately contact them to a source of voltage to keep the belll held off. As change over switch may achieve this. I say may because some bells will react to a very short duration loss of volts on Bell Hold Off

 

[Dunce!]

That's really helpful information - thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

 

[Nerdish Nerd]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems you don't really trust your system hence why you would like a bell cutoff switch installed. Seriously, like others said, unless something isn't installed correctly it should be all fine and dandy. It may take time, but your alarm system may turn into your friend someday when it saves your house. Having that switch installed and getting into the habit of disconnecting the bell from the panel will make your system as an alarm device ni-on useless since there won't be anything audio/visual outside for others around you to be alerted to.

 

[stuartR1963]

I can't help thinking "diy"also means "destroy it yourself"
Nobody here is going to tell you how disable an external sounder on a public forum,If you think about it for a minute I am sure you will understand why.
If your alarm is going off all the time then that points to your detection equipment, If you have standard pirs then its a no brainer replace them, however if you have pet pirs then they need adjusting correctly or upgraded as others have said. Ideally homes with pets should have perimeter protection.Do you have dogs or cats, do you live in a bungalow?
If you are not willing to consider the above suggestions, then make sure if you have cats they are out before you leave, or if you have a dog put it in a room where there is no pir before you go out it will get used to it.

 

[Dunce!]

I can't help thinking "diy"also means "destroy it yourself"
Nobody here is going to tell you how disable an external sounder on a public forum,If you think about it for a minute I am sure you will understand why.
If your alarm is going off all the time then that points to your detection equipment, If you have standard pirs then its a no brainer replace them, however if you have pet pirs then they need adjusting correctly or upgraded as others have said. Ideally homes with pets should have perimeter protection.Do you have dogs or cats, do you live in a bungalow?
If you are not willing to consider the above suggestions, then make sure if you have cats they are out before you leave, or if you have a dog put it in a room where there is no pir before you go out it will get used to it.

Well I thought about it for a minute as you suggested (it didn't quite take me that long if I'm honest) - and then I spent the next 5 minutes laughing out loud.

So you think that someone could use this highly privileged, "secret" information to break into someones house (setting the alarm in question off of course) - locate the alarm panel - open it up - identify the alarm bell circuit - attach a new switch (hopefully somewhere inconspicuous), rewire the bell and strobe using the aforementioned "secret" information - turn off the switch (phew!!) and then take their time robbing the place safe in the knowledge that the alarm bell has been successfully disabled!!

Yup - this kind of information should definitely not be allowed to filter through to the public domain - imagine the chaos?!?!?

If you take the time to think about it - I suspect you may need a good while longer than a minute, but take your time... you will work out how ridiculous and pointless your response was.

With the exception of a couple of people, who actually offered a constructive response (thank you again) - you should all be ashamed of yourselves - or perhaps proud because you meet the "forum troll" criteria. Look the definition up - you will relate to it. Hopefully once you recognise this type of behaviour you may think twice before "helping" anyone else.

I joined the forum to politely ask a simple question and most people went out of their way to do anything other than to answer it. You didn't need to know "why" nor did you need to agree with, or understand what I was doing. So why bother responding unless you have anything constructive to add? Oh yes, that's right, because you're simply trolling. Definition below in case you're struggling to look it up.

I won't receive or see any response that you or anyone else posts as I will be closing the account after this. So well done for ruining the forum guys and happy trolling amongst very sad selves...

Forum Troll
"A forum troll is someone who actively watches a forum. Not to be confused with a lurker, or just a forum frequenter, the troll annoys, pesters, and generally insults any thread they open..." (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=forum troll)

 

[sparkymarka]

Bye

 

[Europlex]

Come on now sparky, don't you realise we know nothing here?

Have you spotted his 'handle'?

Couldn't be more apt.