Guest Graham Mackie Posted June 2, 2006 Posted June 2, 2006 Hi, I am new to this board and was recomending by a friend that used it to find a new installer for his home alarm system. I have just moved to a new house which was a pseudo 'self build' by the previous owner. Whilst the house is generally well constructed the previous owner decided to install a Wickes alarm system. It is a large six bed house with conservatory, sun room etc. The system seems very basic and is driven primarily by window and door sensors downstairs, a PIR in the conservatory and no real protectionthat I can see upstairs. I want to replace the panel and review the security levels upstairs ahead of decorating. Will I be able to replace the panel whilst keeping the existing wiring in place ? What panel is best to replace it with ? Any ideas/thoughts gratefully received.
cdosrun Posted June 2, 2006 Posted June 2, 2006 Hi Graham, Firstly Graham, you should probably consider getting a quote from a couple of professionals for the job. Obviously, it is a decent sized property, and as such, you insurer will probably be happier with a professionally installed and monitored alarm system. In the longer term, you may offset a lot of the cost of the professional system through reduced insurance premiums. whether you should keep the wiring or not will depend on a number of factors. Has all the wiring been taken straight from the control panel, to each MRS or PIR separately, or have a lot of them been "daisy chained" If you have access to a multi-meter, you should probably check the induced A.C. on the wiring. This will give you an idea of the proximity of the cable runs to the mains. Too much induced A.C. is not good for the panel, and can cause random false alarms and an early death for the P.S.U. - Measure the A.C. voltage from either of the 12v/0v to mains earth. Obviously, this depends on you having access to the inside of the panel, and normal caveats regarding safe handling of mains voltages apply (please see the disclaimers on this site). What type of cable has been installed? Is it alarm cable? How many cores are there? Are the detectors sited in the most suitable locations? If not, you will have to re-run the cable anyway. If you know what you are doing (or glean enough advice from the professionals here), I think most people would recommend replacing the wire. Additionally, if the detector in the conservatory is a PIR and not a DT of some description, you might consider replacing it. Have you had any false alarms (if you have been able to set it). As for the panel, it will depend on the number of zones you need, and your level of competence in wiring and programming. For up to 8 zones, most people on here would recommend a Texecom Veritas alarm for the DIYer; easy to get hold of and very simple for programming. For more zones, the Texecom Premier series are nice, more complicated, and are best programmed from a computer. Hope that is a good start. Andrew Edited: Ok, just realised you were after a professional, disregard most of the above then ) Any statement made or information provided in this post are the mere opinions of the author, and no inferrence is to be made as to the quality of information nor should any reliance be placed upon its contents.
Gopher Posted June 2, 2006 Posted June 2, 2006 Good idea Graham, if you post the area your in im sure a few of the members in that area should be able to help you out with some quotes that may make you very happy and have them fit it for you . As to the wiring it all depends on what the previous owner actually used and if it's up to spec or not. If you do decide to fit it yourself, and no reason why not just post back in the DIY section if you have any problems, we're always happy to help keep people in the right and install things safely. Dang beaten to it, nice post thought Andrew Intruder / CCTV / Access Control Technical Support Personal Subscriber to the "K.I.S.S" principle, that's Keep It Simple Stupid, are you?
morph Posted June 2, 2006 Posted June 2, 2006 Hi Graham,Firstly Graham, you should probably consider getting a quote from a couple of professionals for the job. Obviously, it is a decent sized property, and as such, you insurer will probably be happier with a professionally installed and monitored alarm system. In the longer term, you may offset a lot of the cost of the professional system through reduced insurance premiums. whether you should keep the wiring or not will depend on a number of factors. Has all the wiring been taken straight from the control panel, to each MRS or PIR separately, or have a lot of them been "daisy chained" If you have access to a multi-meter, you should probably check the induced A.C. on the wiring. This will give you an idea of the proximity of the cable runs to the mains. Too much induced A.C. is not good for the panel, and can cause random false alarms and an early death for the P.S.U. - Measure the A.C. voltage from either of the 12v/0v to mains earth. Obviously, this depends on you having access to the inside of the panel, and normal caveats regarding safe handling of mains voltages apply (please see the disclaimers on this site). What type of cable has been installed? Is it alarm cable? How many cores are there? Are the detectors sited in the most suitable locations? If not, you will have to re-run the cable anyway. If you know what you are doing (or glean enough advice from the professionals here), I think most people would recommend replacing the wire. Additionally, if the detector in the conservatory is a PIR and not a DT of some description, you might consider replacing it. Have you had any false alarms (if you have been able to set it). As for the panel, it will depend on the number of zones you need, and your level of competence in wiring and programming. For up to 8 zones, most people on here would recommend a Texecom Veritas alarm for the DIYer; easy to get hold of and very simple for programming. For more zones, the Texecom Premier series are nice, more complicated, and are best programmed from a computer. Hope that is a good start. Andrew Edited: Ok, just realised you were after a professional, disregard most of the above then ) Some times members can give too much information; despite the disclaimers on the site you can still be sued!! If you don
cdosrun Posted June 2, 2006 Posted June 2, 2006 Thank you, I appreciate the advice, it is of course right. I don't think that a UK court would impose a duty of care for a claim under the tort of negligence in this case; I doubt there is sufficient proximity between fairly impersonal (and amateurish) information I have given, and someone undertaking their own electrical work. Still, you are right, we are entering a litigation culture ( I will be a little more careful next time! Andrew Any statement made or information provided in this post are the mere opinions of the author, and no inferrence is to be made as to the quality of information nor should any reliance be placed upon its contents.
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