Guest pastyman Posted April 10, 2003 Posted April 10, 2003 Help!. I have an Omnicron 7000 system installed for many years. Very reliable, only very rare lock-ups which I was told were static problems. (Probably true, it happened most often in very prolonged dry weather. That's why they were so rare I guess!!). Anyway, I added another PIR a few weeks ago. There are now 4 PIRs, plus various door sensors. We are geting more lock-up problems now. Other odd things too. It suddenly started to go off when it wasn't armed one day - 24hr light came on. Reset, and all OK after. Lock-ups on arming and dis-arming. On one occasion when changing user code. Very odd. So, have I overstretched the PSU on the system? I guess there must be a limit to how many PIRs can be powered from the panel. I cannot find this info anywhere. Does anyone know?? Any help appreciated. Many thanks.
Service Engineer Posted April 10, 2003 Posted April 10, 2003 As with most domestic alarm panels the omnicron will provide 1 Amp at 13.8 volts. A typical bellbox with sab module will use around 30mA in standby, and around 350mA when sounding. An internal speaker or Siren might also use 30mA standby and 350mA sounding, so in an alarm condition this would leave around 300mA spare for powering detectors. A typical pir only uses between 10 and 20mA, so if we say 20mA per pir detector then in theory your panel will happily supply power for upto 15 pir detectors. So you from this you can see your not putting too much on the PSU. When your Omnicron starts to play up, its time to change it. You have done very well if youve had so few problems over the years, most Omnicrons start to play up over a much shorter time span. The Omnicron unfortunataly is prone to suffer from all sorts of problems that most other control equipment can cope well with, not just static build up but Mains spikes and surges cause faults, EMF passed down through the alarm cabling can cause faults, close proximity to a strong transmitter, etc etc etc. Over the last 10 years, I must have replaced nearly 100 of these Omnicron panels, almost all have had the same random faults as you describe. Changing the panel has always cured the problem. Common problems with this alarm that we encountered before finally replacing it.Spurious PIR sensor triggers. This occurred usually in the middle of the night, and it took some time to track down the cause as a failing rechargeable battery in the control unit, which was pulling the 12V supply to the PIRs down to about 7V. This made them easy to trigger spuriously (such as by pressing any key). Note that this problem occurs when the mains supply is operating normally. Maplin sell a suitable replacment battery for about 12.00. Inactive Keys. The control panel stops responding completely. The short term cure is to follow the same sequence as the forgotten PIN code. The fault will probably return. When the fault starts to happen on a regular basis, replace the alarm!. Forgotten PIN code The simplest way to reset the PIN is to disconnect the mains, open the control unit cover (two screws) and disconnect one of the (push fit) wires from the battery. Wait a few seconds and then reconnect. (note that the alarm will sound (tamper alert) from the point where you start to remove the cover, until you enter the PIN code). After re-assembly the PIN code is 1,2,3,4, and the alarm can be reset by entering 1,2,3,4,reset. ........................................................ Dave Partridge (Romec Service Engineer)
Guest pastyman Posted April 29, 2003 Posted April 29, 2003 Dave, Many thanks for the advice. I guess I will have to face up to replacing the panel. It went off by itself last week whilst we were in Florida. Fortunately one of my neighbours acts as keyholder and was able to silence it and reset it for us. It was claiming 24 hour (tamper) failure again. I was thinking that replacement was the best option anyway. Given the investment already made in wiring, sensors, PIRs etc (all self-installed and seemingly OK), I would love to just change the panel. Can you recommend a suitable replacement that will suit the cabling arrangement of the Omnicron? I really appreciate the time you have taken to reply by the way; I searched everywhere for some indication of power loadings on panels generally. Regards, Mike PS Am I right in assuming that there is no way of stopping the Bell from activating when I disconnect the panel without climbing the ladder to the bell box and removing the battery?
Service Engineer Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 PS Am I right in assuming that there is no way of stopping the Bell from activating when I disconnect the panel without climbing the ladder to the bell box and removing the battery? Yes and No ? Yes if you remove the Hold+ and Hold- the bell will just ring until either 20 minutes has elapsed assuming it has a built in timer or until the battery expires. But you could drastically reduce this time by using the control panel battery as a standby feed for the bellbox while you wire up a new panel. In other words yes the bells will ring while the wires are being removed but by using a terminal block and the old panel battery and leads you could re-apply power to the bellbox while your working on the new control panel ........................................................ Dave Partridge (Romec Service Engineer)
Guest pastyman Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Dave, Ah, sneaky! I like that idea. I will use that trick. Did you have any suggestions re my other query about a suitable (convenient) replacement panel for the omnicron? (Minimum wiring changes, size of panel, etc) Many thanks, Regards, Mike
Service Engineer Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Are you looking for a panel with an onboard keypad, simillar to the omnicron or are you able to perhaps hide the main unit in the garage or a closet somewhere and just have a small remote keypad on show. Also might you be considering monitoring as something for the future. ........................................................ Dave Partridge (Romec Service Engineer)
Guest pastyman Posted May 1, 2003 Posted May 1, 2003 Dave, I favour keeping to the existing panel size as it is already installed out of the way. I prefer the integral keypad as long as it is not prone to static problems! I don't intend to go with monitoring - I live in a small village where we all keep an eye on each other's houses. Besides, I can avoid falling foul of the ACPO alarm false call rules this way! What I really want to avoid is re-wiring anything. I've got everything coming neatly into the panel right now through trunking, etc, and if I can get a replacement that will suit the existing cabling with minumum re-working so much the better. Having said that I want reliability of course. Many thanks yet again. It's good of you to keep running with this! Regards, Mike
Service Engineer Posted May 1, 2003 Posted May 1, 2003 Ive always liked the Gardner range of control panels and I think the 582 (Shown Below) is one of the best standard alarm panels on the market. Otherwise (Some dont like the Gardners sloping front) I`d probably go for the Texecom Veritas 8 control panel (Shown Below) Its also very good. But i still prefer the Gardner. I hope some other engineers also voice their opinions here, there are many good panels and really its down to which one your gonna prefer. Both the above are easy to program and have a proven track record. ........................................................ Dave Partridge (Romec Service Engineer)
Guest pastyman Posted May 1, 2003 Posted May 1, 2003 Dave, Many, many thanks. I will see where I can source these locally (Bristol/Bath area), and go with one of them. All the best, Mike
Guest pastyman Posted May 1, 2003 Posted May 1, 2003 Dave, I'm having great difficulty finding a supplier of either panel locally. (Bristol or Bath) You will have gathered that I am not a professional installer! I can buy the Texecom via mail order easily enough, but I like to buy over the counter if I can. My favourite local supplier of this sort of thing has the Optima range, of which the G3 looks as if it might be suitable. Can you offer any comment on that product? Regards, Mike
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