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help with house alarm

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  • 03-05-2011 9:47am
    #1
    wpd
    Registered Users Posts: 492 ✭✭


    aritech alarm in 10 year old house, sets up fine and is giving no low battery sign(battery about 1 year old) however starts going off about 12 at night, sometimes when a light is turned on or something plugged in, othertime for no apparent reason. It give code zone 02 downstairs sensors but no impact reading like G8 that it would normally give, we had someone look at it about 6 months ago who checked battery and voltage and replace 3 sensors and it settled for a while but now happening again. he suggested chaning all remaining sensors which will cost about €200 but we are dubious about spending this money and problem remaining
    any advice greatly appreciated
    p.s. it only goes off when set not when unset which it did before when we had to change battery

    thanks:confused:


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    #2
    delly
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 7,652 Mod ✭✭✭✭delly


    Thread moved from DIY to HSS


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    #3
    altor
    Registered Users Posts: 11,640 ✭✭✭✭altor


    wpd wrote: »
    aritech alarm in 10 year old house, sets up fine and is giving no low battery sign(battery about 1 year old) however starts going off about 12 at night, sometimes when a light is turned on or something plugged in, othertime for no apparent reason. It give code zone 02 downstairs sensors but no impact reading like G8 that it would normally give, we had someone look at it about 6 months ago who checked battery and voltage and replace 3 sensors and it settled for a while but now happening again. he suggested chaning all remaining sensors which will cost about €200 but we are dubious about spending this money and problem remaining
    any advice greatly appreciated
    p.s. it only goes off when set not when unset which it did before when we had to change battery

    thanks:confused:

    It is more than likely a faulty sensor on zone 2. Is this the zone that he changed the 3 sensors on originally ? Although there could be more than 1 faulty sensor I would not replace every sensor on the system unless they are all faulty but I would not think this is the case. Get him to check for faults and just replace the faulty sensors that he finds.

    www.altor.ie



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    #4
    wpd
    Registered Users Posts: 492 ✭✭wpd


    thanks Altor
    yes the 3 he replaced were on this zone 2 also


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    #5
    altor
    Registered Users Posts: 11,640 ✭✭✭✭altor


    Do you know if there is only 3 sensors on this zone ?

    www.altor.ie



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    #6
    fred funk }{
    Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    Looks like he doesn't know what he's doing if he suggests changing every sensor. Like Altor said it's more than likely a faulty sensor or two. The only way of checking for faults is with a multimeter and by doing this he should see the ones that are good and the ones that are bad so to suggest changing the good ones is crazy and a waste of money.

    Another possibility is a damaged cable somewhere. This type of problem can be more difficult to find as the fault can be inside a wall etc. again if he's any good he should also find this.


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    #7
    KoolKid
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 24,789 Mod ✭✭✭✭KoolKid


    There are still some cowboys around the place. I was out in a large house recently which was having a lot of false alarms recently. This was after the previous company told the customer all 14 contacts on the one zone needed to be changed.:eek::eek:
    Some people just want the easy solution,(Especially if,in cases like this its the dearest)


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    #8
    wpd
    Registered Users Posts: 492 ✭✭wpd


    i am starting to wonder if the cable is damaged in wall
    we did get a velux fitted in kitchen and i think they had to patch cable to make it long enough to go around
    I assumed that if cable was issue that alarm would not set up at all

    thanks for all your input so far


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    #9
    fred funk }{
    Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    wpd wrote: »
    i am starting to wonder if the cable is damaged in wall
    we did get a velux fitted in kitchen and i think they had to patch cable to make it long enough to go around
    I assumed that if cable was issue that alarm would not set up at all

    thanks for all your input so far

    Seems most likely. Joining cables needs to be done 100% correctly. My guess is that the join wasn't done properly in the first place.
    Sometimes you can get around this problem by switching the zone colours around to a different pair. For example if the sensors are wired using the red and black switch it around to the yellow and blue. You might be lucky and this could work, it's worth a go anyway.

    I would also suggest a new alarm company. Clearly your one is second rate.


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    #10
    altor
    Registered Users Posts: 11,640 ✭✭✭✭altor


    wpd wrote: »
    i am starting to wonder if the cable is damaged in wall
    we did get a velux fitted in kitchen and i think they had to patch cable to make it long enough to go around
    I assumed that if cable was issue that alarm would not set up at all

    thanks for all your input so far

    It could be a faulty sensor, loose connection or a damaged cable. These are the most common problems that happen to peoples alarms everyday. If the issue has only started to happen again after 6 months it could be a faulty device on the system.

    www.altor.ie



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    #11
    KoolKid
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 24,789 Mod ✭✭✭✭KoolKid


    You could be 2nd guessing between faulty devices, faulty cable or faulty junctions forever. (Not to mention the possibility of a problem with the input itself)
    If this guy is just offering to change devices all the time then either he doesn't know how to check the entire loop correctly or he is just after the money in trying to sell you devices that possibly don't need to be replaced.
    What should be done is this.
    The entire loop (Alarm & tamper) should be checked along with all devices.
    If no faulty devices or fault can be found a process of elimination should be started by moving part of the loop onto another zone.
    When the fault reappears then parts of the loop can be emiminated and you concentrate on whats left. All the time redoing & checking connection along the way. This is extreame case , but I would never leave an alarm guessing about the problem . You are none the wiser on your return & you are only wasting your time & the customers.


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