Eircom Phonewatch Help

ag2411oc

Hi,
I have a few queries about an eircom phonewatch wireless alarm system. I've had a few problems with it over the last few years and I'm sick of paying €110 call out charges to eircom for someone to come and check out dodgy sensors. Usually they say nothing is wrong and go away without doing much except telling us to change batteries. Maybe someone can offer some advice?

The latest problem is the back door sensor. Alarm goes off almost every time its set for no apparent reason. No low battery warning or anything like that. Is there a way to log on at the control panel and run diagnostics on particular sensors (presume thats what the eircom guys do) that might give me some indication whats wrong with this sensor.

On a more general level. I'm not paying for monitoring on this alarm but it is still connected to the phone line. Can I modify it to call my mobile rather than eircom when it goes off?

Any suggestions appreciated... thanks.

indie armada

depends which system you have but the engineers dont really have much more insight into your system then you do.
you have just as much access to the system as they do as regards finding faults or diagnosing problems.
with regards to your current problem, front and back door sensors get way more use and abuse compared to the sensors on your windows.
ive come across your problem before and a lot of the time it was the inertia head that was faulty. this fault only becomes a problem when the system is armed because its only when the system is armed that the panel notices it, unlike a tamper fault which shows up wheather the system is armed or not.
tbh it could be a lot of things but what i mentioned above spings to my mind. a bit more info on what system you have will help.

Tim M-U

ag2411oc wrote: »

Hi,
I'm sick of paying €110 call out charges to eircom for someone to come and check out dodgy sensors.

If the alarm is in your insurance policy, you must service and use it regularly. Failure to do so will make your insurance void if you want to make a claim. Consider getting it serviced from another crowd and you might save money(vary).

anyway, as indie armada when door get abuse, the sensor on it gets abuse too due to slamming doors etc.. because it's used alot, the battery run's down alot quicker and it begins to get damaged!

On your controlpanel (the thing that beeps when you arm it), is there any usual lights showing to you?

ag2411oc

Thanks for replies, here are photos of the panel and offending sensor... nothing unusual looking there as far as I can see.

Tim M-U

When the alarm goes off, did you set the alarm? Do you not get to the panel in time? What lights are flashing on the panel when it goes off?

ag2411oc

Tim M-U wrote: »

When the alarm goes off, did you set the alarm? Do you not get to the panel in time? What lights are flashing on the panel when it goes off?

Alarm goes off after I set it, sometimes straight away, other times after a couple of hours. The 'system status' light flashes while its going off, I think. Usually in a hurry to disarm it so haven't looked too closely. Pressing the status button again afterwards tells me its the back door sensor that alarmed.

KoolKid

You will not notice anything unusual by looking at the sensor. The inertia head needs to be checked & the resistence measured to determine if its faulty or not.

altor

ag2411oc wrote: »

Hi,
I have a few queries about an eircom phonewatch wireless alarm system. I've had a few problems with it over the last few years and I'm sick of paying €110 call out charges to eircom for someone to come and check out dodgy sensors. Usually they say nothing is wrong and go away without doing much except telling us to change batteries. Maybe someone can offer some advice?

The latest problem is the back door sensor. Alarm goes off almost every time its set for no apparent reason. No low battery warning or anything like that. Is there a way to log on at the control panel and run diagnostics on particular sensors (presume thats what the eircom guys do) that might give me some indication whats wrong with this sensor.

On a more general level. I'm not paying for monitoring on this alarm but it is still connected to the phone line. Can I modify it to call my mobile rather than eircom when it goes off?

Any suggestions appreciated... thanks.

Hi ag2411oc,

Can you open the sensor and post a close picture of the sensor ?
Yes this panel has a dialer that can ring your phone instead of ringing the monitoring station. Have you got engineer access to the alarm ?

ag2411oc

Is this pic good enough? Alarm went off when I had cover off (as I'd expect). Status afterwards just said "back door alarm" and not "tamper".

I don't have engineer access. Is this just a code to enter when the front panel is flipped down?

ag2411oc

Altor, have PM'd you link to better quality photo.
Tks.

altor

ag2411oc wrote: »

Altor, have PM'd you link to better quality photo.
Tks.

Sorry, should of told you to drop the lid and enter your user code to prevent the alarm going off.

You will need a new head for this sensor, they are the old type heads which is causing your problem. If you have any more shock sensors with these heads i would replace these also.

I will send you the info for the engineering code.

ag2411oc

altor wrote: »

Sorry, should of told you to drop the lid and enter your user code to prevent the alarm going off.

You will need a new head for this sensor, they are the old type heads which is causing your problem. If you have any more shock sensors with these heads i would replace these also.

I will send you the info for the engineering code.

Great, thanks. Any advice on where to get replacements, other than eircom!
Thanks.

Tim M-U

You can get them from many of the GE Suppliers found on the GE Security website or the majority of the suppliers in the alarm components section here.:D

altor

ag2411oc wrote: »

Great, thanks. Any advice on where to get replacements, other than eircom!
Thanks.

Your welcome,

The sensors heads are for 433 MHz. I would bring the old head with you when getting the replacement. Prices can vary so ring a couple of places in this list.

ag2411oc

Guys,
Thanks for all the help and advice on this. Will be back with more queries I'd say once I get the replacement parts.

Thanks again.

altor

ag2411oc wrote: »

Guys,
Thanks for all the help and advice on this. Will be back with more queries I'd say once I get the replacement parts.

Thanks again.

Your welcome, you know where we are if you need any more help