Yale 6400 'What if' control panel loses ALL power?

[Bravebart]

I've just installed the 6400 and am curious as to what happens if in the very unlikely event of there being a mains power failure and the control panel backup battery died. I have read the manual and searched the forum so sorry if this has been answered previously.

Would the siren automatically enter tamper/alarm mode and alarm, reset and keep repeating until the battery dies? Or is there some intelligence built in to the system?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[doherty1234]

Where is yaleguy when you need him

I dont really have any idea when it comes to yale stuff, It should give a local indication of a power failure this could be flashing lights/beeps, however if your in the house you would already know, I doubt it would call you to let you know, But thats when you really need to know when your not there.

As for the external siren triggering i dont think its an SAB so no.

 

[Bravebart]

doherty1234,

Thanks for the reply. I'm new to alarms so what's an SAB?

If the control unit was dead then I guess it won't call so I'm concerned that the siren would repeatedly arm, alarm, reset and repeat until the battery dies, which could be a long time. The Yale manual doesn't cover all possible problems. I know a power failure for this long is rare, but they do happen and if the control unit is dead, how would the siren interpret this? This is probably a situation all alarms are programmed to deal with.

Sorry if I've misunderstood your reply.

 

[JohnD]

why do you think the siren would alarm, if it is receiving no signals?

 

[doherty1234]

SAB = Self Activating Bell, This is a bell box/External Sounder with a backup battery installed. It has a wired connection to the alarm panel this is where it gets it power supply & Triggers from Should these fail ie wire cut/power loss the unit should self activate for 15 minutes.

I dont think you have this as i dont think you can wire a sounder to the yale panel. I take it you have a bright yellow Yale box on the front of the house. This will have battery's in will sound an alarm if told to do by the panel (wireless transmitter) In the event of an alarm sensor triggering,

In the event of a power failure your backup battery should take over powering the system & If it has the facility the autodialler should alert you
Can you program a power fail message in the voice dialler, If not it will not alert you to power loss.

The panel will give a local indication of mains power loss. & it will be in the event log

I dont know what size the battery is so it could last about 8 hours. If the battery does fail. When the power does come back on the panel siren usually sounds for the programmed time

 

[Alarm]

At a mains fail the panel will show a yellow light and bleep.
If the battery fails the system will be dead. I cannot vouch for the standby by times on these as they do not have to meet any regulation.
I am not aware the panel "dials" out to let you know there is a mains fail I may be wrong .

The siren will not activate as it has not been told to. In a power cut.
It might trigger if the panel dies, but as it may not be two way comms with it.

Again Yale guy might be the better to assist here.

 

[Europlex]

SAB = Self Activating Bell

Self Actuating bell, if you want to be correct.

 

[Bravebart]

Many thanks to all for replies. I think this is making sense. As far as I know the siren is a slave to the control unit so I guess logically, without instruction it won't operate.

 

[doherty1234]

SAB = Self Activating Bell

Self Actuating bell, if you want to be correct.

Thought it was, i remeber reading the other post about the differances
Ie Electronic Sounder & Mechanincal Bell

 

[Alarm]

Europlex, we strive to educate but, there is only so much we can do

 

[yaleguy3]

Ok sorry for not getting back sooner but I have been away skiing in the lovely French Alps.
The truth is I have not tested this scenario myself and would actually wonder how it could be tested.
What I do know is your siren will not activate when power is restored and that when devoid of power the unit does not lose its programmed devices.
What happens if I have preprogrammed a control panel prior to installing to stop it beeping faults in my van I switch off the panel. This essentially puts it in the state you mention ie no external power and the internal battery disconnected. When I power up the panel it comes on in alarm off mode ready to arm - however that was the state I switched it off in so that is to be expected. I have never powered down a panel in armed state so i don't know whether it would come back online armed. It depends on the type of memory the current status is stored in. volatile or non volatile.
The control panel battery has a 10hr reserve which would cover all power outages in most scenarios.

 

[Alarm]

So you dont know what your "systems" you fit do in certain circumstances?

Rather strange, do you not bench test what you fit to take into account various scenarios?
Your not sure if it uses a NVM for setting logic?


As for wondering how to test it, well that is easy. Make the situation happen.


If it is decent it SHOULD rearm in armed mode after a complete power down. As that was where it was left. Otherwise how else do you think real systems act as a power outage could be a tamper interference could it not?

Go test it, see what it does.
Then you could ring Yale and mention they may have missed something

Good Hols?

 

[bernardgreen]

When I removed the alarm control box from the cottage I had bought the siren went started to sound. It would have continued to sound until its internal battery gave out if I had not removed that battery. To me that is sensible, if the control panel is put out of action the siren should sound.

With a wireless interconnected alarm system the healthy control panel should be sending "All is OK" messages to the bell ( or siren ) at regular intervals and when these stop arriving at the siren then the siren should sound.

 

[Bravebart]

Interesting points raised and thanks.

I know this event is unlikely to happen but I was just thinking of the neighbours. I'll call Yale.

 

[yaleguy3]

When I removed the alarm control box from the cottage I had bought the siren went started to sound. It would have continued to sound until its internal battery gave out if I had not removed that battery. To me that is sensible, if the control panel is put out of action the siren should sound.

With a wireless interconnected alarm system the healthy control panel should be sending "All is OK" messages to the bell ( or siren ) at regular intervals and when these stop arriving at the siren then the siren should sound.

That is not comparing like with like. If you remove a yale control panel it too will set off the siren as the tamper is activated.
In your scenario are you saying the control panel was dead and that the internal battery was also dead? In this case why then would the siren have activated? It would already have activated when the power and internal battery had gone dead. This is the usual scenario when there is a power cut and everyones alarm activates because the internal battery hasn't been replaced.