Astec alarm

brian2604

Hi

I am looking for the installion manual for my astec alarm,im moving a couple of sensors and need to replace the battery,cant find my copy anywhere

Thanks

altor

brian2604 wrote: »

Hi

I am looking for the installion manual for my astec alarm,im moving a couple of sensors and need to replace the battery,cant find my copy anywhere

Thanks

Sent you the manual by P.M.

brian2604

Got it thanks.

altor

brian2604 wrote: »

Got it thanks.

No probs, any other questions let us know

thurlesdrunk

Anyone know where I could pick up some window sensors for this alarm. Need to replace 2 sensors. Cheers

thurlesdrunk

Anyone know where I could pick up some window sensors for this alarm. Need to replace 2 sensors. Cheers

altor

thurlesdrunk wrote: »

Anyone know where I could pick up some window sensors for this alarm. Need to replace 2 sensors. Cheers

Global sensors can be used as replacements for the Astec type.
If you need to add a inertia/contact simply put a 680 ohm resistor across the reed.
Have a look here for a local supplier.

leonidas12

hi all

I have a problem with my alarm astec 63 v
cod engineer needs to replace the battery and remove the error
once I had saved it but now Is lost pleas for help...many thanks

KoolKid

What are you looking for? The engineer code?
Whats the error you need to remove?

Chrismvideo

Hi Altor / Koolkid..

Like a lot if people on here I have a Astec 63 alarm installed in my house from back in 2008, I have since found out the company that installed it are out of business. I am getting the fault light and code 61 FAULT call engineer? I tried to remove the panel of the control box and the alarm outside started going off and the panel displayed TAMPER. I turned off the mains power and the orange light in the control box went off, still everytime I go to touch it the alarm goes off?
I'm trying to replace the battery but can't seem to do anything without the alarm going off? Each time I try to enter 1744 nothing happens? Any help would be much appreciated by me and all my neighbours..

Thanks
Chris

KoolKid

Remove the mains fuse and remove the battery link to completely power of down the system while you replace the battery.

kelbal

Hi guys,
Just thought I'd continue this thread rather than creating another one. So I've powered down and removed the battery link. Can't see the battery, I'm guessing its in the back somewhere. I read elsewhere I have to remove the PCB?



So I have to locate the couple of screw holding the whole circuit board in place, remove them and leave the board hanging loose while I undo the battery? Is that right?

Quite messy!

altor

kelbal wrote: »

Hi guys,
Just thought I'd continue this thread rather than creating another one. So I've powered down and removed the battery link. Can't see the battery, I'm guessing its in the back somewhere. I read elsewhere I have to remove the PCB?



So I have to locate the couple of screw holding the whole circuit board in place, remove them and leave the board hanging loose while I undo the battery? Is that right?

Quite messy!

It was always a bad design for a battery location. I would just be careful not to touch the board as if you short out anything you can blow it.

Here is the screw locations.
The battery link is not removed in your photo.



The battery is behind the PCB. There is also a cable tie holding it in place which needs to be removed.

kelbal

Thanks a million altor. Its a bit weird though I have to say. I'm trying to take the battery out now. I started by turning off the mains first. The internal alarm went off - but the battery must really be shot, because the internal ringer was going off but there wasn't power on the control panel for me to turn the alarm off. I tried removing the battery link first, and then the mains. But then the external ringer is going off - how can it be going if the mains is off and the battery link is removed?

I can't be spending the time trying to get the battery out with bells going mad all around me!

altor

kelbal wrote: »

Thanks a million altor. Its a bit weird though I have to say. I'm trying to take the battery out now. I started by turning off the mains first. The internal alarm went off - but the battery must really be shot, because the internal ringer was going off but there wasn't power on the control panel for me to turn the alarm off. I tried removing the battery link first, and then the mains. But then the external ringer is going off - how can it be going if the mains is off and the battery link is removed?

I can't be spending the time trying to get the battery out with bells going mad all around me!

The external bell has its own battery. When you power the system down, battery and mains this will make the bell ring for 20 minutes then turn off. Its a bit of a job due to bad design if you are not use to it but it is possible.

kelbal

altor wrote: »

The external bell has its own battery. When you power the system down, battery and mains this will make the bell ring for 20 minutes then turn off. Its a bit of a job due to bad design if you are not use to it but it is possible.

So would the typical electrician working on it just leave it ringing for the 20 mins, or would they enter the engineers code or something to stop the external ringer going?

altor

kelbal wrote: »

So would the typical electrician working on it just leave it ringing for the 20 mins, or would they enter the engineers code or something to stop the external ringer going?

It would be left ringing in most cases if the engineer code was not known.
It would not take an engineer 20 minutes to replace the battery tho
The default engineer code is 1174 but as the system is down powered it will not have any effect.

kelbal

altor wrote: »

It would be left ringing in most cases if the engineer code was not known.
It would not take an engineer 20 minutes to replace the battery tho
The default engineer code is 1174 but as the system is down powered it will not have any effect.

