Aritech cs350 house alarm

McGintyMcGoo

Greetings

Anyone know how to do either of the following:

• Access the maintenace menu of the alarm
• Change the battery on the alarm

The alarm has started to go off early in the morning. Not every morning but particularly when it is cold. There has been a "low battery" warning on it for a few years now that I never bothered investigating so potentially that could be causing the problem.

When the alarm goes off, it mentions a G4 location. Problem is, I do not know which sensor this is. The alarm was installed 10 years ago and I have no idea what maintenance code the installers put on it. The default maintenance code is 1278 but the problem is, I do not know how to get into the maintenance section.

Anyone have any ideas how to get into the maintenance mode so that I can even try the code?

Can anyone recommend a company/person to service the alarm, sell me a battery or both?

Any help on this would really be appreciated.

McGintyMcGoo

KoolKid

Installer menu is accessed by engineer code.
Factory code is 1278. If it does not respond when you enter this code then the code has been changed.
What is the name of the company who installed it.?
If low battery is showing for a few years i'm suprised its not giving you more problems.
G4 refers to a sensor activation. It should also tell you a zone name here.

McGintyMcGoo

Hi Koolkid

Thanks for getting back to me. Just want to check one thing with you. Is there a separate menu/section where I enter the maintenance code OR do I just enter the code as I would the alarm code when I am setting it? i.e. If the maintenance code was still 1278, do I just walk up to the panel, enter that code and I am then presented with the maintenance options?

I want to try a few codes that I possibly gave the engineers when they installed it 10 years. Unfortunately, I don't know who they were because I just called the number on a leaflet that was dropped in the door.

Assuming that the alarm system and cabling are still okay, do you know how much it would cost to give the alarm a service .. replacing battery and problem sensor(s)? Would it need to be reset if I cant find the maintenance code?

McGintyMcGoo

McGintyMcGoo

<bump>

Steve

This happened mine a few years ago.
The battery is in the main box (usually under the stairs or in a cupboard).

Eurosales (sandyford ind est + elsewhere) are Aritech agents - I bought a battery for €12 or so, alarm company wanted €100.
It's a 12V sealed lead acid battery which I'm sure is just a generic alarm battery.

If you don't know the engineer code, just open the box - the tamper alarm will go off - just enter the normal code and reset it.

The alarm co. wouldn't give me the eng code but I managed to guess it - was part of their phone number!

Hope that helps.

edit: yes just enter the eng code same as your normal code - 0XXXX,
It'll then say "Eng mode press (down arrow)"

McGintyMcGoo

Hi SteveC

Assuming that I cannot guess the maintenance code for the moment, are you saying that if I open the alarm box (in the hot press), enter my normal code to stop the "tamper proof" alarm going off, that I'll then have an option to reset the alarm?

Does resetting the alarm mess up the zone settings etc or does it just give me the option to set a new maintenance code? Ideally I'd just want to reset the maintenance code so that I can start to investigate where the problem originates from.

McGintyMcGoo

Steve

No, I meant that when you open the box to fit the new battery, the alarm will start ringing because you opened the box and triggered the tamper circuit.
Same as if a burglar tried to dismantle the bell box outside.

When you enter your normal code, it will just stop it ringing - thats what I meant by "reset".

AFAIK it's a factory job to do a full reset - not sure though.

McGintyMcGoo

Hi SteveC

I bought a new battery from Eurosales (€14) and plan to replace the existing one tonight. Before I kill myself, is it just a case of swapping the battery out OR should I kill the power coming into the house before I attempt it . I am assuming here that you have done this before.

I am hopeful that changing the battery will fix my problem (but I doubt it). I have found two of the Aritech CS350 manuals online but they are user guides as opposed to maintenance guides.

If anyone else thinks that I am about to blow myself up, please feel free to let me know :eek:

McGintyMcGoo

jaggiebunnet

I did this before and it did say to stop the power into the house before replacing it but i got away with not doing anything about the power. Mind you if you go and electrocute yourself don't go doing it on my advice as I have no electrical knowledge whatsoever !!

Steve

I did it live but I have an electrial background and know what I'm doing.

If you can find the circuit that it's on, just pull that fuse - it may have it's own fuse or may be tapped from a light or socket circuit.
If its in the hotpress, they probably used the immersion circuit.
You'll know when you get the right one because the control panel will say "mains fault".

