Scantronic 9448+ Which Intermiitently Goes Off And

[thedcman]

I took out the battery (it's a Yuasa) in the alarm, and it registered 13.6V everytime I used a multimeter to check it.

I will leave it out for a while to see if the tamper problem still re-occurs. In the meantime I will get another one just in case. If the tamper does not happen again for 1 week then I think this will confrim that it was the battery after all, otherwise I will know that there is another cause of the problem and will then get someone in to check it properly .

I am not against paying fully for a service or to correct the problem. I just wanted to be sure that the person I got was qualified, competent and would do the proper checks to verify what the actual cause of the problem was, and its solution. I also thought that it would be a good idea to do full service as the alarm has not been serviced for a while.

The companies I phoned up were not very forthcoming on the type of things they would check or do on a service, hence my doubts about employing them. I fail to see how a proper service could be done in half an hour and still fix my problem.

I did not want the engineer to turn up and run a quck check and then tell me that it was the battery and the problem then re-occur 1 week down the line.

[james.wilson]

on a normal domestic the IMO about 30 mins is the right time to do a full service ASSUMING no faults are found that require further investigation.

Its impossible to say how long it would take to diagnose the fault when you dont know what it is.

[lawandorder]

I took out the battery (it's a Yuasa) in the alarm, and it registered 13.6V everytime I used a multimeter to check it.

I will leave it out for a while to see if the tamper problem still re-occurs. In the meantime I will get another one just in case. If the tamper does not happen again for 1 week then I think this will confrim that it was the battery after all, otherwise I will know that there is another cause of the problem and will then get someone in to check it properly .

I am not against paying fully for a service or to correct the problem. I just wanted to be sure that the person I got was qualified, competent and would do the proper checks to verify what the actual cause of the problem was, and its solution. I also thought that it would be a good idea to do full service as the alarm has not been serviced for a while.

The companies I phoned up were not very forthcoming on the type of things they would check or do on a service, hence my doubts about employing them. I fail to see how a proper service could be done in half an hour and still fix my problem.

I did not want the engineer to turn up and run a quck check and then tell me that it was the battery and the problem then re-occur 1 week down the line.

This is an excellent start, a really bad battery would probably show a lower voltage than this but it is difficult to accurately test a battery with no load applied (a digital voltmeter applies no significant load).

A better test would be to re-connect the battery and measure the voltage with the mains removed. Whilst keeping your eye on the meter do a bell test, this will apply a significant load to the battery and give you a more accurate indication about the battery. I would expect to see the voltage remain above 12 volts during the above test with a healthy battery.

Many engineers carry a device which applies a dummy load to the battery but in the absence of these tools the above test is a good compromise.

I really wouldn't advise running the system with no battery in place as any cut in power, no matter how brief, will cause an activation.

[hpotter]

The battery forms part of the psu smoothing cct (acts like a huge capacitor) apart from its use when mains fails. If the battery is faulty so is the 12v supply to the system, and when the mains flickers, panel triggers tamper.

I took out the battery (it's a Yuasa) in the alarm, and it registered 13.6V everytime I used a multimeter to check it.

I will leave it out for a while to see if the tamper problem still re-occurs. In the meantime I will get another one just in case. If the tamper does not happen again for 1 week then I think this will confrim that it was the battery after all, otherwise I will know that there is another cause of the problem and will then get someone in to check it properly .

I did not want the engineer to turn up and run a quck check and then tell me that it was the battery and the problem then re-occur 1 week down the line.

No battery = no proper smoothing cct. Just relying on good mains supply, therefore no proof at all.

A good firm would say proberbly batt (if thats what they suspect) but would turn out again foc if the same problem occured. They would have a pro batt tester too as lawandorder posted.

[thedcman]

Looks like something else is causing the tamper.

I remove the battery and reset the alarm using my user code in the morning as I stated in my last posting. The bells do not ring, nor does the tamper or other zone lights glow. Only the normal power light at the top lights, and all appears hunky dory during the day.

