False Alarm Hell

[trickysteph1]

Hello all!

I am at my wits end after our alarm system false alarmed yet and once again last night!

We only have five sensors in the house and for some reason every now and again it will go off for apparently no reason. Normally the dining room sensor but not always. This week it has gone of twice and our neighbours are annoyed as are we as at three in the morning it is not pleasant.

My brother is a sparkie and knows a little about alarms but in his own words "he is no expert".

So far we have changed the dining room pir which seemed to do the trick for a week or two then off it went again.
My brother has checked the wiring and it is ok and above 12 volts.
Through research on the net it was suggested we change the battery which we did but with no result.

I've googled "false alarms for no reason" and a reason given is that it may be induced ac so fit filters/suppressors. This will be checked this afternoon when my brother comes round with his meter.

Anyone have any advice on this please? Can i get the filters from Maplins?

Many thanks.

 

[AdrianUK]

Does this happen when the system is SET or UNSET?

What is indicated on the panel when this happens? A ZONE number? A TAMPER?

Do you have the manual for the alarm system? Does it have a log? If so what does the log say about events around the time the alarm goes off?

 

[trickysteph1]

Set.

What is indicated on the panel when this happens? A ZONE number? A TAMPER? - Dining Room or Kitchen. No Tamper

Do you have the manual for the alarm system? Does it have a log? If so what does the log say about events around the time the alarm goes off? - Castle care-tech Mini. I have never read the log and have no idea how to.

 

[AdrianUK]

OK. When you say 'Dinning Room' or 'kitchen' do you mean that sometimes it will say 'Dinning Room' and others it will say 'kitchen' or does it always say 'Dinning Room or Kitchen'?

(I'm trying to determine if you have two sensors on the same zone... if you do then have you changed the sensor in the kitchen as well ?)

I'm not familiar with the actual panel you have so I can't tell you how to read the log (Maybe somebody else will be along shortly who can) but reading the log would give you some more detail that you could post here.

If I where debugging this then the next step I would take would be to either bridge out the suspect zone input inside the panel and see if it still triggers (in which case faulty panel) or, if you are unhappy about having part of your system disabled for a few days, then transpose the suspect zone with another zone to see if the fault moves to that zone - in which case you would need to look harder at the wiring/sensors.

 

[trickysteph1]

OK. When you say 'Dinning Room' or 'kitchen' do you mean that sometimes it will say 'Dinning Room' and others it will say 'kitchen' or does it always say 'Dinning Room or Kitchen'?

(I'm trying to determine if you have two sensors on the same zone... if you do then have you changed the sensor in the kitchen as well ?)

I'm not familiar with the actual panel you have so I can't tell you how to read the log (Maybe somebody else will be along shortly who can) but reading the log would give you some more detail that you could post here.

If I where debugging this then the next step I would take would be to either bridge out the suspect zone input inside the panel and see if it still triggers (in which case faulty panel) or, if you are unhappy about having part of your system disabled for a few days, then transpose the suspect zone with another zone to see if the fault moves to that zone - in which case you would need to look harder at the wiring/sensors.

Kitchen is no.2 and the Dining room is no.4. I know this as it is on the the front of the control box which is under the stairs.

Are the filters/suppressors not a good idea? It says on this website that they should always be fitted and if not a likely cause of false alarms.

http://www.actmeters.com/alarm-troubleshooting/cps3-intruder-control-panel-kit

 

[sparkymarka]

Press D enter code you are now in options scroll round using no and yes untill you find log.

 

[Europlex]

Are the filters/suppressors not a good idea? It says on this website that they should always be fitted and if not a likely cause of false alarms.

http://www.actmeters.com/alarm-troubleshooting/cps3-intruder-control-panel-kit[/QUOTE]
Would say that wouldn't they?

As good as the ACT! equipment is, it is only a plaster, a temporary fix, the wound is still there.

 

[steveo44]

Are the filters/suppressors not a good idea? It says on this website that they should always be fitted and if not a likely cause of false alarms.

http://www.actmeters.com/alarm-troubleshooting/cps3-intruder-control-panel-kit[/QUOTE]
Would say that wouldn't they?

As good as the ACT! equipment is, it is only a plaster, a temporary fix, the wound is still there.

Yeah there not going to say it's tosh


Never fitted a suppressor myself but worth a try IMO.

 

[EightyTwo]

Can you increase the pulse count or decrease the sensitivity of your PIRs?

If you've changed the one that is giving you trouble, then it is unlikely to be the device. The problem is either with the installation of that zone (dodgey cable/connections, interference, dodgey zone on the panel) or it's something environmental.

For the former, try connecting to a different zone on the panel (or swap it with one that hasn't gone off), use a different pair in the cable for the alarm pair and/or try the ACT1313 on the aux power. If you have a multimeter, you can check for AC between the earth and the + and - of the aux power (induced AC) - the ACT1313 will cure this.

For the latter, have a really good look at what the PIR is looking at. Check for spiders in/around/behind the device, radiators, fires, electronic kit and any other possible source of heat inc. anything running off a timer... Also, anything that might move in front of a heat source, like curtains being blown by an open window.

I'm not familiar with the Castle Care-tech but can you program the bedtime setting alarm response for internal sounders only? After all, it only needs to wake you up and not your neighbours!

 

[sparkymarka]

Do you have mice ?

 

[drdr]

That was a brilliant response (do you have mice).
I had a similar problem, alarm going off without it even being set. It turned out that mice had got into the garage and then up into the void between the ceiling and first floor. The mice had eaten through the wire leading to the actual alarm bell. I had no idea we had mice, there had been no noticeable signs. It was by pure chance I discovered the severed wire as they are all concealed. The wire under the floor now goes through a piece of 15mm copper pipe!

 

[Europlex]

I'm not familiar with the Castle Care-tech but can you program the bedtime setting alarm response for internal sounders only? After all, it only needs to wake you up and not your neighbours!

If you can't 'programme out' the external sounder in this this way, why not just remove the 'trigger wire' to the sounder on a temporary basis.

 

[trickysteph1]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in replying but have been extremely busy with one thing and another. Anyway we checked for induce ac which had a reading of 4.6 volts so we have ordered this kit from ACT and i hope it solves the annoying problem:

http://www.actmeters.com/alarm-troubleshooting/cps3-intruder-control-panel-kit

I've not dared turn on the alarm since last week as i would like the problem solved first. Thank you for all your advice.



* as far as i know we do NOT have mice. Never seen one anyway.

 

[Europlex]

I've not dared turn on the alarm since last week as i would like the problem solved first.

How will you know the problem has been cured if you don't switch it on?

 

[sparkymarka]

Does the alarm only false alarm in the early hours around the same time ? Is ok if you set in the daytime ?