If in any doubt though, switch off everything.. safety first;)

McGintyMcGoo

I was just released from hospital .... it all began when .... I touched the wrong wire inside the alarm box, got a shock that blew me 20 feet out of the back window into the neighbour's garden. He didn't recognise me and thought that I was a burglar and proceeded to beat the <beep> out of me. I managed to get away and make it to the hospital for treatment though ...

Actually, none of the above is true but here's what did happen:

I opened up the alarm box and as expected the tamper alarm went off. I entered the code to reset the alarm. Inside the box, I was confronted by a circuit board (with lots of wires) that is fixed in with two screws. In behind the circuit board was a battery at an angle. Being a chicken, I didn't touch anything. Coincidentally though, I did find the alarm installation manual that is full of diagrams that mean nothing to me. I closed it all up again because the manual states that it needs a 12V 6.5Ah battery but the one I bought was a 12V 2Ah. I'll change that today (Friday).

I'll give it another go as soon as someone tells me that:

• It is safe to touch the various thin wires that are connected to the circuit board. I'll need to touch off them when I am removing the circuit board to get at the battery.
• It is safe to disconnect the battery at each end and remove it and then swap in the new battery (without getting a shock).
• The only thing that I should not do is touch the power coming into the box itself

McGintyMcgoo

Steve

McGintyMcGoo wrote: »

Inside the box, I was confronted by a circuit board (with lots of wires) that is fixed in with two screws. In behind the circuit board was a battery at an angle.

I don't remember having to remove the circuit board
I'll have a look tonight.

McGintyMcGoo wrote: »

It is safe to touch the various thin wires that are connected to the circuit board. I'll need to touch off them when I am removing the circuit board to get at the battery.

There could be 220V on the circuit board, don't touch it with the power on!
Be careful not to touch any metal on the tracks or components of the circuit board - and if you need to rest it somewhere, don't let it touch a metal object.
Even with the power off, the battery is still supplying 12V and you could damage components on the board.

McGintyMcGoo wrote: »

It is safe to disconnect the battery at each end and remove it and then swap in the new battery (without getting a shock).

Yes, provided you turn the 220V off. The battery is 12V and will not give you a shock.

McGintyMcGoo wrote: »

The only thing that I should not do is touch the power coming into the box itself

As I said, don't do this with the 220V supply on.

Doddy

Have just changed batt on same syatem myself there is a anti tamper on main box and you should turn off main 220 supply before entering, then just unscrew lid on alarm box alarm will sound when power supply is cut of and when cover is removed type in your code will stop alarm from sounding change battery loveley.
Find which sensor it is that is causing a problem by leaving one zone open at a time before you set the gaurd this will tell you the open zone you may have more than one sensor in a zone mind but will give you the area to investigate.

Doddy

Oh and be carefull you don't pull any wires out and ensure you connect the new battery back with the correct polarities + - same as old battery was connected very important.

Steve

OK had a look at mine - its pretty safe electrocution wise, the mains is straight into a traffo and the terminals are hidden.
The battery I have is a 12V, 7.2Ah.

I wish boards would allow you to attach pics - this would be much easier:mad:

The outside of the box says CS350 so its the same system.

On the left is the mains incoming with a disconnectable fuse holder - pull the fuse and you will be safe to work on the rest.
Under this sits the battery, about 150mm wide.
On the right is the circuit board with all the wiring - all safe at 12v max.

I can't understand why to have to remove the circuit board though - doesn't make sense.

In mine, I just disconnected the battery (push-on spade connectors) and put in the new one - 30 seconds.

If you want, PM a mobile no and I'll send you a pic from my phone.

alverno

Hi,

I have an Aritech CS350, for the past 2 nights the alarm has gone off in the middle of the night even though it is not even set.

When I key in my code the log shows up Cabinet Tamper, I have not had any work done on the alarm and it has been working fine all along.

Any help on this issue as I dont want anymore waking up in the middle of the night and cranky neighbours.

KoolKid

It is either the lid on the control panel or a tamer circuit wired into the aux tamper (terminals 18 & 19)

Alun

stevec wrote: »

I wish boards would allow you to attach pics - this would be much easier:mad:

It does

Go to Advanced mode, and scroll down to Manage Attachments and upload the pictures there (you'll just get a link in your post), or (if you want them to appear inline in your post) upload them somewhere, such as tinypic.com, and use the Insert Image button at the top of the Advanced mode edit window to insert the URL that tinypic.com gave you.

