Give Me The Bad News - Pirs Dead, Again

[svjenni]

Hi all hope you can help.

I have a veritas r8 alarm and about 2 years ago i had someone out to service it (can't remember why - probably it wasn't working)

a few days later a fuse on the main board blew the guy replaced it for free whist telling me it was my fault and i must have caused it somehow. A few weeks later, it blew again I was gonna attempt to do it myself but bottled it after i set off the tamper alarm.

so it was like that for 2 years and now i'm selling up. so i got a much nicer company out who serviced it - said battery was fine but fuse gone as suspected. It was then reprogrammed and all worked ok

so 24 hrs later :!: :angry: :angry: yes its gone again

so....... what do i do?

tell my buyer burglar alarm is knackered, live without it

buy a new alarm? will this even help? how much does the average alarm go for - 1 door sensor, 1 window, 3 pirs?

i know the fuse went when i was in the house - there were few appliances on at the time, only tv really, everything else on standby.

Anyone got an idea of whats causing this cos its driving me mad and i'm soon gonna run out of cash if i keep calling people out....

[djrock]

Hello, It sounds like a damaged cable or a device has gone faulty and is drawing too much current causing the fuse to blow. Get the company back in to fix it since they have not fix the problem. Anybody can change a fuse but it takes a bit of experience to trace faults like a cable fault.

djrock

[svjenni]

Hello, It sounds like a damaged cable or a device has gone faulty and is drawing too much current causing the fuse to blow. Get the company back in to fix it since they have not fix the problem. Anybody can change a fuse but it takes a bit of experience to trace faults like a cable fault.

djrock

Thanks for that! I live in a pretty old house with old wiring- is the problem more likely to be with my house wiring or the alarm wiring?

[magpye]

Thanks for that! I live in a pretty old house with old wiring- is the problem more likely to be with my house wiring or the alarm wiring?

Almost certainly the alarm wiring.

As you're walking around, up/down stairs, along the landing, a pinched cable under the carpet / floor boards etc.

Mice?

Good luck.

[arfur mo]

to be fair, if a fault is 'on' when an engineer arrives then just about any half assed fool can trace it, but intermittent faults can be very tricky to find, success will depend greatly on the engineers experience and ability who attends.

if eventually it is found to be due to damage caused by new carpets or flooring for instance, the company are perfectly entitled to ask for recompense, if faulty kit/installation then it should be free but you may have to prove it if they are sly.

if this fuse is blowing this regularly, then the supply it is protecting should be split up with a bank of low milliamp fuses, then when the short occurs the faulty feed can be isolated (as indicated by that fuse blowing) more easily.

imo if no new carpets or floors have been laid since fitting, you most likely have a staple/s which has pierced a cable during the installation, that should obviously be a free repair, but you are gambling on this if you call them back as well as the 'honesty' of the engineer in telling you the truth (which would unlikely please his boss).

you could ask another reputable local company to check your system and give a report, then take it from there, but this is unlikely to be a free service.

regs

alan

[Guest anguscanplay]

Hi all hope you can help.

I have a veritas r8 alarm and about 2 years ago i had someone out to service it (can't remember why - probably it wasn't working)

a few days later a fuse on the main board blew the guy replaced it for free whist telling me it was my fault and i must have caused it somehow. A few weeks later, it blew again I was gonna attempt to do it myself but bottled it after i set off the tamper alarm.

so it was like that for 2 years and now i'm selling up. so i got a much nicer company out who serviced it - said battery was fine but fuse gone as suspected. It was then reprogrammed and all worked ok

so 24 hrs later :!: :angry: :angry: yes its gone again

so....... what do i do?

tell my buyer burglar alarm is knackered, live without it yep

buy a new alarm? will this even help? how much does the average alarm go for - 1 door sensor, 1 window, 3 pirs?

i know the fuse went when i was in the house - there were few appliances on at the time, only tv really, everything else on standby.

Anyone got an idea of whats causing this cos its driving me mad and i'm soon gonna run out of cash if i keep calling people out....

Hello, It sounds like a damaged cable or a device has gone faulty and is drawing too much current causing the fuse to blow. Get the company back in to fix it since they have not fix the problem. Anybody can change a fuse but it takes a bit of experience to trace faults like a cable fault.

djrock

except no one knows if this was the problem they were called out for in the first place - or WAS it just a service

to be fair, if a fault is 'on' when an engineer arrives then just about any half assed fool can trace it, but intermittent faults can be very tricky to find, success will depend greatly on the engineers experience and ability who attends.

if eventually it is found to be due to damage caused by new carpets or flooring for instance, the company are perfectly entitled to ask for recompense, if faulty kit/installation then it should be free but you may have to prove it if they are sly.

if this fuse is blowing this regularly, then the supply it is protecting should be split up with a bank of low milliamp fuses, then when the short occurs the faulty feed can be isolated (as indicated by that fuse blowing) more easily.

imo if no new carpets or floors have been laid since fitting, you most likely have a staple/s which has pierced a cable during the installation, that should obviously be a free repair, but you are gambling on this if you call them back as well as the 'honesty' of the engineer in telling you the truth (which would unlikely please his boss).

you could ask another reputable local company to check your system and give a report, then take it from there, but this is unlikely to be a free service.

regs

alan

thats a bit unfair if the service firm DIDNT install it in the first place?

[arfur mo]

except no one knows if this was the problem they were called out for in the first place - or WAS it just a service

thats a bit unfair if the service firm DIDNT install it in the first place?

ME UNFAIR! Angus ANGUS the shear thought of it give's me th vapours

agreed there are a few possible variables, i've assumed he has contacted the original installers (having not said otherwise ).

if not, he should do as the repair will could free if a workmanship is at fault (under sale of goods act - fit for purpose - expected life time of article or service's blah! blah!).

regs

alan

[Guest anguscanplay]

I`ll bet its over 12 years old - get that one under "fit for purpose...."? LOL

[topalarms]

so i got a much nicer company out who serviced it - said battery was fine but fuse gone as suspected. It was then reprogrammed and all worked ok

so 24 hrs later :!: :angry: :angry: yes its gone again

so....... what do i do?

Call company back, they saw the fuse was blown but obviously didn't trace the fault - not saying more work wouldn't mean a further charge but it should take into account that they didn't trace the reason for the fuse blowing the first time - assuming o/p told them it was a recurring fault.