Astec 63DV battery replacement

anotherq

Astec 63DV is showing battery fault. Last time this cost 100 euro to replace.
Alarm is working fine but I guess if there is a power cut the battery is either low or empty? I would like to do this myself but have some questions please?

1) Does someone have an engineer manual?
2) I don't have engineer code so is there a way I can test the default ones
mentioned in this forum prior to replacing the battery?

I dread the thought of replacing the battery and the alarm going off while I am in a panic trying to find engineer code so would like peace of mind to ensure engineer code works first. I don't have a maintenance/support contract with the alarm provider either.


Thanks in Advance,
Eamonn

KoolKid

anotherq wrote: »

1) Does someone have an engineer manual?
2) I don't have engineer code so is there a way I can test the default ones
mentioned in this forum prior to replacing the battery?
Thanks in Advance,
Eamonn

Hi Eamonn
I will PM you the engineer manual.
The default engineer code is 1174 .
Press clear and enter this code , if accepted the screen will display 00 Engineer.
Also try clear fn 0 & enter your user code. If access appears on the screen try enter clear and the engineer code again.

anotherq

Thank you very much for this. Will try code and replace battery tomorrow and
update the forum too.

KoolKid

No worries. Any problems you know where we are.;)

altor

anotherq wrote: »

Astec 63DV is showing battery fault. Last time this cost 100 euro to replace.
Alarm is working fine but I guess if there is a power cut the battery is either low or empty? I would like to do this myself but have some questions please?

1) Does someone have an engineer manual?
2) I don't have engineer code so is there a way I can test the default ones
mentioned in this forum prior to replacing the battery?

I dread the thought of replacing the battery and the alarm going off while I am in a panic trying to find engineer code so would like peace of mind to ensure engineer code works first. I don't have a maintenance/support contract with the alarm provider either.


Thanks in Advance,
Eamonn

You should not need the engineer code to change the battery. When you open the first lid on the control panel the alarm will activate. Simply entering your user code will turn this off for you. While you have the system powered down the external bell will ring. There is nothing you can do about this without getting up to the bell but it should turn off after 20 minutes. When you power the system back up the alarm will activate again. Enter your user code to disarm again.

The battery you need is a 12V 2.2 Amp. Any of the suppliers here will have them in stock.

anotherq

Okay thanks to both of you. I will replace the battery tomorrow. I decided to
try engineer code anyway just now but it didn't seem to work.

However when I enter "Clear" "Fn" 0 and my own user code the display changed to show the word "access" at the bottom left and the word "engineer" at the top right.

Does that mean I am in engineer mode and that is the same code as my alarm code? Then can I do anything that prevents the external bell going for twenty minutes before tomorrow? Neighbors wont be too happy.

altor

anotherq wrote: »

Okay thanks to both of you. I will replace the battery tomorrow. I decided to
try engineer code anyway just now but it didn't seem to work.

However when I enter "Clear" "Fn" 0 and my own user code the display changed to show the word "access" at the bottom left and the word "engineer" at the top right.

Does that mean I am in engineer mode and that is the same code as my alarm code? Then can I do anything that prevents the external bell going for twenty minutes before tomorrow? Neighbors wont be too happy.

If the system is set up to the EN standards then it needs a user to allow access to get into engineering. All you are doing is enabling the access to an engineer. If you don't have the engineer code then it will not allow you go any further. Either way if you had the engineer code when you power the system down, mains and battery the external bell will ring.

If you want to P.M. me the installation company I will check my list to see if I have the engineer code for you. Handy to have in any case.

anotherq

PM Sent

anotherq

Switched off main circuit breaker to kill power to the house. Put new battery in.

Had to switch off alarm but what was weird is that the external bell ring just rang briefly. Panel came up with "telecom" error after reconnected everything and putting circuit breaker on again but that disappeared I think due to delay in UPC router booted up fully. Tested alarm and all is normal too.

So thanks again to you both. Why do you guys think it didn't ring for 20 minutes? I am not complaining by the way. None of the engineer codes I sourced seemed to work either prior to doing the work. Was tempted to put alarm in factory reset or default mode at the time but not happy on how easy adding zones and dialer numbers would be even with the manual.

Forgot to mention Phibsboro Electrical are currently out of stock of batteries so went to REW in Finglas.

KoolKid

The battery is your external bell box is gone. I would recommend replacing that also.

anotherq

Just tested it again now by setting the alarm to "full". Opened the front door and looked up at the exterior bell and its blue light is flashing and quiet loud noise. So it does seem to be working doesn't it?

KoolKid

Yes, but someone can break into the house open the panel lid and remove the battery link in a few seconds and that's your alarm silenced.

anotherq

Okay but I had to enter the alarm user code for the external bell and interior to go silent I am almost 100% sure. Sorry but I am missing something or perhaps I didn't explain it well enough. The exterior bell did ring loudly when I opened the alarm panel but I had my wife continuously entering the user code downstairs while I was undoing the cover, replacing the battery and putting the cover back on. Last thing I thing was trip the circuit breaker to provide power to the house.

So at most the outside bell was noisy for a minute or two at most.
Sorry if I am confusing things but do you still feel there is a problem?

KoolKid

But the power was on when the external was ringing. Try this : Without going near the keypad open the panel. The alarm will sound. Now remove the mains fuse (if it didn't remove with the lid) and remove the battery link.
Is that your alarm silenced or does the external continue to ring?

anotherq

Okay just done that and it continued to ring. Due to the noise though I reconnected battery and panel after just after 4 minutes as I really don't want it ringing for 20 mins. Then once we entered the user code it disarmed fully.

If you think I did not leave on long enough then I will get someone to give it a full service check rather than I messing around with it.

KoolKid

Maybe the battery has recharged. I would be happy with that.