Veritas8 alarm question!

Jammyb · Aug 20, 2011

Hey!First time poster but this forum always came up when googling this alarm system!Basically, Prewired the new house for an alarm. Bought the panel, 2 PIRs, door magnet, keypad and bellbox.*Wired all in and didn't have a battery!Got battery, fitted battery BUT. Forgot to switch mains power back on!Do all the tests and set the codes up.*Unset flashing on keypad I remember back to time when a customers system had powercut for 12 hours and once power came back the Unset light flashed till the battery recharged.*Didn't think nothing of it. That was Thursday evening.*Last nite (Friday 1155pm) both of us asleep, the alarm not armed, goes off!!!!!As i Deactivate alarm i notice tamper light is on. I check everywhere and everything seems ok!I go to fuseboard and see the mcb is off for alarm! Oops! Switch on and the Unset light is now solid!I check the event log and it was tamper that went off and the OMIT tells me no more info.*So.*My question is.... With the alarm running on battery, did it get to a low point (maybe the bellbox's battery?) that caused the alarm to go off?Now on mains power it should all be ok?? It was running on only mains before the battery was installed and was fine.*Any ideas?CheersJammy*

telectrix · Aug 20, 2011

yep/.it will run on battery for several hours, then when the battery voltage drops, the outside sounder will kick in off its own module. restore mains, all charges up, no problem.

oldtimer · Aug 20, 2011

This is what I have on my web site hope it helps

Q. Why is the battery the most important item in an alarm system.?

A. First of all the control panel battery failure may be responsible for most of the false alarms
on a burglar alarm systems.

Q. So why is that. ?

A. Well the standards state that the control panel battery should maintain the alarm system for
at least 8 hours during a loss of power. This is to ensure that there is no false alarms during
this period.

Q. Why does a battery fail. ?

A. Batteries have a lifespan of approximately 5 years and if it is changed during these intervals
then your alarm will not cause any undue false alarms during a loss of power.

Q. So what can happen if you do not change or renew the battery. ?

A. Well after 5 years the battery can deteriorate and could eventually damage the control panel
as this unit also operates as a battery charger. If the battery is faulty or fails during a loss of
power it will not maintain the system during this period and because of this the external
sounder will activate independently powered by its own on board battery leaving the
occupier with no way of silencing the unit.

Q. Does it matter if my sounder activates and if I cannot access my control panel. ?

A. Well eventually the battery in the external sounder will run down but this could take
between 30 to 60 minutes and if you have a loss of power in the middle of the night
then this could be a disruptive influence with your family and neighbours .

Q. My alarm system is 7 years old and does not go into alarm during a brief loss of power. ?

A. Yes sometimes this is the case but beware the battery may only have enough capacity to power
your system for 30 minutes after that your system could cause a disturbance in your area and
f this scenario plays out in the middle of the night then you may be in a situation where the
external sounder is activated and the owner has no way of silencing it.

Q. What do you do with the old batteries you remove from alarm systems. ?
A. Each battery is dropped off at a local alarm equipment supplier who runs a recycling facility