Gardrec 595+ nosleep

[PeterJames]

9 hours ago, Steve Pritchard said:

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

 

I suspect that they wont recommend another brand LOL but they may well recommend someone in your area 

[sixwheeledbeast]

Called a random company, followed by the installer and then emailed Risco?

I think you need to decide if you actually want the alarm first and then from there decide if you are capable of DIY or not.

From the above buying batteries, taking the keypad apart, poking things with a meter and then calling installers, I don't think you have made up your mind yet.

[Steve Pritchard]

41 minutes ago, sixwheeledbeast said:

Called a random company, followed by the installer and then emailed Risco?

I think you need to decide if you actually want the alarm first and then from there decide if you are capable of DIY or not.

From the above buying batteries, taking the keypad apart, poking things with a meter and then calling installers, I don't think you have made up your mind yet.

Thanks for your helpful and constructive response.

Firstly, the company were not random, they were the closest to my house and therefore in my (proven wrong) opinion were maybe the likeliest to turn up given that at the time I called them all I had an alarm I wasn’t using going off every hour the night and was not sure what the options were.

Secondly - in parallel I was exploring the route I needed to go down to fix the alarm as we had always wanted to use the alarm but as it had been triggered by our cats we stopped setting it. In researching broken alarms I found a wealth of helpful information some of which led me to believe I should give it another go and therefore fixing it might make sense although replacing the entire thing may be more cost effective.

I restore HiFi amplifiers and components in my spare time and never  ‘poke around’ with meters , I would suggest that you probably should avoid that as well, you will find it’s not good for you or the things you are ‘poking’
The alarm now seems to be working, I had to replace the main battery, two sensor batteries and a 0.25a fuse.

I can at least set and trigger it both with sensors and anti-tamper switches

Risco have provided me with a source for a keypad as well as advising which type I required.

 

I have also tracked down the original installer whose company unfortunately closed after a family death.

My aim will be to get it all working then get it checked and under an annual maintenance contract. I do however enjoy repairing things myself

 

I’m not sure which of ‘buying batteries’, ‘taking the keypad apart’ ,’poking things with a meter’ and ‘calling installers’ led you to believe I hadn’t made my mind up as I thought it was perfectly clear- I was seeking help/guidance from the forum which was why I posted in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

[al-yeti]

7 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

. I do however enjoy repairing things myself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bit most serious comment you have written and explains the job, so in this note carry on

 

Good luck to someone who takes it over lol

[sixwheeledbeast]

27 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

Thanks for your helpful and constructive response.

Your welcome...

 

28 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

Firstly, the company were not random, they were the closest to my house and therefore in my (proven wrong) opinion were maybe the likeliest to turn up given that at the time I called them all I had an alarm I wasn’t using going off every hour the night and was not sure what the options were.

You are unlikely to have someone come out to your broken unmaintained system out of office hours without a service contract, no matter how close. It's possible you where put through to a call centre and as no valid contract was found the call not actioned.

It would be a similar situation as to most service or breakdown companies, it costs to employ people to cover out of hours 24/7.

 

29 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

Secondly - in parallel I was exploring the route I needed to go down to fix the alarm as we had always wanted to use the alarm but as it had been triggered by our cats we stopped setting it. In researching broken alarms I found a wealth of helpful information some of which led me to believe I should give it another go and therefore fixing it might make sense although replacing the entire thing may be more cost effective.

It's still not clear until now as to if you want someone to fix it or if your trying yourself hence my post. Seems an odd chain of events taken to tackle the problem in this way is all, hence my use of "random".

As I said in my first post it's something I wouldn't think twice about upgrading in that situation.

 

30 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

I restore HiFi amplifiers and components in my spare time and never  ‘poke around’ with meters , I would suggest that you probably should avoid that as well, you will find it’s not good for you or the things you are ‘poking’

We have an array of people come here for advice all of completely different skill sets. You had not given any indication of your electronic competence until now.

I think you've got your own alarm problems to sort before worrying about other people and where they're poking things for a living.

 

33 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

The alarm now seems to be working, I had to replace the main battery, two sensor batteries and a 0.25a fuse.

I assume you worked out what blew the fuse in the first place?

This is the first time you have mentioned it's actually a wireless system too I believe?

 

34 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

I have also tracked down the original installer whose company unfortunately closed after a family death.

My aim will be to get it all working then get it checked and under an annual maintenance contract. I do however enjoy repairing things myself

This is the part of your post that answered my question. I am sure we can help further now.

Looking for a company you should check out NSI and SSAIB websites as mentioned above, if you don't know of any peer recommended local installers.

Speak with them and ask what they include as part of the annual maintenance, as prices and what's included will differ between places.

Worth mentioning that it's a wireless/hybrid system, I also wouldn't be surprised any potential future installers won't support that system or recommend an upgrade. Your likely to have issues with the keypad again anyway if you replace it.

 

39 minutes ago, Steve Pritchard said:

I’m not sure which of ‘buying batteries’, ‘taking the keypad apart’ ,’poking things with a meter’ and ‘calling installers’ led you to believe I hadn’t made my mind up as I thought it was perfectly clear- I was seeking help/guidance from the forum which was why I posted in the first place.

