old alarm

[wetstring]

attended a call out today for an intruder alarm which following a power cut would not reset, on examining it and the instruction book found that it was 18years old, the seperate key panel was partially lit (some buttons lit)although the power light was off, but would not respond to any key strokes, the paperwork did not contain the engineers code.

i concluded that the key pad had an internal fault (possibly caused by a surge after the power cut) and was reluctant to remove either the control box cover or keypad cover as the anti tamper would have set off the alarm with possibly no way of disarming it, (apart from a hammer and a bucket of water) so i isolated it in case it did have a nuisance alarm and advised the client that it was best fixed with a new one.

later had a phone call to say that some lad down the road had come in to have a look, re energised it, taken the cover off and set off the alarm ,at which point it all started working ok, the keypad accepted the user code and its all tickety boo, did i do the wrong thing, is this a common remedy with

intruder alarms????

 

[Larnacaman]

is this a common remedy with intruder alarms????

I would say NOT!! In fact i'd say your client was dammed lucky, as was the lad down the road!!!

After 18 years, your client has a responsibility to replace this outdated alarm, they can be an absolute nightmare when they go wrong, giving numourous false alarms, and other superfluous problems. Many will have limited spare parts availability too.

I had just such an experience myself here just a few weeks ago looking after a friends villa, that had rental clients staying in the house at the time. ....2am got a call from them about the alarm going off. To cut a long story short, after trying to get the system reset with no luck, I disconnected the lot, including the in-built back-up in the bell. ...The neighbours were to say the least livid!!! haha!!!

The suppliers couldn't get it up and running again either the following day. So he gave them the go-ahead to replace the main control box with another system, just used the existing wiring.

 

[wetstring]

thanks larnaca, if i get a call at 3am tomorrow i shall advise them to rouse the lad up the road, 60mile round trip and 3 hrs for

 

[Manator]

one of the main problems with any alarm system is the continued maintenance, many systems will last years but require regular maintenance.

Pir's will need cleaning, batteries will need replacing and the system will need to be tested to confirm that they operate as intended.

I think the guy down the road was lucky on this occasion and is not a specified repair or fault find procedure.

I think you where correct in saying a new system would be required.

If you install a new system you should be aware of the required risk assessments a grade 1, 2 or 3 system will be required dependant on the risk.

I have seen insurance companies refuse payouts based on the system installed.

I would recommend any domestic installer who offers alarm installs to be fully insured, insurance companies will, and do, try every angle to get out of paying out on any claim.

 

[Evans Electric]

Just to pick up on Manator's comments , most insurance companies will only accept alarms installed by NACOS or whatever it is . And commercially , forget it if you are doing it as just a sparky, they won't insure.

 

[wetstring]

interesting! i hardly ever get asked to install these as i am lucky enough to live in a very quiet, secure part of rural wales, chainsaws amd sheep are the main theft targets,next time i shall make it a point to enquire whether the system is required to satisfy an insurance company or is just for peace of mind.

 

[m4tty]

Just to pick up on Manator's comments , most insurance companies will only accept alarms installed by NACOS or whatever it is . And commercially , forget it if you are doing it as just a sparky, they won't insure.

When I was an underwriter over 10 years ago insuring motor trade garages the insurance company specified a nacoss approved alarm with Bt redcare signalling if they were insuring more than