No room for alarm door contacts need advice?

[Ruggers]

Hi, i'm fitting an alarm to my home but unlike my last house, i don't seem to have room to mount the door magnets, does anyone have any suggestions how to get round this. My old doors were square & had alot more room around them,so could mount the magnet on top of the door but one of my new ones has a rounded edge and less room between door and walls.

I've included a few pictures to show.

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[redpis]

Difficult to make surface contacts look neat, the operating distance might be sufficent to allow the magnet to be fitted to the flat face of the door and contact as near as possible to the door, but it will look pants.

Another option is to mount the contact as normal on the top edge of the frame and remove the magnet from the housing and sink that vertically, it will take time and you will have to stop the magnet dropping but it can be done and very neatly.

Check if this will invalidate the door warranty before drilling it.

 

[joe-90]

Wrap some sandpaper around an appropriate size of dowel and rub the magnet part over it until it is the same radius curve as the door. That should then give you enough room. If not, rub the reed section on flat sandpaper too or inset it in the plaster slightly.

 

[Ruggers]

do the magnets have to face each other in a certain orietation ie:screw heads on each contact facing each other or can the magnet side be facing sideways towards the side with wires? Was just thinking of another option for the front door (one with just one pic) like putting it on the hinge side

 

[Denford1]

Use a bit of blutak , and experiment fitting the 2 halves in the channels in the frame and door , its dead easy.

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• Denford1
• 7 Jun 2010
• 1

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[Ruggers]

Use a bit of blutak , and experiment fitting the 2 halves in the channels in the frame and door , its dead easy.

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• Denford1
• 7 Jun 2010
• 1

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I'll have a look and see if there is room for that, any idea on my post above if they work on the side of the door or have to be face to face?

 

[redpis]

Fitting on the hinge side allows the door to open quite a way before the contact breaks, unless you space the magnet to allow for this, it is not good practice to mount the contact on the hinge side.

 

[Europlex]

.... and don't forget that the opening edge of door the must not open more than 4" or 10cm without generating an alarm condition.

Might be 'basic' and 'dead easy' but I've seen many doors with this done that can be opened and access gained - NOT GOOD PRACTICE.

 

[JohnD]

I am not an alarm engineer, but my (commercially fitted) system has concealed contacts on the doors, where there is a button magnet recessed into the edge of the door, and a button-shaped contact recessed into the frame, with the frame drilled for the wires to be led away from the side.

mine are wooden doors and frames though, which might make it easier.

BTW if you need to space the magnet or contacs out, how about using white Bathroom Silicone Sealant? It should tome well with the white plastic door and contacts, and you can mould it to whatever angle you need.

 

[Ruggers]

i seen some magnets that you can get where you drill a hole and recess them which would be fine for the plaster in the upper reveal but still didnt understand how id be able to fit the other half into the top of the door facing it, as it said it needs a 20mm hole, the door is only about 10mm on the top. probably more for a 35mm thick wood door im guessing.

Was gonna try using silicone once i get them to fit as a few people have said that instead of screws.

 

[Denford1]

Have a look at the gap between the frame and the top of the door , on most of them its bigger than you think.

 

[redbrickman]

I gave a similar problem and have given up on contacts. I intend to use PIR's instead, one in the hall and one in the kitchen to cover both entry/exit points.

I did read on the forum here though that contacts give an immediate alert whereas pir will only trigger once the intruder has made entry.

Don't think I have a choice now unless I can buy a hybrid system and fit surface mount contacts

 

[alastair1]

Depending on how good you are with your hands, you could always make up mounts that have a flat edge on one side to attach the sensors to, and moulded edges that are the same as those of the door and frame to attach to the door and frame using longer screws.
Could be easily made form wood or fibreglass then painted to match the door.