ADE optima houshold alarm fault any help?

[mswesty]

hello i quickly run through a senario and hope that sombody can point me in the right direction>

a few years ago i installed a ADE optima compact alarm to a freinds house. its worked fine for 5/6 years, just before christmas last year he came back from holiday to find the bell/strobe box flashing, the strobe flashes and a red LED also flashes once per second approx.

i thought it was the entry alert to warn the owner that the alarm had been triggerd, so we went through a few things even doing a factory reset to find that the strobe kept on going..

ANYWAY! I rang the manufacturers tech line and he advised me that he thought it was a new bell box required. so i ordered one.

I ended up with a intellisense AG6 external sounder and strobe. with the following conns>>

ST- / R- / SW- / V+ / V-

However the instruction that came with the AG6 state>>

TR- / V- / ST- / V+ / S-

Does any body know if the above is compatible with the above mentioned alarm system ?? which has the following connections.

strobe+ / strobe - / T / A / V+ / V-

i disonnect the v+ and the battery backup installed on the bell box and the strobe still flashes until i disconnect the strobe + wire. this leaves me thinking that i may be chasing a red herring and there is actually some other fault, i.e main pcb?

any experts out there??

SORRY FOR VERRRY LONG POST.

 

[lee2lee]

Hi, could be a short on the strobe wire with the neg.

If you take the stobe wire out of the panel does it still strobe ?

If it does, put a meter on it (out of the panel) and a Pos+ and see if you get 13v, you might not but the wire could be broken and shorting onto the neg.

buzz all the cores of the wire to make sure no shorts, i would be suprised if it is a faulty bell.

Any spare cores ?, try them.



ta

 

[sparks1234]

I've got one of those, pain in the bum, I have to reset mine by removing supply and bettery every week

 

[mswesty]

thanks for the replys.
if i remove the strobe wire from the bell box it stops. this is with all other feeds (BATT and v+) removed , this then makes me think that the main pcb is requesting strobe ??

cheers again mwest

 

[sparks1234]

I had so many problems with false alarms with mine the neighbours got the hump, so i got rid of the external bell and put a sounder in the house, scares the **** out of you

 

[lee2lee]

Leave the bell wired as it was and take the strobe out of the control panel first, if it stops, the panel is faulty but i dont think it would be that. i think the wire is damaged somwhere and the strobe core is getting a negative.



ta

 

[oldtimer]

Sounds like your panel battery is goosed why ? because these batteries have a 5 year lifespan yes i know it is a sealed unit but trust me you need to change the battery also when you install an alarm always write the date on the panel battery.

As for the alarm going off best way to check is to switch the power off to the panel and wait about 30 minutes if the outside sounder activates then your battery is u/s remember you cannot silence the sounder until you return the mains on to the panel.

Sounderconnections are as follows.

- 12vdc this is the perminant negitive supply to the sounder
+12vdc this is the perminant positive supply to the panel
-SW is the switched negitive (alarm activation) to the sounder will run for 20 minutes (factory set)
-TP or RTN is the negitive return tamper to the panel
-ST is a latched switched negitive to the sounderstrobe and will not go off until panel is reset

I have a optima 2+ and insralled it 20 years ago and the battery gets changed every 5 years the majority of false alarms is down to the battery so if you are ot sure change it if not it could damage the panel as this doubles up as a battery charger

 

[mswesty]

thanks for the advice old timer.
if i know about the panel battery trick. ive come across that before. (bellbox battery keeps siren going when you power down to do a new consumer unit is my favorite!!) this prob is different

1/ pop fused spur to cut mains (running on battery backup)
2/ climb ladder disonnect battery back up in bellbox
3/ also disconnect v+ in bell box while im up there
4/ all this time the strobe keeps going until i disconnect the strobe wires.

im now thinking that the main panel board is knackered but im unsure how to test/prove this , the strobe feed is reported to be 12v "latched" (does any body know what this means????) can i just put my multimeter to it and expect 0v under no alarm conditions and 12v under alarm condition??

cheers again

 

[lee2lee]

In the panel, is there is there 2 wires for the stobe, pos and neg, or just a neg ?

did you remove the strobe from the panel ?

 

[mswesty]

hello again lee2lee

there is two strobe wires

strobe +

strobe -

i presum the strobe "pulse" is generated at the bell box and the terminals we are taliking about are just 12v dc????

cheers again

 

[lee2lee]

Yea they and just 12v dc.

try and take the neg out of the panel ? and see if its still going off on the bell ? and after try removing both the wires an see if it is still going off.

get back to us

 

[oldtimer]

Westy
As I said the panel could be faulty because if the battery is goosed it can sometimes take the panel with it.

Have you checked the sounder PC card for water ingress etc ?

As for testing it the best thing to do is
1. disconnect the -RT (or tamper monitor wire on the CP)
2. Put a link in between -Rt and the 12vdc negitive supply in the CP dont use the -12vdc supply to the sounder as you need to keep this in to maintain the 12vdc +&- supply to the sounder internal battery
3. Press in the spring on the control panel and see if you can reset or clear the fault on it.
4. If this works then release the spring and silence the panel tamper alarm.
5. Take a multimeter and measure between +12vdc and the cable you disconnected from the -RT connection you should get 12-13vdc if not then you tamper monitor circuit is not made in the sounder.

or

Go to the sounder and disconnect the internal battery once you have done this then return to the panel disconnect all of the sounder cables and put a link in between -12vdc and the -RT(tamper) of the sounder connections. Now either press the spring or replace the panel coverand reset the panel
Now you can test the panel without the sounder if ok then check out the sounder I will tell you how to do it once you have proved the panel is ok.

As for the -12vdc swtched (latched) strobe output the regulations on alarms is that the sounder can only activate for a maximum 20 minutes ie audible alarm but for a visual alarm then once the alarm has activated the strobe will latch and stay on until the panel has been reset this does 2 things it helps the police pinpoint what house alarm has activated and it prepares the owner that their system has activated.

I have done alarm systems forthe past 25 years and the biggest problem highlighted by people is the sounder and its connections so remember the sounder is an independant unit with its own 12vdc from the CP onboard battery strobe , sounder and tamper circuit.

Sorry to ramble on but hope it helps