A Quiet Alarm!?!!

[Guest Aled]

Hi, (first post, so apologies for any faux-pas!)

I'm serving with the British Army in Bosnia and I'm responsible, although not trained, in maintaining some alarm systems (C&K Securitech Securit 800L). Most work fine, but I have one problem which despite my best efforts I'm unable to cure.

The alarm in question 'works', but is very quiet! It's wired exactly the same as all the other panels that are at the right volume. The variable resistor in the centre of the PCB, marked Volume, can decrease the sound, but at the maximum, it's still too quiet. All the sounds made, if you listen carefully (!!), are correct, so I don't understand what it could be. I've replaced the PCB, the transformer and the relay base with no change/improvement.

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of 'calling in a professional' - the Army doesn't have a contract with any civilian company for the maintainance. Does anybody have any ideas what the problem could be? The spares I've used to swap haven't been brand new, so there's a chance that they could be faulty as well. Even if you don't know exactly what the problem could be, or you haven't come across anything like it before; any direction you could give as for where to look next or concentrate on would be gratefully received.

,

Aled.

[arfur mo]

hi,

on the lines Lurch suggest, if you can borrow a spare known working speaker from another panel and test it at the panel with some spare wire to see if the cable run is damaged.

if this is still low disconnect any wires you can and test the panel alone, you may have a short somewhwere between cables like nail through a couple of them (or where your working some shrapnel or a 303 cal )

if you have not tried to change the keypad i suggest you do this also.

the external siren/bell if it is like used in the UK will not affect the speaker output in any way as it's driven by a direct voltage from the panel (sab) or a removed voltage (scb).

just a point though, has the external siren housing also got a speaker inside it? i'd have a look as stranger things happen at sea and this may be shorting

regs

alan.

[Guest]

on the lines Lurch suggest,

I never said a word.

[Guest Aled]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

There is a speaker attached to the speaker terminals of the board, but I'm not certain what you mean by 'internal' - it's mounted inside the building, but it's external to the panel box. I assume this must be called internal - but I wanted to be clear.

There's only one wire connected to the bell outputs - that is from the relay base to 'Bell S-'. I don't know exactly why it's there, but our monitoring is connected to the relay base as well, so I guess it's to do with that. As I said before, the other alarm panels are wired like this and they work alright.

I'll have a go at testing all the cables next - it's about the only thing I haven't tried! In addition to the plastic LED keypad, we also use a stainless steel remote keypad, should I try replacing this as well? Reference the 1st paragraph, there is no external (read 'outside') siren or speaker - only the single speaker inside the hall.

Aled.

[arfur mo]

on the lines Lurch suggest,

I never said a word.

soz mate's,

me and them names again

i should have said RICHLE

regs

alan

[arfur mo]

hi Aled,

replieis in blue for clarity

Thanks for all the suggestions.

There is a speaker attached to the speaker terminals of the board, but I'm not certain what you mean by 'internal' - it's mounted inside the building, but it's external to the panel box. I assume this must be called internal - but I wanted to be clear.

both are termed internal, wether mouted in a seperate box or within the panel. remove thee wires and place a known good speaker in place and test.

There's only one wire connected to the bell outputs - that is from the relay base to 'Bell S-'. I don't know exactly why it's there, but our monitoring is connected to the relay base as well, so I guess it's to do with that. As I said before, the other alarm panels are wired like this and they work alright.

seems for what ever reason, the installing engineer decided to 'split' the bell drive with a relay, nothing wrong in that either but there are 'cleaner' ways to do this job.

I'll have a go at testing all the cables next - it's about the only thing I haven't tried! In addition to the plastic LED keypad, we also use a stainless steel remote keypad, should I try replacing this as well? Reference the 1st paragraph, there is no external (read 'outside') siren or speaker - only the single speaker inside the hall.

i would suspect the cable's are the problem, unless the speaker is duff (thats why i suggested using a spre known working one). i think this control unit has a small speaker in the remote keypad/s, these are often driven from the same source as the internal speaker, so should these be at fault perhaps shorting then it will have a marked effect on the main internal speaker.

regs

alan

[whistle]

on the lines Lurch suggest,

I never said a word.

LOL ( RICHLE )

[Guest]

There is a speaker attached to the speaker terminals of the board,

by quite i assume you can only here the tone made by the keypad?

you have a mutli meter?

if the speaker should read something like 8, 16 or 32 ohmns between both wires measured at panel or short the pos speaker wire to 12 volts it will crackel when touched, if it don't open speaker up check conections on back check circuit to speaker ect.....

if you can't mend it get the raf to pick us up, I will sort it for a decent meal & go on the machine gun

[whistle]

There is a speaker attached to the speaker terminals of the board,

if you can't mend it get the raf to pick us up, I will sort it for a decent meal & go on the machine gun

I would also like a go.

[Guest]

Hi, (first post, so apologies for any faux-pas!)

I'm serving with the British Army in Bosnia and I'm responsible, although not trained, in maintaining some alarm systems (C&K Securitech Securit 800L). Most work fine, but I have one problem which despite my best efforts I'm unable to cure.

The alarm in question 'works', but is very quiet! It's wired exactly the same as all the other panels that are at the right volume. The variable resistor in the centre of the PCB, marked Volume, can decrease the sound, but at the maximum, it's still too quiet. All the sounds made, if you listen carefully (!!), are correct, so I don't understand what it could be. I've replaced the PCB, the transformer and the relay base with no change/improvement.

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of 'calling in a professional' - the Army doesn't have a contract with any civilian company for the maintainance. Does anybody have any ideas what the problem could be? The spares I've used to swap haven't been brand new, so there's a chance that they could be faulty as well. Even if you don't know exactly what the problem could be, or you haven't come across anything like it before; any direction you could give as for where to look next or concentrate on would be gratefully received.

,

Aled.

Hi Aled

Several things spring to mind. Firstly make sure that there isn't a resistor fitted in the terminals of the sounder. For some odd reason some manufacturers ship internal sounders with a resistor on one terminal which makes the sounder quieter. You need the wires to connect to the wires on the sounder (obviously via the connector).

Secondly it is possible the speaker driver on the panel may have gone. Sometimes these are fused, check that they haven't gone. Normally the internal sounder is quieter for entry/exit tones (adjustable via pot on panel) and louder for alarm condition (normally non adjustable)

If that fails an easy solution (if your problem is quiet in alarm condition) would be to fit a 12v internal sounder onto the panel outputs marked 12v and Bell.

Hope this is of some help.

Dave