I'd like to bring the battery along to the shop to be sure I'm getting the same one, so I won't have the new battery on hand to swap in quickly. So when I follow the procedure to get the battery out, and the external ringer goes off for 20 minutes, is that it? Its not going to keep going off every 15 minutes after that or anything?

altor

kelbal wrote: »

I'd like to bring the battery along to the shop to be sure I'm getting the same one, so I won't have the new battery on hand to swap in quickly. So when I follow the procedure to get the battery out, and the external ringer goes off for 20 minutes, is that it? Its not going to keep going off every 15 minutes after that or anything?

It will go off for the 20 minutes then turn off. Its the initial trigger of having no power from the system that sets this in motion. It will not go off again till you power the system back up.

This is the battery you need.

kelbal

Thanks again altor. I'm sure its on boards here somewhere, I looked but couldn't find specifics. Is there a generic vibration(window) sensor that can be bought and made to work with the astec systems? Probably have to add a resistor I know. I'm heading to REW in Finglas later today to get the battery and a contact sensor. They have some window sensors I think, but they're about €14+VAT, which sounds pricey

altor

kelbal wrote: »

Thanks again altor. I'm sure its on boards here somewhere, I looked but couldn't find specifics. Is there a generic vibration(window) sensor that can be bought and made to work with the astec systems? Probably have to add a resistor I know. I'm heading to REW in Finglas later today to get the battery and a contact sensor. They have some window sensors I think, but they're about €14+VAT, which sounds pricey

If its a vibration sensor any global sensor will work.
The lads in Finglas will sort you out

kelbal

Got some generic stuff, they're a good help in there alright.
The vibration sensors are straight forward, just put a 10k resistor across the terminals.
The door entry sensor is a little trickier though. The guy says he believes the idea is to put two 680 ohm resistors in parallel to it, but he wouldn't give me precise instructions as he's not licensed to. Here's the back of the door entry sensor...



I'm guessing I need to wire it so that the alarm supply and the resistors are like below, does this look right?......

altor

kelbal wrote: »

Got some generic stuff, they're a good help in there alright.
The vibration sensors are straight forward, just put a 10k resistor across the terminals.
The door entry sensor is a little trickier though. The guy says he believes the idea is to put two 680 ohm resistors in parallel to it, but he wouldn't give me precise instructions as he's not licensed to. Here's the back of the door entry sensor...



I'm guessing I need to wire it so that the alarm supply and the resistors are like below, does this look right?......

That is correct. They are not vibration sensors tho, just contacts. If the contact goes on a window it need just one 680 resistor. Vibration sensors dont need any.

kelbal

altor wrote: »

That is correct. They are not vibration sensors tho, just contacts. .

Yes, its the front door one

altor wrote: »

If the contact goes on a window it need just one 680 resistor. Vibration sensors dont need any

So you're saying I don't need the 2 680's in parallel, just one of them? And I don't need the 10k resistor on the vibration sensor?

I think what he said was that they will work without the resistors, but my alarm display won't tell me what zone went if it was this zone that activated it.

altor

kelbal wrote: »

Yes, its the front door one


So you're saying I don't need the 2 680's in parallel, just one of them? And I don't need the 10k resistor on the vibration sensor?

I think what he said was that they will work without the resistors, but my alarm display won't tell me what zone went if it was this zone that activated it.

You will need the two resistors for the sensor to work as an entry/exit.
Thats the front door sensor.

Vibration sensors are wired in series on the alarm loop. They will work without resistors. The panel will indicate the zone activation the same way it would if an Astec type sensor was used.

If you want to use the contacts on the windows then one 680 resistor is wired across the contact for it to work correctly on an alarm zone.

kelbal

Grand, thanks a mil, you've been a great help. I'll let you know how I get on, if the neighbours haven't killed me with the outside bell going

altor

kelbal wrote: »

Grand, thanks a mil, you've been a great help. I'll let you know how I get on, if the neighbours haven't killed me with the outside bell going

Haha I am sure you will be grand, if you have any other questions let us know

kelbal

The vibration sensor has more ports than the old one did. There's a pair labelled "Tamper" and a pair labelled "Sensor". The 2 white wires from the in-built vibration sensor line up with the "Tamper" pair, so I'm guessing the wires from the alarm system are wired in here? What's the "sensor" ports for then?

altor

kelbal wrote: »

The vibration sensor has more ports than the old one did. There's a pair labelled "Tamper" and a pair labelled "Sensor". The 2 white wires from the in-built vibration sensor line up with the "Tamper" pair, so I'm guessing the wires from the alarm system are wired in here? What's the "sensor" ports for then?

If it is an end of line you will have the resistor going into the second and third terminals as you look at it. Then the two cores go into the next two. This will complete the circuit. If it is in the middle of a loop the easiest way is to put two blacks in the middle two, then two reds in the sensor terminals.

