Wireless again!

[Guest dale]

Ive used the scantronic wirefree kit about a year ago and the PIR's kept de-registering with the panel. Eventually after about a week of messing we replaced the panel with hard wired.

Also about six months before we installed the scanny kit we had a go at installing a Yale wirefree kit for a family member who had baught the kit from B&Q (normally wouldnt touch this with a barge pole... but cant with family). The kit never worked, after repeated calls to Yale support and replacement panel we'd had enough and installed hardwired.

But saying that, my next door neighbour has had a Micromark wirefree system for about 5 years and the only problem they have had is when the battery died. But I still think they are more trouble than they are worth - compared to hardwired. Will have a go with the Infinite and Powermax in the near future as they both look pretty good - so will let everyone know what I think of the new ones.

Dale

[CompostCORNER]

I have to agree with WIREFREE above. My present employer stays well clear from wireless systems but became involved when they bought out the company I worked for year before last. Across with the assets came about 40 wireless systems, at least half are monitored too. We use to use Menvier's TS690r and the odd Scantronic unit that provides nodes/expanders of both wired and wireless configuration, the name eludes me at present. Maybe a 9870 or something. Provided they are installed correctly and serviced regularly and by someone who knows about wireless set-ups, they do give fantastic service to the customer.

Where people go wrong with such installs is they seldom do a site check using a radio test kit, opting to just 'bang' the system in and crossing their fingers in the hope that it does it's job.

You do get what you pay for with wireless systems though. I remember going to a house once to provide a secondary keyfob and whilst walking up the street, I was pressing the PA button on the unit and set the house alarm off before I'd even arrived. Clearly a cheap 'DIP Switch' set-up alarm installed by someone who never knew about factory set DIP settings lol. A definate story for the kids. More expensive systems like the TS690r do have an excellent security feature for adding detectors and fobs ect... Supposedly these units have 3 billion different combinations using the 'offer up to endstation in engineer mode' option. Virtually impossible to interfere with from out side the property.

Tony

[Guest Yen]

Dear All,

I'm looking for some advice - I have a FM4000E system installed. The control unit and sounder are wired into the lighting circuit. Unfortunately, I had a problem on this circuit which meant that power to the alarm system was out for 15 hours.

Obviously, the alarm continued to run from the backup battery - I didn't arm the alarm during this time - after about 15 hours, the sounder started 'beeping' to signal a low battery warning. I had by this time resolved the circuit problem and re-activated the lighting circuit.

Straight away, the alarm fully activated and I couldn't turn it off either with my remote or keypad - I also tried the default '1234' code to no avail. I then switched off the lighting circuit again to remove power to the panel and the alarm slowly stopped sounding after about two mins...

I was advised by my installer that the control unit has 'reset' and had to open the control panel to remove the battery contact to stop the alarm reactivating in the middle of the night when the battery had time to regain voltage. As soon as I did this, obviously the tamper detection activated and I had to leave the alarm sounding for 20 mins

Can anyone advise on this? Surely there must be a way to put the panel into 'engineer' mode to stop this? I concerned of the way that the system has responded to a power outage - even if the battery runs down, shouldn't the NV RAM maintain the settings? After mains power is restored, should the alarm go into full alarm activation mode?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Guest]

"The control unit and sounder are wired into the lighting circuit"

OMG that is a complete NO NO for a start, someone else will be long shortly to help with your query

[Guest]

Im not being funny my friend but I think you need to get someone in to sort it out for you, there are a few issues now such as needing to replace the panel battery and also the NVM prob needs reprogramming - and the thing needs wiring correctly to a SUITABLE connection to mains power.

[Guest Yen]

Thanks for the reply.

The system was professionally installed and the control panel is actually installed in the loft due to other physical restrictions - I actually use remotes to activate the alarm.

The system is under maintenance and an engineer is on their way to resolve the programming issue - however, my question remains with regard to what happens in an extended power outage - when the power is re-applied, it seems that the alarm goes into full activation and I cannot turn this off as my remotes/key code/default code 1234 does not turn off the alarm?

How can I stop this full activation if this re-occurs e.g. engineer mode (as long as I have the code). I can't simply let the alarm sound for 20 mins in the night and wait for my installed to turn up the next day

BTW, is the connection to the lighting circuit merely a strict no-no due to industry standards, or just best practice?

[Guest]

"BTW, is the connection to the lighting circuit merely a strict no-no due to industry standards, or just best practice"

Its Bad Practice and can trip the mcb's out - or when a light bulb blows it could trip the alarm out.

[Guest]

Its Bad Practice and can trip the mcb's out - or when a light bulb blows it could trip the alarm out.

29995[/snapback]

indeed :!:

[Guest]

Connection can be achieved to the mains via an unswitched fused spur to the ring main or must be run back to the consumer unit with its own mcb or fuse way.

[Guest Yen]

A quick update:

The alarm company have visited and changed the control panel battery - they reset the whole panel back to factory defaults and re-configured all PIR/magnetic sensors/remotes.