Looking For Some Help With A Compact Sl Panel Where The Strobe Won't Stop

[NeilMcK]

Hi,

 

I'm looking to see if someone can help out with the problem I seem to be having with my alarm system where the strobe won't stop flashing. It was installed when the house was built about 12 years ago and this is the first time it's given us trouble.

 

We've been having a few power cuts recently, and I discovered that the back-up battery had gone in the panel because teh alarm sounded when the power went off - so I replaced that today and tested that the charge supply was OK, which it is at just over 13v on the DVM.

 

But, after the last power cut on Saturday the strobe won't stop flashing, even after multiple sets and unsets, tests on the bell, strobe sounder all come back OK.

 

I can;t seem to find any installers manuals on the web, closest seems to be Optima G3 Compact.so have been using that.

 

Going in to the panel, I see that there is a + and - connector for the strobe output and the + has 13.5v on it permanently, even when the alarm has been reset and is in day mode. It doesn;t seem to be like the newer panels where the strobe etc. is a -ve latch - or is it and the - is normally at +13.5v when not activated?

 

Every other test seems to work, setting, unsetting, walk test, bell test etc all seem to work.

 

Just wondered if anyone has any experience of that happening and if it is kaput and I should get it replaced or I'm missing something obvious because I don't have a manual.

 

In the short term I just disconnected the + to the strobe to stop it flashing, which seems to suggest it's not the bell.

 

I'm a qualified EEE so familiar with PCBs and logic circuits so feel free to use any technical terms.

 

Many thanks in advance for any help.

[MrHappy]

I assume the panel's output is knackered,

[al-yeti]

OK but most bells are neg , so what does that mean when you say you removed plus from strobe

You could just connect it to the bell output temporarily so strobe flashes on alarm

[Adi]

12 years ago??

[aissecur]

Probably the best solution is to swap out the panel

 

But if you don't want to go down that route as a suggestion (If you think you are electrically competent) in the panel, you could remove the strobe negative from its connector & connect it to the bell trigger -

That way if your alarm triggers at least you should have a sounding siren & flashing strobe (Obviously this will be timed & will switch off with the siren but at least your strobe would trigger in an alarm activation)