Alarm power supply

[UserError]

Hello,
I have an alarm installed in our new (not new build) house. I suspect the way the device is wired into the consumer unit is ill-thought out. It is connected to a 6A terminal which is probably satisfactory, but whoever has installed it has put it on the downstairs lighting circuit - whenever a bulb fails & trips the circuit breaker, the wretched alarm goes off.
Any advice as to where it would it should to into the consumer unit? Is it good practice to give it its own connection? - this would mean getting a new unit

I emailed Optima, but they failed to reply.
Thanks
Jonathan

 

[breezer]

I emailed Optima, but they failed to reply.

not surprised really, it has nothing to do with them where the alarm is. on the lighting circuit is quite common, but it ideally should be fed via the ring main circuit, via a non switched FCU fitted with a 3A fuse.

however your real problem is the fact that it goes off in a powercut. The alarm is suppoesd to change to the standby battery (in the panel)

it may be the battery is old and flat (life expectancy 4-5 years) or the battery fuse may have blown

then again you may have no battery at all, but you should have one

 

[benjiman]

yup best to get it checked out out mate. Alarm should not go off if the pwer goes as breezer says.

Backup battery should kick in and this should sustain it for many hours.

Have you been getting false alarms recently?

 

[securespark]

Yeah, as breezer says, the system should have back-up batteries; one in the panel (as big as will fit is good, minimum 2.8Ah), and another in the bellbox. You ideally need to do two things: replace the panel battery or fuse, and if you have space, fit a dedicated circuit for the alarm (not on RCD) so that no other circuit faults will interrupt the supply.

NACOSS has decreed in the past that the supply to the panel must be fed off the smallest fuse/mcb available, which invariably means the lighting. I think this is stupid, but there we are.

Also, if your panel is Optima, or any ADE product, they recommend a 2A fuse in the spur to protect it.

Most people just fit 3A, which I did once, but after a fault with the panel (which I felt unrelated to fuse size) they refused to replace it under warranty as the correct size mains fuse was not used.

 

[andy]

Most people just fit 3A, which I did once, but after a fault with the panel (which I felt unrelated to fuse size) they refused to replace it under warranty as the correct size mains fuse was not used.

even tho they normally have their own internal fuse...

 

[breezer]

yes but its a get out clause for the manufacturer, but if you do fit a 2a fuse in the fcu, it is liable to loose points on a police inspection, which by their rules means too many points and you will not get your police response back