Tampering Bell Boxes in Engineering Mode

[Guest Rocky]

I'm at a loss to whether or not bell boxes should or should not go into bells when they are tampered.

I appreciate most bell boxes have a Tamper Return signal to communicate with control panel, but should the bell box go into audible bells (driven by the panel and not by the on-board battery)?

I work with a multitude of control panels (Galaxy, Abacus, Scantronic, Menvier, Gardtec, Accenta, Veritas, Securitech) fitted with a multitude of bell boxes (Gardiner/Gardtec, Volumatic).

Naturally, as part of me service routine, I open the bell box.

Upon removing the lid I expect to hear the bells.

Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

I'm not sure if it's not a function of being in Engineering Mode, perhaps some anti-tamper devices are disabled in Engineering?

I haven't tried removing the bell box covers in day mode as this would involve the customer entering their user code to silence the bells.

Does anyone know if certain types of control panel disable the anti-tamper circuit in Engineering Mode?

[black knight]

As "SAB" stands for self actuating bell it should. your bell should always sound if you undot he screw on the cover. if you in day mode and alarm is off it will generate a internal alarm on panel and if set it should generate a full alarm. if the bell doe,nt sound this could be for a multitude of reasons (if i sound like i,m telling you how to do your job i apologise in advance)

1) if it an old type "H" bell the existing sab kit will be faulty or corroded or bateery dead. if you have one of these i would advise updating to an mpre modern sounder anyway as these don,t complky with the 20 min cut off rule in full power fail - they just sound until flat or power restored.

2) the on board battery could be flat

3) the tamper switch on the sounder could be stuck n/c

4) it could be a gardiner bell that is renowned for a fault where the -return is faulty and holds off the battery unless you disc. the -ve as well. this can sometimes be solved by reversing the -return and -ve hold off. or by fitting an diode to the -ve return in the SAB.

5) sounder not wired up correctly.

of course if sounder is a SCB(ie the aritech type) the reasons are the same as above but as battery on these are usually the same type as in panel it is more crucial to check the internal battery and replace if it over 4 - 5 years old depending on what your company/personal policy is to changing batteries.

personally i use an ACT batt checker and replace if reading tells me so or if battery is 5 years old.(if customer is prepared to pay of course)

ps i,m impressed with your effeciency in going up to the bell on a routine maintainance - i do try to but must admit i don,t always!!

paul