Alarm going off, no message

Underwurlde

Hi,

I have an Aritech alarm installed (CD7203).

The alarm goes off during the night but there are no messages saying why.

When the alarm was installed, the wiring was stretched very tight across the attic. I found that over the years that from storing stuff in the attic and putting strain on the wires, one of the wires was frayed where it was stretched around a truss. Often in the past if I was routing around the attic the alarm would go off.

I cut the frayed wire and rerouted it out of the way and then soldered it back together. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to have fixed the problem so perhaps it's another one of the many wires up there. Is there any easy way to find the offending wire (measuring resistance at the panel for example)?

Thanks.

KoolKid

When it goes off can you disarm it from the keypad?
If so it should display some message about what activated it?
Does your user code let you access the user menu & log?
Do you have engineer access?

Underwurlde

KoolKid wrote: »

When it goes off can you disarm it from the keypad?
If so it should display some message about what activated it?
Does your user code let you access the user menu & log?
Do you have engineer access?

I've no problem turning it off and am able to turn it straight back on again without issue.

When I activate the alarm by opening the window I can see the message no problem but when it goes off itself there is nothing. I checked the operator log and no messages there. Don't have engineer code unfortunately and when I contacted the installation company the codes they had didn't work (alarm was installed 20 years ago so I guess it's been lost)..

Underwurlde

I've just checked inside the alarm box. The backup battery seems to be in a bad way. There's a lot of corrosion on the terminals and some green gunk. It's been a few years since I changed it. Is it possible that this would cause the problems I'm seeing?

KoolKid

Possibly. Although the panel should register a low battery.
When the system activates do both the internal bell & external bell sound?
When you enter your code does it disarm straightaway?
When you enter the user code instead of operator log is the an option to view engineer log?
It would be in the menu as E Log/Time date

Underwurlde

I can't say if the external alarm goes off. It usually goes off in the middle of the night so my immediate reaction is to switch the alarm off. It switches off immediately once I enter the code.

Not able to see any reference to engineer log, only operator.

I do recall being in the attic a few times and the alarm going off as I rummaged around (even with alarm unarmed). With that, last night I rerouted another cable that seemed to be under stress in the area I was rummaging in - there was some fraying on that cable too.

Got through the night without the alarm going off so I hope that has cured it.

KoolKid

Still strange that the alarm disarms without displaying what caused the activation.

Underwurlde

Yeah I know. I would have expected either a zone open or tamper error at least. Will see how it goes... Thanks for your help.

altor

Underwurlde wrote: »

Yeah I know. I would have expected either a zone open or tamper error at least. Will see how it goes... Thanks for your help.

Since you said its in the attic it could be a cable going to the external bell.
Id still expect it to show a fault after the activation tho.

KoolKid

Underwurlde wrote: »

Yeah I know. I would have expected either a zone open or tamper error at least. Will see how it goes... Thanks for your help.

If it activates again maybe record the keypad as you disarm it. I'm curious to see how the keypad reacts. It may be memory corrupted.

stuartkee

Or upgrade that dinosaur of a panel to one that meets today's standards and gives you proper information in a fault conditions

Underwurlde

Quick update. Having rerouted the second cable in the attic, the alarm is no longer going off unexpectedly (all fine for the past three weeks). Might get another couple of years out of the dinosaur yet!!

KoolKid

Hopefully. A great panel we still have 100s of them out there.