Anyone recommend a good domestic alarm system

[soulman]

Can you fella's & ladies of course recommend a good alarm system thats easy to install in a domestic property, An alarm system where you can buy only the parts you need seperately, wired, never installed one just been getting asked a lot lately, I have been recommending a guy i know who has let me down twice, So i have decided to install one on a rewire have got in may, just need some suggestions

Cheers

 

[UNG]

I don't personally agree with the bad spec given here to Scannys - generally found them to be well built panels with a lower than average failure rate.

Scantronic panels were good years ago but tried to live on their name rather than move with the market and the technology changes, the tech support was also very lacking. Personally I always used Menvier panels (previously Munford & White and then Tunstall) up to a couple of years after Cooper bought them, once the old Menvier guys left the tech support dept it became harder to support the equipment and so I moved on

 

[oldtimer]

Scantronic panels were good years ago but tried to live on their name rather than move with the market and the technology changes, the tech support was also very lacking. Personally I always used Menvier panels (previously Munford & White and then Tunstall) up to a couple of years after Cooper bought them, once the old Menvier guys left the tech support dept it became harder to support the equipment and so I moved on

Munford and White CPA2 by any chance thats going back a bit (like me) Also just to add my last mail I was critical of Scantronic because of the "open control panel" as I had to go to a 8136 yesterday and had a job trying to reset the battery low fault after I changed the battery . As I said if the poster is new to alarm and it is domestic then a good starting place is ADE Optima or Texcom and then he can progress from there.
Plus as you say Scantronic is no worse or better than the rest it is just down to preference a lot of guys get comfortable with one make and model I was lucky I started with Thorn on the 7000 series where the failure rate was 1 in3 moved on to M&W and A&G (My eyes still water when I think about the Micro 3 Deluxe LOL) Bentley,ADE, Scantronic but the catch is you need to as UNG says move on and you have to asses the job ie multiple keyholders or a 2 bedroom semi

 

[Edd]

Was asked to fit a Yale wireless system, about 3 months ago, they supplyed the materials took me about 3 hrs (including wireing the spur) and I was quite impressed, familiy then asked me to do the same for a friend of theirs. Not one call back, and would happily fit them again.

 

[timbobelfast]

What tech support could you possibly need for a hard wired modern scantronic? For commercial installs I use the Galaxy Dimension panels.
And the Scanny previously may have been manufactured around 4737 but they now comply with BS EN 50131 or else I wouldn't be installing them.

 

[telectrix]

Was asked to fit a Yale wireless system, about 3 months ago, they supplyed the materials took me about 3 hrs (including wireing the spur) and I was quite impressed, familiy then asked me to do the same for a friend of theirs. Not one call back, and would happily fit them again.

was a thread on here a few days ago, where the yale systems could be disabled with a car remote or similar.

 

[WPD Lad]

Quick question to the alarm fitters, how do you make off the tamper series loop?

Any tips or recommendations on connectors?

 

[timbobelfast]

Had a customer phone me before Xmas saying he had bought a Yale system and was looking me to install. I told him I wouldn't touch it with a bardge pole in a nice kind of way.

 

[timbobelfast]

For your tamper loop, get a strip of 5 amp connector blocks.

 

[telectrix]

i generally just twist ends of the series loops, fold over and sleeve with a bit of 4mm earth sleeving. OK, sounds a bodge, but i've got systems done this way, been in for for 20 years and no problems.

 

[oldtimer]

For your tamper loop, get a strip of 5 amp connector blocks.

What no tape joints or twisted pair with a bit O 4 core sleeving !! yep quite right I buy a block of 5 or 2 amp connector plus I made up a commissioning sheet that records all the circuit resistances 20 years ago and still use it today

 

[UNG]

Quick question to the alarm fitters, how do you make off the tamper series loop?

Any tips or recommendations on connectors?

I mainly use panels that use E.O.L. wiring saves a lot of time when tamper faults occur and is more secure. If I use 4 wire circuits in a panel with single tamper circuit I use a strip of 2A or 5A connectors

 

[UNG]

Munford and White CPA2 by any chance thats going back a bit (like me) Also just to add my last mail I was critical of Scantronic because of the "open control panel" as I had to go to a 8136 yesterday and had a job trying to reset the battery low fault after I changed the battery . As I said if the poster is new to alarm and it is domestic then a good starting place is ADE Optima or Texcom and then he can progress from there.
Plus as you say Scantronic is no worse or better than the rest it is just down to preference a lot of guys get comfortable with one make and model I was lucky I started with Thorn on the 7000 series where the failure rate was 1 in3 moved on to M&W and A&G (My eyes still water when I think about the Micro 3 Deluxe LOL) Bentley,ADE, Scantronic but the catch is you need to as UNG says move on and you have to asses the job ie multiple keyholders or a 2 bedroom semi

The CPA 2 thats going back a bit along with the CPD 4 and the CPA 6. When I started I was installing Hoyles panels which some of the big outfits labelled up as there own seem to recall they supplied Lander alarms with a 6 zone panel

When you start reeling off the old names it's amazing how many have gone bust or been swallowed up by other companies in the industry

 

[UNG]

What tech support could you possibly need for a hard wired modern scantronic? For commercial installs I use the Galaxy Dimension panels.
And the Scanny previously may have been manufactured around 4737 but they now comply with BS EN 50131 or else I wouldn't be installing them.

Have had numerous problems with Scantronic kit in the past a 9500 with a plug on Red care STU sending 200 alarm signals an hour spoke to every engineer on the help desk had a different suggestion from all of them was finally told when you find what is causing the problem let us know so we know for future, similar thing happened with a Paknet interface on another panel again no solution, as for the later panels most I believe are rebadged Menvier kit anyway so probably of better quality.

I find it's good to know that a manufacturers techie's will and can support engineers on the ground when needed and with Scantronic they didn't do it for me they seemed to have little knowledge of the kit they produced and certainly no interest in going out of their way to help.

 

[alarm man]

Have had numerous problems with Scantronic kit in the past a 9500 with a plug on Red care STU sending 200 alarm signals an hour spoke to every engineer on the help desk had a different suggestion from all of them was finally told when you find what is causing the problem let us know so we know for future,
.

commuicator fitted-yes, direct line- no been guilty of that a few times,great panels the 9500 crash and reprog them in 2 mins

 

[alarm man]

Pyronix enforcer with hard wired deltabell back lit box for me. Easy install and test and the box lights up to advertise your name and number at night!

those deltabells have to be the one of the worst around,look cheap and nasty,not a patch on the backlit abel