Gardrec 595+ nosleep

[Steve Pritchard]

Hi all,

The internal sounder for my Gardtec 595 started sounding at 11pm last night and whilst I could stop it by entering the code, within an hour it was sounding again.

we haven’t used the alarm for some time as we discovered our cats could set it off.

 

I’ve also discovered that the LCD screen has become unreadable since I last used the alarm.

 

Now it’s Monday morning, I’m sleep deprived and am looking for advice.

 

so far I’ve opened up the control panel and wall box.

 

the large np3.4-12 battery in the wall box is only reading 10.8 v so I suspect that is the problem.

 

Ordering one of this is fine, but the LCD panel is more of a problem as I’m not sure where to find one.

 

I’ve included a picture which may help

 

all- advice gratefully received.

 

regards. Steve

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sixwheeledbeast]

The LCD screen is a common failure of the Gardtec panels. It sounds like you have not had the system serviced in a while for the battery to be faulty.

I would suggest it's due an upgrade, although you may be able to find keypads of varying quality on places like ebay.

[MrHappy]

10 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

Now it’s Monday morning, I’m sleep deprived and am looking for advice.

 

invent a time machine,

 

pop back a few years ago, subscribe to a maintenance contract with a local alarm co.

 

the problem will never have happened

 

if you can alter the space time continuum, so I never become involved with alarms it will greatly be appreciated 

[al-yeti]

45 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

Hi all,

The internal sounder for my Gardtec 595 started sounding at 11pm last night and whilst I could stop it by entering the code, within an hour it was sounding again.

we haven’t used the alarm for some time as we discovered our cats could set it off.

 

I’ve also discovered that the LCD screen has become unreadable since I last used the alarm.

 

Now it’s Monday morning, I’m sleep deprived and am looking for advice.

 

so far I’ve opened up the control panel and wall box.

 

the large np3.4-12 battery in the wall box is only reading 10.8 v so I suspect that is the problem.

 

Ordering one of this is fine, but the LCD panel is more of a problem as I’m not sure where to find one.

 

I’ve included a picture which may help

 

all- advice gratefully received.

 

regards. Steve

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don't use it, a d don't think you need security , switch it all off end of story 

 

I assume you didn't have it installed and was already there , cats or no cats alarms can work with pets if make adjustments 

 

All depends on how much you want to spend on it and wether you think yourselves or anything in the house worth having some kind of protection

[PeterJames]

1 hour ago, al-yeti said:

If you don't use it, a d don't think you need security , switch it all off end of story 

 

 

QFA If you need an alarm that wont go off for no reason or if you cats jump at the window then you need to get someone that knows what there doing to sort it out for you. Its not something that you can seek help with on a forum, a pro would need to see the property where the cats are likely to jump and be detected etc. I wouldn't bank on the battery being the cause of your sounding problems either, it probably has a contributing factor but its unlikely to be the main cause. My advice would be disconnect it all  inc external sounders, as you're not using it anyway. Either or get someone in that knows what they are doing and get it sorted properly.

[Steve Pritchard]

10 hours ago, MrHappy said:

 

invent a time machine,

 

pop back a few years ago, subscribe to a maintenance contract with a local alarm co.

 

the problem will never have happened

 

if you can alter the space time continuum, so I never become involved with alarms it will greatly be appreciated 

Yes, well as I said, we were not using the alarm as it was not pet friendly, I did not realise it was slowly self destructing and would eventually fail into an irritating hourly alarm.but, yes I ‘get’ your recommendation and we’re we using the said alarm would indeed be following up on it

[Steve Pritchard]

8 hours ago, PeterJames said:

QFA If you need an alarm that wont go off for no reason or if you cats jump at the window then you need to get someone that knows what there doing to sort it out for you. Its not something that you can seek help with on a forum, a pro would need to see the property where the cats are likely to jump and be detected etc. I wouldn't bank on the battery being the cause of your sounding problems either, it probably has a contributing factor but its unlikely to be the main cause. My advice would be disconnect it all  inc external sounders, as you're not using it anyway. Either or get someone in that knows what they are doing and get it sorted properly.

Thanks Peter,

the alarm was in the house when we purchased it, again good advice re: a pet friendly solution.

I’ve disconnected the speaker and removed the battery. At the moment a buzzer is sounding in the keypad on the hour, but it is at a manageable volume.

it looks like the unit is wired into the circuit the downstairs sockets so I need to disconnect that from the breaker box.

I called a local ‘pro’ this morning and arranged a visit to look at the key pad, he never showed, so it looks like I I’ll be trying to sort that myself.

I’m assuming that it is ‘4-wire’ as that is how many are connected up at the main controller.

 

i’ve been reading about pet friendly sensors as well so just drawing up a list of what I might need.

 

from what I’m seeing the unit is old and there are much newer/better things out there that look easier to install

[PeterJames]

 

There should be a fused spur by the panel, if not there is also a mains fuse behind the control panel pcb, where the mains comes in.

 

Can the cats get within six foot of your existing detectors?  

 

The Gardtec panel is old, and they have never been the best panel. But I am not so sure that other panels are much easier to install, programming wise the 595 is very simple in comparison to many. Newer panels have more features yes, but the more the features the harder it is to program. 

 

As for your no-show, there are several alarm companies out there, I would recommend you look for an approved co, I am not saying that one-man-bands are no good, there are many on here that are proper chaps. But what I am saying is if you use a company that has gone to the trouble of getting accredited they are more likely to show up when they say they will, do what they say they will do, and charge what they say they will charge 

 

Pop your postcode in on  here https://www.nsi.org.uk/ or ssaib.co.uk 

 

 

[MrHappy]

51 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

 I did not realise it was slowly self destructing and would eventually fail into an irritating hourly alarm

 

yes alarms are the work of satan....

 

46 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

I called a local ‘pro’ this morning and arranged a visit to look at the key pad, he never showed, so it looks like I I’ll be trying to sort that myself.

I’m assuming that it is ‘4-wire’ as that is how many are connected up at the main controller.

 

at shade under £80 for a blue keypad.... if you've not got one already, get a dog

[Steve Pritchard]

2 hours ago, PeterJames said:

 

There should be a fused spur by the panel, if not there is also a mains fuse behind the control panel pcb, where the mains comes in.

 

Can the cats get within six foot of your existing detectors?  

 

The Gardtec panel is old, and they have never been the best panel. But I am not so sure that other panels are much easier to install, programming wise the 595 is very simple in comparison to many. Newer panels have more features yes, but the more the features the harder it is to program. 

 

As for your no-show, there are several alarm companies out there, I would recommend you look for an approved co, I am not saying that one-man-bands are no good, there are many on here that are proper chaps. But what I am saying is if you use a company that has gone to the trouble of getting accredited they are more likely to show up when they say they will, do what they say they will do, and charge what they say they will charge 

 

Pop your postcode in on  here https://www.nsi.org.uk/ or ssaib.co.uk 

 

 

Thanks Peter, detectors are all in ceiling corners and most ceilings are 10am so I doubt it.

admittedly the issue arose when we first moved in and had two kittens that could climb curtains- they are not so adventurous now, but we stopped using the alarm.

we called the company whose sticker was on the wall unit- they went bust in March...

As far as programming goes, I respect your advice. I have a battery coming tomorrow, I’ve dropped am email to gardtec about which controller to get and where from- we shall see if they reply