Steve

Alun wrote: »

It does

Go to Advanced mode, and scroll down to Manage Attachments and upload the pictures there

Cool, never knew about that! Thanks:)

alverno

koolkid wrote: »

It is either the lid on the control panel or a tamer circuit wired into the aux tamper (terminals 18 & 19)

I removed the front panel and was expecting the bell to go off, it didnt, I replaced this and the same problem is happening is there any way to disable the tamper switch altogether and is this adviseable.

Steve

The tamper in the cabinet is on the circuit board. It's a small switch with a spring on it that touches the lid.

It could also be a cover open on one of the sensors around the house. Could also be the cover on the bell box or keypad.

AFAIK there is only a single tamper circuit that covers everything so finding the source of the fault can be troublesome.

There might be a setting in engineer menu to disable it - not recommended though as it leaves the system very vulnerable. You also need the engineer code for this - if you don't have it, you may have to call the installers.

lost marbles

if all the advise that you have been given fails not saying it will then you can get advise from the makers who are G,E interlogic citywest business park thats who makes the aeritec alarm

garyosborne1975

Need to get my ARITECH CS350 serviced. Anyone know any technicians out there who could do this?

edgpower

I have recently done an alarm installation course and I am wondering how to get installation manuals for such systems as HKC, Aritech, Aztec and securewatch.

KoolKid

What course did you do.? They normally give out copies of them all?
Anyway contact the various company's you mentioned they will look after you.

edgpower

thanks koolkid doing a high tech training course, covering HKC. i'll get on to the companies for the manuals thanks.

KoolKid

They really should be covering the newer stuff. HKC is a bit dated now.

billygruff

Request ...

Does anyone know where I can get a new 13.8V (14.5VA) transformer for an aritect CS 450 alarm panel???


Background !!
During a lightning storm about a week ago the power went in the house and when i switched on the trip switch on the fuse board the aritech cs 450 house alarm died only one of the two aritech keypads were working and there was a nice burning smell from the alarm contol box !
The transformer on the alarm panel was knackered - the output voltage was supposed to be 13.8V but checked this with voltmeter (with no load on secondary) and it was <10V and smell from it was getting worse...So I isolated the alarm box and removed the dodgy transformer

KoolKid

Maplins or Radionics would have no problem sourcing a PSU of that spec.

billygruff

thanks Koolkid

ceatharloch

Following the earlier posts of McGintyMcGoo:

1) If I pull the main fuses (trip switch) for the whole house, can I be sure then
that the alarm box is getting no mains supply and is safe to work on?

2) If/when I flip off the trip switch (and hence cut mains to the box), will the alarm
react in some way (will it go off - or will the display panel just say something)?
(This is before I actually go near opening the alarm box.)

Thanks!
Michael

KoolKid

1) I would always double check with a meter
2) Unless the notification has been turned off in Engineer menu the keypad buzzer will sound & the display will indicate mains fault

ceatharloch

Thanks KoolKid!

altor

ceatharloch wrote: »

Following the earlier posts of McGintyMcGoo:

1) If I pull the main fuses (trip switch) for the whole house, can I be sure then
that the alarm box is getting no mains supply and is safe to work on?

2) If/when I flip off the trip switch (and hence cut mains to the box), will the alarm
react in some way (will it go off - or will the display panel just say something)?
(This is before I actually go near opening the alarm box.)

Thanks!
Michael

When you turn off the power going to the alarm the external bell should sound and the keypad should go dead, but its always best to check the power is off before you open the alarm box..

KoolKid

altor wrote: »

When you turn off the power going to the alarm the external bell should sound and the keypad should go dead, ..

:eek: Only if the battery is dead or removed!!!

altor

koolkid wrote: »

:eek: Only if the battery is dead or removed!!!

Would the external bell sound and the keypad go dead if the power was off and the battery was dead :rolleyes: I think so

KoolKid

Isn't that what I said????

worded

Hi,

Neighbours alarm going - I removed its battery and elec fuze - still going.
It did go to a little repeating beep for a few hours, but now it back to full blast.

Is there a battery in the alarm box itself?

I removed a fuze right beside it. I removed a big battery.

