Optima XM alarm Will not set.

But it does answer yours.

The battery 'may' be ok. But did it take the board out?

you've definitely got a problem with the charging circuit, 13.8V ish is what you should have. Battery Fuse? if not, board stuffed.

With the age of it, might be time to do to do the honourable thing anyway and treat yourself.

Thanks for answering my questions, they were meant for you though.

So now you realise the charging circuit or the battery have a fault.
1, using a test meter check the output.
2, Check with battery attached.
3, If charging buy new battery.
4, if not check fuse, then bin panel buy new one.

Update on the Alarm saga.
I decided to buy a new battery, put my test meter across the terminals and didn't get a reading, did the same on my old battery, no reading, turns out my old faithful multimeter had given up the ghost.

Got my new meter out, tested both batteries, both reading over 13v, checked the (charging output) to the battery over 14v. so the battery and charging circuit were ok all the time.

Both fuses are fine, I removed the board checked for any damage behind it, nothing visual.

Removed the keypad assembly and checked behind that for any signs of burning or damage, none to be seen.

Fitted everything back together, leaving the front control panel off,
I put the 13amp fuse back in and the internal alarm activated, input my code and it stopped the alarm, thinking it must have righted itself, I put the front panel back on, tried setting the alarm, same again, all 4 zones in fault, I removed the front panel, immediately this set the internal alarm off, I input the code and the alarm stopped.

Tried removing the front panel with just the battery connected and also with just the mains connected and both times the internal alarm activates as soon as I remove the front panel. So the alarm does activate at least via the tampering of the panel.

Also when My battery failed 4 years ago, it burnt the circuit board as acid leaked from the battery onto the board (so I thought at that time) so I purchased a brand new board at the same time as the battery, so things aren't that old.

I don't have a problem with buying a new board, I just don't want to do it, only to find the fault lies elsewhere. If you guys are convinced it has to be the board, I'll go along with that unless you have any more suggestions in light of the further info I've provided

Strip out all the circuits. Everything, bells, sounders, zones.
Link out them all out and reboot the panel with just the battery connected.

See what happens then.
If okay rebuild ONE device at a time and recheck at every stage.
Its called basic fault finding.

And use a 3 amp fuse, not a 13.

Thanks for the help everyone, this is my latest update.

1) I stripped all the wires from the board linking everything out.
2) I then connected zone 1 to all the relevant points.
3) Connected the battery with the front panel off. This immediately triggered the alarm, I input my code and the alarm stopped.

I pressed the 'tamper' spring (the one activated by front cover removal) then input my code, the zone red light came on and just beeped constantly therefore the alarm hadn't set.

I released the tamper spring and the alarm went off, input the code and the alarm stopped.

So it's doing exactly the same with nothing connected apart from zone 1 as it does with all 4 zones connected, I tried zones 2 and 3 by themselves as well, same result.

Does it sound like the board, or could the fault lie elsewhere, I suppose there's only the motion sensors left, so it must be the board?

By the way 'Alarm' I do have a 3 amp fuse fitted not a 13 amp, a figure of speech error, but thanks for pointing it out.

What bit are you missing?

set up with all linked out. Reboot.

did I mention mess about with the tampers?

SET UP AND test, see if it works. TEST WiTH ALL TAMPERS CLOSED.
Then add zone one, try to set. With all tampers closed.

All Relevant points? What the zone inputs all TWO of them...............

fuc it, you know better

Wot do I know?

Sorry if i'm frustrating you, I'm not an alarm expert you know, I'm just a guy who fitted his own alarm several years ago who doesn't have any experience other than that.
When you gave me instructions on what to do, I didn't want to keep asking you to put some meat on the bones giving me a blow by blow instruction.

I did what you said linking out everything, booted the system and everything was fine, the alarm set.

Then I connected all the wires associated with Zone 1 (6wires) you didn't tell me just to connect two, I apologise for not asking you to clarify what wires I had to connect.

Sorry my error.

You needed 6.

two for power
two for tamper
two for zone


Start again.

check power with panel all linked out, if 13vdc to 14 vdc all fine.
Add power to detector only, check again

If okay add zone connections

Then if okay add tamper

its one at a time

Sorry for jumping I did not exlain enough previously.

One stage at a time will eventually eliminate the problem.

Sorry for asking more questions, but before I go ahead with the fault finding, I need to be clear in my head what you're telling me to do

(otherwise I'll end up with another rollicking)

I don't understand what you mean by 'add power to the detector only'

My understanding so far is

1) I link out the whole board

2) I boot up with just the battery connected and check the voltage if ok move on to step 3

3) I now fit the panel front cover and enter my code to see what happens
if the alarm sets ok, I move onto the next step

4) Remove the front panel, remove the links from, 'power' 'tamper' and 'zone' and connect up zone 1, fit front panel and input my code, if ok

Do I then add zone 2 to zone 1 which will include connecting the white and yellow wires in series?

Or do I remove Zone 1, link it out then connect zone 2 on it's own, carrying on connecting zones 3 & 4 on their own in the same way.

Or do I connect zone 1, test it, then add zone 2 to the system and so on.

I know I'm a nuisance but I've come this far, I might as well crack on and sort it properly.

I linked out the whole board, booted the board up just on the battery, the alarm set ok after the 20sec exit time.

I put the mains power to the board and checked the voltage, it was fine between 13vdc and 14vdc.

I connected the 2 power wires to the detector
these were the 2 wires to +- 13v everything else was still linked out
Set the alarm, and it set no problem.

Removed the link to to zone 1, fitted the 2 zone wires, set the alarm and the zone light came on and alarm wouldn't set.
I then removed the 2 power wires from the detector and linked it out, just leaving the 2 zone wires connected to the board, everything else linked out and the alarm would not set

I tried another 2 zones in the same way, as soon as any 2 zone wires are fitted to the board, the alarm won't set.

I'm off to buy a new board, it was worth a try, thanks to all who offered help, and I know it can be frustrating trying to explain things to a non professional, but the site is for pro's to help DIYer's and sometimes you're going to get misunderstandings especially when you use technical jargon.

I connected the 2 power wires to the detector
these were the 2 wires to +- 13v everything else was still linked out
Set the alarm, and it set no problem.

Removed the link to to zone 1, fitted the 2 zone wires, set the alarm and the zone light came on and alarm wouldn't set.
I then removed the 2 power wires from the detector and linked it out, just leaving the 2 zone wires connected to the board, everything else linked out and the alarm would not set

Click to expand...

You have again missed the testing sequence, a new board will give the same results.

Zone 1 detector is flucked from the description.

Alarm said:

Sorry my error.

Click to expand...

What a surprise your posts are littered with them

Really?

Do feel free to point them out for me, and others.
As your obviously far more techinically aware than myself and have a vast experience of all other makes and types of panels.

Just an update as I persevered trying to resolve my problem on my own using the various comments people had made on this site, to help me with the fault finding.

After a couple of blown panel fuses and a lot of frustration, I eventually added each zone one at a time, then added the PA wires to the board, testing at each stage, everything was fine.

As soon as I added the outside bell and strobe to the board, I blew the battery fuse, so I now know the problem is with the outside bell and or strobe.
'Basic' fault finding 'Alarm' it's easy when you know how, I reckon I'll be handing out advice next.

The alarm is working fine albeit on only the inside alarm sounder, until I repair the cable to my outside bell.

Thanks for your help, without it I would probably have bought a whole new set up.

Regards to all

I love Alarm, he reminds me of an engineer i used to work with when i was a fresh faced raw 16 y/o. Frightened the living daylights out of me first few months, but it set me up the right way i think