The middle two are for the tamper spring. The sensor are for the shock head.
Please note when fitting these the sensor has an arrow which must face up.

kelbal

Got the battery, door entry/exit and one of the vibration sensors fitted no bother, all seems to be working fine. External ringer only going for 7 minutes Thanks again

altor

kelbal wrote: »

Got the battery, door entry/exit and one of the vibration sensors fitted no bother, all seems to be working fine. External ringer only going for 7 minutes Thanks again

Brilliant, delighted you got it all working

SeeDubbleYew

Hi, I am getting a battery fault. How do I know if it's the main battery or the bell box battery? Can anybody send me a copy of the engineers manual. Thanks

altor

SeeDubbleYew wrote: »

Hi, I am getting a battery fault. How do I know if it's the main battery or the bell box battery? Can anybody send me a copy of the engineers manual. Thanks

The battery fault you are getting is the battery in the control panel.
The external bell has a battery. If you wanted to test this you could down power the system completely, mains and battery and it should ring.

Sent you the manual by P.M.

SeeDubbleYew

Tested the external as you suggested, no sound. Tested it through engineers test, and no sound either. Looks like connection to external sounder needs testing, will have to get the ladder out next week. I suspect it must be something to do with the battery, because fault only appeared after a power cut.

SeeDubbleYew

altor wrote: »

The battery fault you are getting is the battery in the control panel.
The external bell has a battery. If you wanted to test this you could down power the system completely, mains and battery and it should ring.

Sent you the manual by P.M.

Thanks for the manual btw.

PeteFalk78

Whats the best way to test the smoke alarms on this system?

fred funk }{

PeteFalk78 wrote: »

Whats the best way to test the smoke alarms on this system?

Press the test button

kelbal

Hi,
I just want to add on to this thread with another sensor issue I have on my Astec alarm. All my upstairs window are in Zone 5. The last few nights I've been woken up with the alarm beeping for a bit, before it fully goes off (see picture below). I have 2 questions about this......

(1) There's no contact sensor on the upstairs windows - just vibration ones, so I don't understand how its giving a beeping warning before it goes off. Does this point to a more serious problem in the main system, rather than sensors?

(2) If it is just a dodgy sensor, how do I find out which one it is, there's 9 upstairs? Is there a test you can run from the control panel to test each individual sensor, or else I think I've heard you can take out each sensor and run a resistance test on them to find a faulty one? I have a multimeter for this if necessary

thanks

PeteFalk78

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Press the test button

I've always wondered about this though. That just proves that the alarm has got power - how do I know that it can actually detect smoke i.e. the detector is clogged up with dust.

Sequence 365

kelbal wrote: »

Hi,
I just want to add on to this thread with another sensor issue I have on my Astec alarm. All my upstairs window are in Zone 5. The last few nights I've been woken up with the alarm beeping for a bit, before it fully goes off (see picture below). I have 2 questions about this......

(1) There's no contact sensor on the upstairs windows - just vibration ones, so I don't understand how its giving a beeping warning before it goes off. Does this point to a more serious problem in the main system, rather than sensors?

(2) If it is just a dodgy sensor, how do I find out which one it is, there's 9 upstairs? Is there a test you can run from the control panel to test each individual sensor, or else I think I've heard you can take out each sensor and run a resistance test on them to find a faulty one? I have a multimeter for this if necessary

thanks

It's sounds like your entry contact on the front door is faulty & you are getting the beeping because the entry time is starting . Or you have another entry /exit contact wired into the system on another window or door

altor

PeteFalk78 wrote: »

I've always wondered about this though. That just proves that the alarm has got power - how do I know that it can actually detect smoke i.e. the detector is clogged up with dust.

For the reasons you have mentioned above it is recommended to have these detectors replaced every 5 years.

KoolKid

Sequence 365 wrote: »

It's sounds like your entry contact on the front door is faulty & you are getting the beeping because the entry time is starting . Or you have another entry /exit contact wired into the system on another window or door

If you have a faulty device or connection on any zone it can incorrectly register as contact entry. The best way to find it is check the resistance on that whole zone.
Disconnect the zone from the panel & remove any end of line resistors,
Set you meter to 200 ohms and connect the pair to the 2 meter leads.
On a length of cable long enough to reach all your windows on zone 5.
Make a note of the reading in ohms. One by one tap every sensor & open and close every contact. After a tap or an open close the resistance should return to the around the same value. If it does not disconnect that device , close offthe pair wired into it & move on. Replace any that you had to close off.

auralabuse

Hi, I have a faulty sensor which is bypassed for the time being but want to replace. Could I get the installation manual sent on?, I can get the engineers code from original installer, many thanks.

kelbal

auralabuse wrote: »

Hi, I have a faulty sensor which is bypassed for the time being but want to replace. Could I get the installation manual sent on?, I can get the engineers code from original installer, many thanks.

The installation manual won't tell you anything on how to replace a sensor. Just ring around electrical suppliers and say you're looking for a sensor to work on an Astec alarm. I've gotten ones before that are HKC brand which work fine. Got them from REW in Finglas. Very simple to install.

KoolKid

The sensor will work fine, if there is a contact built in you will need to convert it or it won't work.

auralabuse

Hey, I'm replacing like with like from an uninstall elsewhere. Still looking for installers manual if anyone can forward on, cheers

KoolKid

I have PMed you that manual.