I was thinking of twisting all 5 wires in the bell box together and testing continuity of them all to see if the neg tamper return is damaged, the actual bell box sounds if I remove the cover or if the mains and battery backup is removed and it goes to SAB
External Sounder
Now if there was ever a electrician graveyard for intruder/burglar alarm this is the baby that just confuses the hell out of sparks so what’s the mystic around this.
Well its how you look at it the external sounder has come a long way from a box with a bell and tamper switch in it funny thing is it still gets called a bellbox but its been 25 years since bells were used.
So let break it down the sounder is designed to be a stand alone unit so lets list its components.
1. Piezo sounder this is the audible part of the sounder
2. Strobe light this is the visual part of the sounder remember the audible part has to go off after 15 minutes but the strobe latches on so this can do a couple of things one is attract the attention of the police/neighbours or it can prepare the owner that the system has been activated.
3. SAB module or Self Actuating Bell module this is basically the battery back up of the sounder that gets charged via the control panel but if the external sounder looses this supply it is designed to Self Actuate .
4. Tamper switch does what it says on the tin the tamper is a monitor circuit that signals to the control panel if the cable is cut or the sounder lid is removed plus if you activate the tamper switch the sounder will activate.
5. Comfort LEDs now 25 years ago I used to fit an LED to my sounder boxes to indicate it was a real alarm but things have moved on a bit ie flashing ,or flip flop with diagnostic LEDs.
How its wired
So here is how you wire an external sounder lets not talk about fitting 2 lets get the basics so first of all wire a 6 core between the sounder and the control panel so you fit the sounder box with the sounder activate link being out and also put the screw for the lid in without the lid and if it’s the type of sounder that the screw holds down the tamper switch then great because this lets you work on it.
So wiring is
Red +12vdc hold off or supply to the sounder
Black -12vdc hold off or supply to the sounder
Blue -12vdc switched signal from the CP to the sounder (sounder activation)
Yellow -12vdc return tamper signal from the sounder to the CP (tamper monitor)
Green -12vdc switched from the CP to the sounder (latched strobe output)
So the external sounder has a 12vdc +/- supply to power it
A -12vdc tamper monitor circuit
A -12vdc switched supply to activate the sounder
A – 12vdc switched supply to activate the strobe
Now you have the sounder wired with the screw put in to hold the tamper switch down and connected back at the CP. Now you can sort the link out that to activate the sounder now some sounders you remove a link or put one in.
Now this is the time to fit the CP battery so why have I left this until now well control panels are getting smaller by the day and having the battery fitted just makes it harder when connecting the circuits and remember to write the date of installation on the battery why because it needs to be changed every 5 years but we will talk about that later.
If everything is alright you can put the CP cover back on and reset the tamper alarm now you can go to the sounder with the lid and put it on remember the sounder will activate when you release the tamper switch so put the lid on then put the screw in and the sounder should go off when you secure the lid with the screw.
Yes the CP will be signalling a tamper alarm but whilst you are up the ladder check that you have the correct sequence of comfort LEDs then go back to the CP and reset the tamper alarm.
