Am I missing something...?

[Guest DIYhell]

Whilst stripping wallpaper the other day I nudged the cover off a PIR, setting off the tamper alarm on my Optima XM.

Being an avid reader of this forum (my wife just doesn't understand my interest...) and not having the code to hand (new house, deceased previous owner, no code but sytem not set when I got it) I knew ***DELETED JUST IN CASE BURGLARS ARE READING*** (not rattly & no burn marks behind the circuit board )

Got me thinking... this is all easily to do from just inside the front door. Shouldn't it be a bit more difficult to silence either alarms? Shouldn't the alarm panel be a bit stronger and locked with a key or something? Or should turning off the mains to it be harder (but then its harder to turn off in an emergency )

Am I missing something?

Richard

[Guest dale]

Most panels used in installs nowadays are the RKP type, so at the front door there is a remote panel that controls an end station (the bit with the electronics in it!). So tampering with the RKP won't get you anywhere other than an alarm going off!

Also on most systems (not yours as it sounds fairly old) there is a SCB which is a bell box with a battery in it, so if the control panel has been tampered with the bell box will still sound, using its own internal battery for power. This normally sounds for 15mins which is generally enough to attract attention of neighbours.

Also most installers now recommend a monitored system, so if someone broke in the ARC would know about it when the alarm goes off, so even if they manage to silence the alarm, the police will have already been informed and should be enroute.

The reason yours was so easy to disable is basically because its old, so the SCB probably didnt go off, and no ARC signal was sent.

Dale

[Deltaseven]

I am guessing that you managed to silence the internal sounder, and the external sounder?

Silencing the internal sounder is fairly straight forward, but silencing the external bell should take a little longer. It is possible to silence it from a 'dead' panel if you know how, *edited* , you can't really prevent the bell from triggering *edited*. I am guessing that the external sounder probably has a dead battery - which is why it was so easy to silence the entire system?

Also, the panel should be in a a protected area, so that if the alarm is armed, it is protected by its sensors as well as the tamper.

Also don't forget that you are talking about an Optima XM - a fairly old and unsophisticated panel.... Things have moved on just a little since then...

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[Guest DIYhell]

Ah I see. Thought it was a bit easy. Whole system is somewhat old and tired (see my post 'How good's my Optima XM') and will probably see the inside of a skip during renovation works...