Rissy

oh! really? I wonder what's going on there then....? I still don't know which negative wire i need to pull for testing the bell box alarm properly.... out of the possible terminals named as follows, which is it we're talking about me needing to pull? ST- Strobe switched negative trigger. S - Sounder switched negative trigger + Sounder hold off/strobe positive supply. - Sounder hold off supply & sounder tamper feed (negative) -R Sounder tamper return. (negative) Also, do i want to do this with the alarm in an armed standpoint, or can i do it unarmed? If only armed, then how do i do this with the control box open? just tape down the tamper switch on the control box door?

Ah cool. Thank you very much for all your help. It's great to finally get some extra clarity on the system i have. I really appreciate you helping me. :-)

I have another question. What is supposed to happen if the alarm is armed, and the mains power to the system (house) is lost? Is the system supposed to still sit there silently until the house is illegally interfered with? I'm presuming this is the case, as what would be the point in the 12v battery backup....? I know that when the alarm ISN'T armed and the mains power is withdrawn, the alarm box still sits there silently and only makes noise when you open up the controller box.

Excellent! Now i'm getting an understanding. Do we know which wire i'm to pull to test this out?

Ha! Yes indeed. As i was saying, i was getting confused as to when this battery was expected to do anything. When i opened up the bell box the first time, to replace the goosed battery, the bell box still made noise, despite the controller box being isolated from the mains. I suspected that the back up battery was therefore feeding the bell box to allow it to make noise. I then isolated the controller box back up supply too. This then allowed me to work on the bell box in silence so i could rip out the old 7.5v battery and put in the new one. I presume it didn't make noise when everything else was dead because the battery in the bell box was goosed. But after changing the bell box battery, the same was still true. No noise!? I would have thought the new battery would force it to make noise and it didn't!? So i was confused as to when this battery is used to make the bell box make noise. So you're now confirming, i think, that the only time the bell box internal battery forces the bell box to make noise, is when this negative feed to the bell box from the controller, is cut. Am i right?

So what i was trying to say earlier this morning is that with both the goosed battery AND the replacement new battery (in the bell box i mean), upon completely isolating all volts going to the controller, the bell box didn't alarm. Only opening the bell box up seemed to make it squeal. I take it this is wrong?

So you're saying that only be removing this negative to the bell box, that's when the bell box battery is designed to keep the siren on the bell box going? Do we know which wire it is?

What's an "SAB"?

from within the controller box? What will this achieve?

How do i do that?

When i opened the bell box to release the tamper trigger, the bell box alarm sounded, but by immediately closing the bell box lid again, the bell box alarm would immediately stop again. I could literally control the bell box alarm by simply opening/closing the lid. The alarm didn't continue on after even replacing the lid. Is it supposed to then?

So on Saturday, I changed the battery on the bell box. (easy) The original was definitely goosed. 3.43v. Now the new one is giving 7.67v. I did a series of tests of the alarm, but to be honest, I can't figure out any difference between before the bell box battery change and after the bell box battery change. The bell box seems to receive power from the controller box. Under both battery installations (dud battery, then good battery), upon opening the bell box, the squealer inside sounded, but only if the controller was powered. When the controller wasn't powered, the bell box remained silent as i opened it!? How is it supposed to work? The bell box i mean. When the alarm is not set, pulling mains power to the controller box results in nothing. Pulling the battery back up from the controller box after this, results in nothing. Only opening the bell box makes it squeal (IF the controller box is powered up!) Does is work differently when the alarm is armed? I'd expect that if the alarm is armed, and then if the mains power is removed, it should remain silent (due to battery back up to ride out the power cut), but then if the house or the bell box is interfered with either with the mains power in place, or not, then the bell box should sound, or as proven, if the bell box is interfered with, then it should sound. Are my assumptions correct? I don't understand this question, sorry.

I'd like to just change the battery. I don't think the bell box is as old as the controller, since it's showing evidence of another company being round to install it. So rather than waste useful resources, not to mention, loosen my purse strings even more... Any advice? (other than "just buy new" - not understanding the fascination of buying new all the time instead of maintaining and fixing old. I like doing this. I do it with everything. It's a hobby )

I actually have no idea to the condition of the battery in it right now. I am just presuming since the main controller battery was goosed, that the bell box has probably gone the same way. what would be a good process of testing to prove if the battery in the bell box is good or not?

My next question. After a bit of research, I *think* i have a "Texecom Odyssey 4E" alarm bell box. I want to change the battery for this. Looking on the likes of ebay, it seems you can get a suitable battery pack for about £10-£25. Example link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Texecom-Odyssey-Siren-Alarm-7-2V-250mA-Bell-Box-Sounder-Battery-/192196853462?hash=item2cbfd33ed6:g:P1YAAOSwlMFZJptf Does anyone have any experience of this alarm bell box? Can someone tell me if this *IS* an appropriate looking battery? I've seen some pictures of the battery being wired into terminals rather than having a proper looking plug on it (like shown in my ebay link) - although i appreciate I may just have to cut off the plug to fit it....? A further question is: Once i'm up at the box, is it just a simple case of disconnecting the old battery and connecting the new battery in its place, while the bell box is energised from the mains? I'm just trying to prepare ahead of time so that once i borrow ladders, and get up there, it'll be a smooth and quick operation so that I can get back down again without any delays or issues. Once again, thanks in advance for any support anyone can offer me.