Seeking help to do what as I say above.

We are happy to help point you in the direction whatever you finally decide that is the goal of this forum. In the many years being here I have never known anybody commit to "fix it" themselves but still want a company in for an annual maintenance contract.

Either way as above crack on and feel free to ask specifics if you require.

[MrHappy]

3 hours ago, Steve Pritchard said:

I restore HiFi amplifiers and components in my spare time and never  ‘poke around’ with meters

 

are you making any progress with the time machine ?

[Steve Pritchard]

11 hours ago, MrHappy said:

 

are you making any progress with the time machine ?

I’m having problems sourcing a suitable flux capacitor but, I if I do....

[Steve Pritchard]

13 hours ago, sixwheeledbeast said:

Your welcome...

 

You are unlikely to have someone come out to your broken unmaintained system out of office hours without a service contract, no matter how close. It's possible you where put through to a call centre and as no valid contract was found the call not actioned.

It would be a similar situation as to most service or breakdown companies, it costs to employ people to cover out of hours 24/7.

 

It's still not clear until now as to if you want someone to fix it or if your trying yourself hence my post. Seems an odd chain of events taken to tackle the problem in this way is all, hence my use of "random".

As I said in my first post it's something I wouldn't think twice about upgrading in that situation.

 

We have an array of people come here for advice all of completely different skill sets. You had not given any indication of your electronic competence until now.

I think you've got your own alarm problems to sort before worrying about other people and where they're poking things for a living.

 

I assume you worked out what blew the fuse in the first place?

This is the first time you have mentioned it's actually a wireless system too I believe?

 

This is the part of your post that answered my question. I am sure we can help further now.

Looking for a company you should check out NSI and SSAIB websites as mentioned above, if you don't know of any peer recommended local installers.

Speak with them and ask what they include as part of the annual maintenance, as prices and what's included will differ between places.

Worth mentioning that it's a wireless/hybrid system, I also wouldn't be surprised any potential future installers won't support that system or recommend an upgrade. Your likely to have issues with the keypad again anyway if you replace it.

 

Seeking help to do what as I say above.

We are happy to help point you in the direction whatever you finally decide that is the goal of this forum. In the many years being here I have never known anybody commit to "fix it" themselves but still want a company in for an annual maintenance contract.

Either way as above crack on and feel free to ask specifics if you require.

Thanks again for the detailed response.

I’m ‘guessing’ that the fuse may have blown when the ground floor circuit breaker tripped when my better half cut through the hedge trimmer cable on Sunday morning (Something else to fix) I don’t know for sure of course.

I’m not sure why the LCDs fail as generally in my experience if driven correctly LCD circuits have a very long life. It is quite warm to the touch which may be a factor.

 

feeling a lot more positive after a nights uninterrupted sleep

 

Yes the system is wireless, I’ve replaced all the sender batteries, cleaned all the accumulated spider remains and other **** from the contacts.
 

To be honest if I can prove that the alarm works with pets -  or can be configured/reconfigured to do so I would be happy to pay an annual maintenance to get a reduction in home insurance (or to see if the cost of one is worth the cost of the other)

 

I’ve just installed ip cameras around the property which work very well the biggest pain being running and making up the Ethernet cabling. But I was thinking if I could get  alarm and cameras integration that would be a worthy goal. I recognise that the existing alarm will likely not be fit for purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterJames]

1 hour ago, Steve Pritchard said:

Thanks again for the detailed response.

I’m ‘guessing’ that the fuse may have blown when the ground floor circuit breaker tripped when my better half cut through the hedge trimmer cable on Sunday morning (Something else to fix) I don’t know for sure of course.

I’m not sure why the LCDs fail as generally in my experience if driven correctly LCD circuits have a very long life. It is quite warm to the touch which may be a factor.

 

feeling a lot more positive after a nights uninterrupted sleep

 

Yes the system is wireless, I’ve replaced all the sender batteries, cleaned all the accumulated spider remains and other **** from the contacts.
 

To be honest if I can prove that the alarm works with pets -  or can be configured/reconfigured to do so I would be happy to pay an annual maintenance to get a reduction in home insurance (or to see if the cost of one is worth the cost of the other)

 

I’ve just installed ip cameras around the property which work very well the biggest pain being running and making up the Ethernet cabling. But I was thinking if I could get  alarm and cameras integration that would be a worthy goal. I recognise that the existing alarm will likely not be fit for purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

Mains tripping would not have caused the aux 12v fuse to have blown Steve, the mains fuse situated by the incoming mains maybe. But any of the fuses on the main PCB are protecting the PCB from short circuit and mains tripping would have no influence over them.  

[al-yeti]

1 hour ago, Steve Pritchard said:

I’m not sure why the LCDs fail as generally in my experience if driven correctly LCD circuits have a very long life. It is quite warm to the touch which may be a factor.

 

 

Strangest comment so far ....

 

 

But keep going