Galaxy 2-20 does not trigger when bellbox cover taken off

[Lightdream]

Hello all,

When moving the location of the bellbox yesterday (see my previous posted topic), I noticed that alarm does not trigger when the bellbox cover is taken off; i've tried this with the alarm both armed and not. The bellbox does sound in a normal alarm situation however.

At first I thought it might've been a mistake during the moving of the bellbox until my Dad pointed out that it didn't trigger when I first took it off, before evening moving it. The wiring is as follows (bellbox terminals shown on the left hand side and panel terminals on the right):

H+ = 12v +
H- = 0v
Rtn = T
R- = Bell symbol (1003)

Is there any way of testing whether or not it is the trigger mechanism in the bellbox at fault please?

Thank you in anticipation.

 

[Ian1981]

Sounds like a faulty tamper/hold off switch in the bell box.

 

[telectrix]

sounds more like ( or doesn't sound in this case ) that some berk has linked out the tamper feed and return in the panel, being too idle to climb up and locate a sounder tamper fault.

 

[Leesparkykent]

sounds more like ( or doesn't sound in this case ) that some berk has linked out the tamper feed and return in the panel, being too idle to climb up and locate a sounder tamper fault.

Alarms are not really my thing as you know but would this require a resistor between tamper and 0V if done EOL?

 

[telectrix]

Alarms are not really my thing as you know but would this require a resistor between tamper and 0V if done EOL?

not usual on a bell circuit. eol is generally used only for detector circuits.

 

[Andy-1960]

When you disconnected the bell box it should have activated as well because the bell is held off by power from the panel, so if anyone cuts the wires to bell box it will still sound.

1. Have you had the bell ringing at all?

2.There should be a battery within the bell box to power the sounder, this may need replacing.

3. Check the micro switch that is operated by removing the lid of the bell box.

 

[Lightdream]

Thank you for this, i've replied in bold below:

When you disconnected the bell box it should have activated as well because the bell is held off by power from the panel, so if anyone cuts the wires to bell box it will still sound.

1. Have you had the bell ringing at all?
The bell didn't ring when I unscrewed the wires from the terminals inside the bellbox. It does ring when there is a normal alarm situation however (e.g. step in front of a PIR).

2.There should be a battery within the bell box to power the sounder, this may need replacing.
I thought this might be the case, is there any way of testing this for sure? The alarm was serviced a couple of months ago and the chap didn't say anything to my Dad about it, although I know it could be a recent thing.

3. Check the micro switch that is operated by removing the lid of the bell box.

The switch pushes in and out but without dismantling the box and the contacts seem clean and still move as they should.

 

[Lightdream]

sounds more like ( or doesn't sound in this case ) that some berk has linked out the tamper feed and return in the panel, being too idle to climb up and locate a sounder tamper fault.

Thank you telectrix, how can I check this please? Does the image below shed any light on the situation please?

 

[Andy-1960]

That yellow link across the tamper terminals might be a clue!

 

[Darkwood]

@Andy-1960
You are correct the normal Tamper has been looped out but the bell tamper is usually separate to the zone tampers so that probably won't be the issue.

 

[Ian1981]

sounds more like ( or doesn't sound in this case ) that some berk has linked out the tamper feed and return in the panel, being too idle to climb up and locate a sounder tamper fault.

Bell tamper is separate usually in most if not all the type I've installed

 

[Andy-1960]

@Andy-1960
You are correct the normal Tamper has been looped out but the bell tamper is usually separate to the zone tampers so that probably won't be the issue.

As I suggested in my earlier post

 

[Lightdream]

Thank you again to everyone who has replied. I have a few more questions following the above:

1. Should I remove the tamper link? Why would the engineer who tests the system leave this in?

2. Since the bell doesn't ring when the bell cover is then removed (when mains power is on and the system is armed), does this suggest that rather than being a battery problem, it's a problem with the actual tamper switch/bell?

Thank you in anticipation again!

 

[Specialist]

Might be seeing things, but is that the bell tamper that's linked out with a Black wire ?. Left hand terminal block, 2nd & 3rd terminals from left.

 

[Lightdream]

Might be seeing things, but is that the bell tamper that's linked out with a Black wire ?. Left hand terminal block, 2nd & 3rd terminals from left.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, the T terminal is linked with the 0v terminal with a black wire.

 

[Specialist]

So the SAB tamper is bypassed. With the SAB cover back on, remove the Black link in the panel, remembering to leave the Yellow & Blue wires connected to the panel. Re-fit the panel cover & the try removing the SAB cover to see if it now activates. Wear ear defenders when doing so, the sound level can damage your hearing or even startle you into a fall from the ladder. Just 1 thing to remember : It may have been linked due to a fault in the tamper circuit that the engineer was too lazy to look for.

 

[telectrix]

So the SAB tamper is bypassed. With the SAB cover back on, remove the Black link in the panel, remembering to leave the Yellow & Blue wires connected to the panel. Re-fit the panel cover & the try removing the SAB cover to see if it now activates. Wear ear defenders when doing so, the sound level can damage your hearing or even startle you into a fall from the ladder. Just 1 thing to remember : It may have been linked due to a fault in the tamper circuit that the engineer was too lazy to look for.

mypost #3. before seeing the photo. usual cause is the back tamper of the bell micro not reaching the wall behind. might need a bit of a bend in it.

and is that sun symbol supposed to be strobe -? not familiar with galaxy.

 

[Specialist]

Sorry didn't see that, Sounds like a bit of a lash up to be honest. 12 core down into 4 core, so obviously a joint somewhere & something else running off the other cores. Possibly a PIR or upstairs keypad, both of which have been known to cause rogue bell tamper faults. Looking at the state of the panel wiring, I'd hate to see how they did the cable join.
Yep the Sun symbol is for strobe, obviously didn't have enough cores to connect the strobe up.

 

[Lightdream]

Thank you all very much for your helpful advice. Managed to get it sorted:

1. Removed the tamper links so all the tamper functions have been restored on the non-bell components. After making a few calls to the engineer who does the annual test, it turns out that the links were put in because we kept getting faults. When the alarm was installed years ago, they split that 12 core cable and made the joins under the carpet by twisting wires together and then taping them! Now we've run fresh, unbroken cables to all of the sensors, so no faults.

2. I adjusted the bell micro but still no luck. However, when screwing in the terminals at the bell, I noticed that the bell started ringing when I put a bit of pressure on the screw terminals/the circuit board. Therefore I have used a little plastic shim between the circuit board and the metal frame of the inner bellbox structure and bingo, it all works fine!

3. Just as a side note, even though the strobe wasn't connected at the bell or the panel, the strobe light still flashes when the alarm is triggered.

 

[Specialist]

Hi: Thanks for letting us know what happened, it's always nice to get a bit of feedback. Glad to know that you got it sorted.

 

[Flanders]

You will find that the strobe will only flash for as long as the bell rings as they are connected to the same terminal in the panel (20mins as i remember it) . The reason the strobe has it own circuit is so it continues flasing after the bell as stoped

 

[telectrix]

the fault on the bell PCB is most likely a dry joint, probably under the terminal block due to it may have been over tightened some time and thus cracked the solder.