jimmyb789

My Novagard 6 bellbox strobe has never worked. I think this is down to the fact the installer used the existing four core bell wire from a previous alarm and didn't wire in the strobe. However, I've heard you can still use the strobe with four core if you wire it together with the bell trigger. In the real world am I likely to get any problems (fuses blowing etc) by doing this?

Thanks for the very useful info, Peter James. There does look to be some kind of screw cover in the centre of the blue lens. Does it just flip off if you wedge a screwdriver into it? Also, do you know if the battery is easy to change in a Nova 6 (ie not soldered into place)?

This is a pic of my bellbox. There's no sign of any screw holding the front on. So how do I remove it to check the battery? I don't want to just start trying to pry it off or I'll probably end up breaking it/ pulling the whole thing off the wall. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your reply, sixwheeledbeast. Very helpful. Could anyone else tell me whether the Gardtec 580 allows you to disable the sounder triggering in engineer mode when changing bell box battery? And how many years do these Nicd batteries in bell boxes last on average? How often do professionals replace them under servicing contracts etc?

Could someone advise whether I need to change the battery in my bell box? It still sounds when both mains power and battery are disconnected from the control panel (although I’ve only tried it for a few seconds). However, it’s been in place for nearly 8 years. I know the control panel battery needs changing every four of five years; what’s the average lifespan of bell box batteries? I’m not sure what kind of bell box it is, unfortunately, but the control panel – installed at the same time - is a Gardtec 580. Also, if the battery does need replacing, is there a way to do this without getting deafened by triggering the tamper circuit? I do have the engineer code, but I’m not sure whether it’s simply a case of entering engineer mode first or whether you have to do something when you’re in there to stop the alarm sounding. Lastly, are the bell boxes fairly easy to get into? I’m assuming there’s a screw holding the front on somewhere, although there’s not one visible from the ground. Perhaps it just clicks in place?