At night, I try to set the alarm fully as I am going out. I key in my user code, and instead of its usual chime, the alarm gives a buzzing noise (not its normal expected chiming) AND the tamper light glows. After 30 secs, the internal and external bells start to ring, with the tamper light still glowing. I key in my user code and the bells stop. I key in user code again, and the alarm resets itself with the tamper light not showing.

I try to part-set the alarm instead, and exactly the same occurs as when I fully set it, i.e. it buzzes with the tamper glowing, and the internal and external bells sound after 30 secs. It all stops properly when I key in my user code with the tamper glowing until I key in my user code again.

I then decide to re-insert the battery and try again. I open the control panel and I expect the tamper light to glow and the bells ring, but NO tamper light shows and NO bells ring.

I re-insert the battery (it reads 13.1V on multimeter), close the panel, and fully set the alarm. it chimes as I would expect for 30 secs, no tamper lights shows or bells ring and after 30 secs, it sets itself normally as I would expect. I then key in my user code, and then part set the alarm. It works perfectly well all night, - no tamper light condition or bells ring all thru.

P.S: Sorry, but I do not understand 'hpotter's last comments.... surely if the battery is causing the problem because of its spikes or otherwise, then if you remove it and no other tampers occurs, it proves that it is the battery that was the culprit. Also as he said I would expect a reputable company to return foc, but then again unfortunately not all companies are reputable.

Anyway, unless the above can be explained easily, I am calling an engineer and hopefully I will get a reputable one.

thanks for all your comment again and .

[Guest old-hand]

Firstly if you remove the battery and there is no fault indication then there is another problem.

Secondly, trying to set with no battery WILL cause a FAULT condition.

Thirdly, you tamper with the control panel and NOTHING happens.............another FAULT.

Quote "I am not against paying fully for a service or to correct the problem. I just wanted to be sure that the person I got was qualified, competent"

Quote "but then again unfortunately not all companies are reputable. "

Quote "I am calling an engineer and hopefully I will get a reputable one. "

Not going to make any friends with those comments. We have tried to help you, most of us here have already solved your problem. Yet you insist on making rather disparaging comments about our trade.

[lawandorder]

Looks like something else is causing the tamper.

I remove the battery and reset the alarm using my user code in the morning as I stated in my last posting. The bells do not ring, nor does the tamper or other zone lights glow. Only the normal power light at the top lights, and all appears hunky dory during the day.

At night, I try to set the alarm fully as I am going out. I key in my user code, and instead of its usual chime, the alarm gives a buzzing noise (not its normal expected chiming) AND the tamper light glows. After 30 secs, the internal and external bells start to ring, with the tamper light still glowing. I key in my user code and the bells stop. I key in user code again, and the alarm resets itself with the tamper light not showing.

I try to part-set the alarm instead, and exactly the same occurs as when I fully set it, i.e. it buzzes with the tamper glowing, and the internal and external bells sound after 30 secs. It all stops properly when I key in my user code with the tamper glowing until I key in my user code again.

I then decide to re-insert the battery and try again. I open the control panel and I expect the tamper light to glow and the bells ring, but NO tamper light shows and NO bells ring.

I re-insert the battery (it reads 13.1V on multimeter), close the panel, and fully set the alarm. it chimes as I would expect for 30 secs, no tamper lights shows or bells ring and after 30 secs, it sets itself normally as I would expect. I then key in my user code, and then part set the alarm. It works perfectly well all night, - no tamper light condition or bells ring all thru.

P.S: Sorry, but I do not understand 'hpotter's last comments.... surely if the battery is causing the problem because of its spikes or otherwise, then if you remove it and no other tampers occurs, it proves that it is the battery that was the culprit. Also as he said I would expect a reputable company to return foc, but then again unfortunately not all companies are reputable.

