House alarm upgrade or new system?

gar_29

the previous owners of my house had an aritech cs350 alarm installed. the control panel is buggered, but the system is wired ok up.

is it simpler to get a whole new system installed, or just stick a new control panel on? the current system was installed in 1994. it worked up till two weeks ago, when the decorators were in, and i reckon they did something to it! whatever it is, the panel is as dead as a dodo.

do alarm systems go out of date? is there an advantage to a new one? and is there somewhere in dublin who can supply parts?

the other option is a new system, using the installed contacts and PIRs; should this work ok?

KoolKid

I would recommend at minimum upgrading the Control Panel ,Keypad External Bell & Battery.
There are a lot more features on newer systems also.

2011

the control panel is buggered

How do you know?

Perhaps it has just lost mains power (the fuse for the alarm may have blown) and the battery is dead. When was it last serviced?? The CS350 is an old and rather dated alarm, but there is a good chance it is not "buggered". There are many fo them out there that are still working just fine.

If it was my place I would do as Koolkid said and replace it, but for me it would be cheap because I would do it myself! I am guessing from your post that you would not be able to do it yourself, so it would cost you a few bob!

Perhaps the extra features offered on newer systems would be important to you, or maybe you would like to save your money

altor

gar_29 wrote: »

the previous owners of my house had an aritech cs350 alarm installed. the control panel is buggered, but the system is wired ok up.

is it simpler to get a whole new system installed, or just stick a new control panel on? the current system was installed in 1994. it worked up till two weeks ago, when the decorators were in, and i reckon they did something to it! whatever it is, the panel is as dead as a dodo.

do alarm systems go out of date? is there an advantage to a new one? and is there somewhere in dublin who can supply parts?

the other option is a new system, using the installed contacts and PIRs; should this work ok?

It could be something simple as 2011 said like a blown fuse but only getting someone to have a look at it will discover the true cause of it not working.
It would work out cheaper if it could be fixed.
You could upgrade the system incorporating the old sensors providing they all worked to bring it up to todays standards if you wanted too also.
The advantage of upgrading the old system is as koolkid said, they have alot more features.
With upgrading you would get a cert for your insurance company, also if you wanted it self monitored you could do this by adding a text dialer.

gar_29

2011 wrote: »

How do you know?

Perhaps it has just lost mains power (the fuse for the alarm may have blown) and the battery is dead. When was it last serviced??

that's a good point, i haven't looked at the fuse. god knows when or if it was ever serviced, i've only just moved in.

altor wrote: »

You could upgrade the system incorporating the old sensors providing they all worked to bring it up to todays standards if you wanted too also.
The advantage of upgrading the old system is as koolkid said, they have alot more features.
With upgrading you would get a cert for your insurance company, also if you wanted it self monitored you could do this by adding a text dialer.

thnks for that, i'm leaning towards an upgrade.

can you suggest a good place in dublin to get one? i'd be interested in a text dialler.

i'm fairly handy, could certainly install it myself if it was simply replacing the control panel and keypad. (oh, for clarity, it's the keypad that's dead, not the control panel, that's fine.)

altor

gar_29 wrote: »

(oh, for clarity, it's the keypad that's dead, not the control panel, that's fine.)

If the panel is working and the keypad is not then they must of broke the keypad cable.. Try running cable to the keypad from the control panel to see if that is the problem..

gar_29

altor wrote: »

If the panel is working and the keypad is not then they must of broke the keypad cable.. Try running cable to the keypad from the control panel to see if that is the problem..

cheers, i'll try that tonight!

altor

gar_29 wrote: »

cheers, i'll try that tonight!

Your welcome, any problems let us know..

KoolKid

gar_29 wrote: »

can you suggest a good place in dublin to get one? i'd be interested in a text dialler.

Check out Reliable Security in Druncondra.
The SigNet has Text dialler or Using the GSM dialler you can text commands to the panel also.