The control pannel was saying "low battery" he said, I would have bought him one FFS if I had have known this was going to happen.

I dont think the fellow has the $ to pay for the alarm people to come out and disable it, it will drive us all nuts in a few hours.

Is there any point crawling into his attic and getting close to the alarm box and start snipping cables? I really dont want to do it. I have good cop on, but Im no electrician.

worded

Phoned alarm co and they tell me 8 hours approx the internal battery will be dead. hopefully

KoolKid

If the mains and battery power is removed then the external bell is running on its own power. On newer systems this stops after 20 mins. On older systems ,especially the old metal bell boxes, it can be 24 hours or more.

altor

worded wrote: »

Is there any point crawling into his attic and getting close to the alarm box and start snipping cables? I really dont want to do it. I have good cop on, but Im no electrician.

There is two ways to do this, instead of doing what you said you could :

1. Down power the alarm by removing the battery and mains power. Depending on what type of external bell is on the system and the condition of the back up battery in the bell it can ring for hours till the battery goes dead.
2. Down power the alarm by removing the battery and mains power. Get up at the external bell outside and cut the battery cable that is powering the external bell. This will turn it off straight away for you..

Roots-Sinead

.....hi, have an Aritech CS350 alarm system in rented house.
Am here five years but have never really used system as 'low battery' light has always been on and any time I did set it, it went off after about two hours so better to leave it off..... I know, I know.

Anyway, had a plumber in to take a look at my immersion today. He used a phase tester on the element and tripped the electricity. He reset the immersion switch but didn't realise he's tripped the mains.

He quoted and left. It was then I discovered the mains was off. I reset the fuse in the fuse box and the alarm started going off. The code I was given by the landlord isn't working to turn it off. I've had to turn off the fuse {and with it ceiling lights downstairs and on the upstairs landing} in order to stop the alarm ringing. I've the kitchen in candlelight at the moment, there are lamps in the rest of the downstairs rooms but I'll need to sort this out tomorrow.

The whole system will need to be reset. Can I do this? I've found an online manual and have read here about the battery replacement. I'm pretty confident that with the fuse off {and the mains}, I could open the cover to replace the battery, but I need to be able to reset the code.

Some of the advice here has been great. Could anyone give me a step by step on resetting the actual code. I don't know anything about the Engineers' code so could do with a little help there too.

Can't afford to pay an engineer to come out to sort this out, but long term I can't leave the lights off to keep the alarm off. Would greatly appreciate any help ye can provide......

Rgds S

KoolKid

To default remove mains power from the panel
Disconnect the battery
Remove Factory Link LK1
Reconnect mains power to the system
Enter Code 0 1122 If the system has been reset then this code should disarm it.
Then enter 1278 to enter engineer mode.
Replace the Factory & replace the battery.

Roots-Sinead

This is brilliant Koolkid.
Is there somewhere I can get instructions on how to re-programme the zones etc., then. I'll have to do that if I default the battery, won't I?

KoolKid

I sent you a PM re a manual.;)

Steve

Hi Roots-Sinead,
If you call an alarm company you'll pay a lot for a battery & call out.

I got one recently for €12. If you live in Dublin, pm me and I'll tell you where to get one.

The batteries are now GE as opposed to Aritech - must've been bought out or something.

Roots-Sinead

Thanks Steve,
Am in Meath.
Will try the lighting showroom - they sell electrical supplies too.
12v 7.2ah isn't that right?

Steve

Yeah, that's the one.

altor

There a lot of different makers of these batteries. The best thing to do is make sure the mains is off, open the panel. Take out the old battery and bring it with you. You might get some one close to you here.

Roots-Sinead

Thanks for that.
I was planning to head to the local Wesco, so good to know they'll have it

Roots-Sinead

Hi folks,
just to say thank you to you all for your help and advice.
A big thanks to Altor for his 'tech support' call on Thursday.
Thanks to him and the manual I downloaded from the site Koolkid gave me, I managed to replace my battery, reset the codes, reprogramme the zones, tested shocks and contacts, found a fault on two contacts, fixed the problem {loose wiring} and even named the zones.
Am very proud of myself, not bad for a girl and it only cost me €17 and about two hours of to-ing and fro-ing to the keypad.
Can highly recommend Altor if you're looking for someone to sort out your home security problems? His 'on-call' advice is second to none.