Anyway, unless the above can be explained easily, I am calling an engineer and hopefully I will get a reputable one.

thanks for all your comment again and .

Why don't you do what has been suggested?

1 Disconnect mains. (switch off at main fuse box if neccasary)

2 Open the panel

3 Measure the battery voltage with battery connected to the panel.

4 Hold the panel tamper switch in and do a bell test. (see manual for instructions)

5 Note voltage readings during test.

6 Report back!

Also Hpotter is right, removing the battery can cause problems.

My car wouldn't start once because it had a faulty battery, strangely, it still wouldn't start when I removed the battery.

[thedcman]

Why don't you do what has been suggested?

1 Disconnect mains. (switch off at main fuse box if neccasary)

2 Open the panel

3 Measure the battery voltage with battery connected to the panel.

4 Hold the panel tamper switch in and do a bell test. (see manual for instructions)

5 Note voltage readings during test.

6 Report back!

Also Hpotter is right, removing the battery can cause problems.

My car wouldn't start once because it had a faulty battery, strangely, it still wouldn't start when I removed the battery.

Hi lawandorder,

Thanks for the instructions and advice. I did as you suggested and here are the result readings.

Power on + baterry inserted - battery reading is 13.6v

Power off + battery inserted - battery reading 13.11 to 12.47

Power off + battery inserted + User Bell test - battery reading 12.49 to 12.30

Power off +battery inserted + Tamper + bell test - battery reading 12.49 to 12.30

A bit tricky to get the readings as multimeter does not have crocodile clips but I then jammed them in between the clips and the terminal contacts so they were touching the iron terminal contact all the time during the test.

As a matter of interest, I was connecting an outside light about 2 years ago so I switched off all the power before I started, but the alarm bells kept ringing. I knew it was annoying but I did not worry about them as I also knew the neihbours could see me outside working. Anyway about 30 mins afterwards the police turned up round the back and were a litte surprised to see me there but I explained what was happening and they went away, happily satisfied.

I then contacted a few alarm companies as I could not understand why the alarm external bell should have been ringing when the power went off. They all told me that it was the battery which needed replacing. I eventually got a battery, from where I cannot remember, and opened the panel to replace the old one, only to find that there was NO battery inside.

The alarm system and panel had been installed without an internal standby battery. In all the time I had been setting and unsetting it quite normally and it had been working properly all the years previously without giving any tamper or error conditions, and without an internal battery inside.

I am not saying that other alarms work like this, but this alarm had been working perfectly well for a couple of years without a standby backup internal battery.

Re Oxo - I have not been dissing or disparaging the security industry or any installer on this forum or panel. In fact I think you are all very good from what I have seen and read and I am very pleased to have found this website. I would heartily recommend it to anyone I know.

All I have been trying to do is to get some advice and then hopefully if neccessary an installer in who would solve my problem and who I would very happily pay fully to do so.

In all industries there are cowboys and reputable people of integrity. The difficulty is to get someone of the latter category. If a layman asks a supposedly expert a simple question, I do not see why the expert should take offence at the question or the laymans valid disagreement or disbelief.

[lawandorder]

Hi lawandorder,

Thanks for the instructions and advice. I did as you suggested and here are the result readings.

Power on + baterry inserted - battery reading is 13.6v

Power off + battery inserted - battery reading 13.11 to 12.47

Power off + battery inserted + User Bell test - battery reading 12.49 to 12.30

Power off +battery inserted + Tamper + bell test - battery reading 12.49 to 12.30

Well I hate to say i told you so but as suspected your battery appears to be fine.

In fairness there are better tests but I am now supremely confident that it is not your battery causing the problem.

How do you feel about removing the two wires from the terminal labelled AT then using your multimeter to record the resistance across the two wires?

If you're up for it post back the readings

[FASTCAR]

Hi ,

Have a look at the panel tamper spring , these can deform over the years.Just give it a stretch and press it a few times.