dodgy tamper circuit...

[Guest jarrvo]

hi,

i wonder if you could help me with a problem that i have with my intuder alarm.

(long post sorry)

system setup:

(i think)

veritas R8

1 panic button (main bedroom)

3 pir movement sensors (lounge, dinnig room, kitchen)

1 door sesnor

Problem:

a few nights ago while the girlfriend was in bed and i was sat in the lounge the burglat alarm started going, it hadnt been set as i was still up and watching tv.

so i rushed to the control panel and it said that the "panic Button" had been pressed and was active, even though it hadnt been touched.

so i tried to reset the alarm, the siren stopped but the light remained on on the control panel (zone 5).

i went through the manual and tried tthe different ways to reset the alam but nothing worked, so as the zone is still lit the alarm can not be set.

next morning i rang the phone number on the bell box, the company said they would send someone around, but noone ever came, rang back and no answer.

next day a friend who used to install alarms came and had a look, and said that the reed switch in the panic button was far to easy to set off.

so he took the reed switch out and just wired the 2 tamper circuit wires together, bypassing the panic button and making it useless (which is fine).

now this fixed the problem and the alram could be reset and armed.

then the day after the alarm went off again for no reason, it wasnt set, and this time the the control panel indicated that Zone 2 (the lounge) was being activated.

so i reset the alarm, but now the Zone 4 is constantly lit.

so my friend came back and disabled the tamper circuit in the Kitchen pir (zone 4) as this was the one that he tested and said was slightly weird reading on his voltage meter.

this made no difference and he didnt have time to remove all the tamper circuits from the pir's.

now what should i do?

try and remove all the tamper circuit forom the remaining pirs?

and is there a way to totally reset the alram control panel back to factory defaults, so i can reset the code.. and start again.

or..

get a new cheap alarm system installed?

how much would this cost?

(sorry for so many questions and long post)

[CompostCORNER]

A new 'cheap' alarm system comes with false alarms as a complimentary addition at no extra cost and also included with the price, appointments not being attended, multiple charges for callouts when a problem isn't found and rectified on a first visit. Believe me, the hundred or so pounds you save on buying a cheap alarm will soon be eaten away if and when problems start to emerge.

The Excel Veritas. Not had experience of this unit but if your alarm is activating whilst unset and on different zones, that means the Excel Veritas probably has independent zone tampers and it's these that are activating. thats an educated guess of course as I'd need to physically investigate the system to pin-point the problem.

Varying activations across the full zone list whilst the system is unset could be a few things. My first advice though is to contact a reputable intruder alarm installation company to take a look.

I've seen similar types of erratic activations on unset systems. One was caused by wires wearing out as they had been run under the carpet across a door, another was cables being eaten by rodents. A third situation was the control panel's microprocessor degrading causing the alarm to activate erratically. Even a staple or a tack through a cable can be the start of a problem system.

We can only suggest but to find the real cause, you need someone who has made his proffession at finding such things. A bonefide alarm company will find whats wrong and suggest what needs doing to rectify it.

As for the alarm company you say you contacted, you're probably better off forgetting about them if they forget about their customers.

[Guest jarrvo]

thanks,

sorry i edit my post, i think the alarm is the Veritas R8.

well im in the Scunthorpe area if you can reccomend me a company

the problem is at the minute is just a lack of cash... i cant really afford to spend a huge amount on a new alarm system

yep the alarm has upto 8 zones... only 5 of which are in use..

i will inspect the cables tonight and see if theres any obvious damage.

[Guest dale]

The VR8 has a global tamper so you could try linking out the tamper this should fix any global tamper faults, if you are sitll getting tampers then its either the RKP spring, the bell tamper or the end station spring tamper.

It does sound as if there is something wrong with your panel or wiring if your getting erratic faults, could be mains interference... have you had anything new installed in the house recently? I would suggest calling out a local alarm company.

Dale

[Guest Peter James]

Dales suggestion will work as a quick fix but not a cure, there is obviosly something more than just a dodgy tamper circuit. Mr Corner gives the right advice and there must be someone on this forum near Scunthorpe.(I dont even know where Scunthorpe is?) .

Pete

[Guest dale]

Not far from the Humber Bridge, so probably between where I am in Donny and Compost Corner in Hull!

Pete is right taking out the global tamper is only a short term answer, you really need to find what the problem is and get it fixed.

[breff]

If the tamper light and a zone light are coming on it must be wired EOL, and there is probably already a link in the global tamper.

[Guest Adrian]

B)I didn't think the veritas R8 could be wired as EOL its a fairly basic domestic grade panel.

Where is the Humber Bridge?

I would start with the basics like check for lose conections in the panel and test the battery is healthy. (Warning there are live mains inside the control panel)

The last fault I went on with a veritas R8 panel that was doing something similer turned out to be a trapped core on the lid screw of a door loop J/B.

Just cut out the damaged section and remade the conection, never gone wrong since.

Hope your problem is as simple.

Adrian B)

[Guest dale]

There isnt EOL on a VR8, only on the VR8+.

[CompostCORNER]

I seem to recall a problem we had with a few older R8 endstations. I'm pretty sure it was the Veritas R8. The RKP connections were right in the bottom right hand corner of the main printed circuit board of the endstation. We had a few that had hairline damage to the PCB itself around this area and if pressure was put onto the lid of the endstation, the RKP would momentarily go dead setting the system into tamper.

I recall about half a dozen of these incidents although it was the late 1990's when we had them. not sure if they were damaged due to heat or heavy handed installers/service engineers lol. Was a taxing problem to pinpoint though.

Tony