After replacing Odyssey 3 Bell box.

Hi everyone,

We are in our 2nd home for another couple of days and I have been desperately trying to sort out a problem with a Rascal Super alarm panel (18 years old) before leaving.

I wired up a new Odysey3 bellbox{5 connections) by trial & error until I got the siren and strobe working as follows: sounder +ve hold off RED, switched negative to activate sounder BLACK, Tamper -YELLOW, -ve hold off BLUE I linked the strobe connection with the BLUE wire, activated the internal battery and put the bellbox cover on.

To my dismay when I went to the control panel and removed the mains fused spur there was no 12v back up(which was working beforehand) so the siren sounded. I took the cover of the panel and measured the voltage in the internal 12v battery and found 13.8v across the terminals. I couldn't see any battery fuse but thought that perhaps there was one under the keypad?

Please help me before we have to leave. My wife was right when she told me to leave the job to an engineer but I'm always optimistic,

Thanks in advance,

Harry.

On the oddy sounders there are jumpers. (there used to be a link to fit)
One is to activate the internal battery.
Get the instructions and a ladder and go back up and fit the jumpers in the correct positions.

with the cover on the external siren, do the LED`s flash (both of them)?
if they do it is wired ok.

on test do the siren and strobe trigger?

if not on the above check the fuses under the keypad, be careful removing the keypad, due to the pins are not fantastic,

change the failed fuse and return to day mode,

check again

re post if you have any further trouble.

Oasis

Although the LED`s both flashing does indicate correct wiring they do not indicate the self activating battery connection.

Pretty sure OP says sounder and strobe work.

Still think its the jumpers not in correct position.

Agreed, the LED's will only give an indication of the hold-off supply and tamper condition, dropping the sounder/strobe triggs wont affect the status of the LED'S

Could maybe be a duff battery, tho this is highy unlikely

OP, did you enable the "battery first" connection method before you installed the box, if so, how long, as prolonged use of this without hold-off from the control panel can damage the onboard SA battery

Thanks for that Oasis,

The battery fuse had blown but I couldn't get the keypad off so I soldered a fuse holder+1amp fuse directly onto the PCB.
I have now got back up power in case of mains failure but all is not well because when I put the Odyssey bellbox battery jumper in the on position, I can't set the alarm. No way to get the tamper LED to stop flashing on the Rascal control panel. I've had enough this time but will buy a new Texecom stand alone panel (one with an integrated keypad) and attempt to install it next time I'm here. Could you recommend one?
The central blue strobe light flashes about every 10 seconds but only flashes left/right with the bellbox battery jumper in the on position.

Thanks to all for your help,
Harry.

You have wired it wrong.
Rascal isnt always straight forward.
This should help. View media item 33477

Alarm said:

You have wired it wrong.
Rascal isnt always straight forward.
This should help. View media item 33477

Click to expand...

I have left my second home now and won't be going back for 3 weeks but I'll get back to the job asap.
I am thinking of ordering a texecom veritas 8 alarm panel. There are only 3 powered detecters in my system. I've downloaded the veritas R8 installation manual (can't find the Veritas 8 manual) and am studying it. Is it as simple as transfering the 2 wires on each of the 3 zones of the rascal to the new panel( in my case: zone 1 white & green, zone 2 green & white, zone 3 white & green and shunt the remaining zones not used, then connect the detectors positive power supply to AUX+ and the detectors negative supply(0V) to AUX-( in my case red & black)? If I"m lucky enough to trace all the correct wires I could connect the Odyssey 3 bellbox to the 5 Externl sounder connections on the PCB. They say in the manual there is no real need to programme the panel because the factory settings should suffice.
Do you think I will find 4 seperate cables behind the existing Rascal panel (in my case 6 core) one leading to each of the 3 detectors and the 4th going to the external bellbox or am I likely to find a mess?

I'd appreciate your comments on the above even if you tell me I'd be taking to much on.

Thank you very much for your time,
Harry.