Yale HSA3600 Siren Problem - Solved

I have had an HSA3600 alarm that has operated trouble-free for 6 years.

Recently I changed the batteries in the siren. Since then, the siren has spontaneously gone off on several occasions. It has gone off whilst teh alarm is armed, whilst un-armed and we are in the house and as soon as we have entered the disarming code. What is particularly odd about this is that non of these are ever registerred in the control-units log. Looking at teh log shows only a history of armning and unarming. It is alomost as if the control unit is not getting any record of the siren going off. The siren seems properly learned in . It always has been - and when I arem the alarm, I get the light flashes on teh siren that I would expect.

It would seem reasonable to believe that teh problem is in some way related to the changing of batteries. I wodnered if the tamper switch might be playing up - but surely if there is a tamper trigger then this would be communjicated to the control unit and show in the log? I also wondered if the batteries are faulty or have a dodgy connection - and this is causing teh problem if a contact is occasionally broken....

Any suggestions please? Has anyone got any experience of this or conme across this - or does this make sense to anyone?

ikcikc said:

but surely if there is a tamper trigger then this would be communjicated to the control unit and show in the log?

Click to expand...

no, it doesn't. Take the lid off the siren and have another look. See if the fixing screws need tightening or the wall is uneven. If necessary you can put a rubber band round the tamper, and see if that cures the problem (the rubber band will eventually perish and rot, though)

The siren is a receiver, not a transmitter

I have also known a siren go off spontaneously, when it was fitted next to a PIR security lamp. It might have been the momentary electrical spark affecting the circuit the siren.

JohnD - thanks, will have a look.

I would be surprised if the wall-sensor was the problem, as the box hass been securely fixed to the wall for 6 years and this has never changed. However - I am guessing that there is a separate tamper switch for the lid being removed/in place - and I imagine that could be giving the problem?

I recall setting it off when changing the batteries when replacing the lid - it seems that disabling the siren tamper is reset when new batteries are inserted...

Thanks again.

on the 3000 series with the rectangular siren, the tamper microswitch has a spring that you can see from the front, that pushes on the lid, and pushes the switch lever against the wall - so it is the same switch, that is sandwiched between wall and lid. There is a sort of rib on the lid for it to press against. I suppose the switch might have gone wrong with age or handling. You can easily put a rubber band round it. If you have not still got the manual you can download it from http://www.yalesupport.com/downloads.aspx

I think I saw Yaleguy say that if the wall is not flat, he fixes a metal plate to it so the siren tamper spring has a good surface to press against.

The tamper switch plugs into the circuit board under the left-hand cover inside the siren, if the switch has gone faulty you could try unplugging it, but I don't know if that would mean "tamper off" or "tamper on"

If need be you can get a replacement siren off Fleabay and use the old one indoors, perhaps hidden on top of a kitchen unit with the antitamper disabled. I understand the noise tends to panic intruders.

edit:
looks like I was wrong about having a jumper to turn off the tamper detect.

John D

Many thanks for your inputs. I think I may have got to the bottom of this. When I wiggle the cover, I can hear the anti-tamper switch engaging and disengaging - so I suspect it may just be triggering on occasion with plastic expansion, wind etc.... I took the cover off and as you say - there is a switch with dual purpose. What I did was bend the end of the metal arm (which forms the lid tamper switch) outwards slightly so that when the lid is on, it engages further. Now when I wiggle the lid, the switch stays set.

Hopefully this will have sorted my problem. Still nolt quite sure I understand why it once went off as we entered the property - and am really surprised that an A/T trigger on the siren is not recorded on the log.

Anyway - many thanks again.

I had the same problem last week. However, I disabled the siren anti-tamper switch from the control panel but it still went off twice. As I understand from the manual, the anti-tamper does NOT reset itself, only programming mode is exited after 10 mins.

It's 3 yrs old and I guess you get what you pay for.

Markinaboat said:

I had the same problem last week. However, I disabled the siren anti-tamper switch from the control panel but it still went off twice. As I understand from the manual, the anti-tamper does NOT reset itself, only programming mode is exited after 10 mins.

Click to expand...

If you disable the siren anti tamper it stays that way for 1 hr. at the end of that hour the siren tamper resets itself again.
This is a failsafe to prevent someone setting the tamper setting off while installing the alarm and forgetting to turn it back on again.

In terms of your problem with the siren tamper you just need to ensure the backplate is firmly attatched to the wall and that the tamper switch is held shut.There is also a tamper switch for the alarm cover. This is the one that may need a slight tweek as mentioned above by adding a small bend to the metal tab