Bell Box Advice - Flashguard vs Orisec ES-330 vs Pyronix Deltabell X vs Texecom Odyssey X-B

[ali2019]

Hi,
I am looking for a bell box and cannot decide which make to go with.

I am looking for a bell box which has the following features:

1. Twin piezo – rated at 115dB or higher.
2. Bright white or blue comfort LEDs – visible in daytime.
3. Xenon strobe – LED strobes are not very bright in comparison.
4. Backlit.

The 4 bell box makes I have looked into so far are:

1. Klaxon Flashguard XL Plus.
2. Orisec ES-130 and ES-330.
3. Pyronix Deltabell X Grade 3.
4. Texecom Odyssey X-B Grade 3.

The drawbacks I have found with these bell boxes are:

1. Klaxon Flashguard XL Plus
   While the Flashguard XL Plus is twin piezo with a 118dB rating, has bright red comfort LEDs which are visible in daytime, and a bright Xenon strobe, the drawbacks with the Flashguard are that the bell box is not backlit and the comfort LEDs are red instead of white or blue. Also, I heard the Flashguard bell boxes are unreliable.

1. Orisec ES-130 and ES-330
   While the ES-130 and ES-330 are twin piezo with a 115dB rating, have white comfort LEDs, and are backlit where the backlight (D‑Lux) can be set to flash with the LED strobe, the drawbacks with Orisec bell boxes are that they all use an LED strobe instead of Xenons. The comfort LEDs also dim when alternating, though not when only one is flashing. I spoke to Orisec Tech Support and they said this is down to the voltage regulator on the PCB.

1. Pyronix Deltabell X Grade 3
   While the Deltabell X is twin piezo, has bright white comfort LEDs which are visible in daytime, and is backlit where the backlight (LightBox) flashes with the LED strobe. The drawbacks with the Deltabell X are that it is not very loud, only rated at 109dB, and the twin piezos also crackle when sounding. They all use an LED strobe instead of Xenons.

1. Texecom Odyssey X-B Grade 3
   While the Odyssey X-B is twin piezo with a 115dB rating, has bright white comfort LEDs which are visible in daytime, has a bright Xenon strobe, and is backlit. The drawback with the Odyssey X-B is that the backlight cannot flash with the Xenon strobe, nor can it be disabled when the bell box is going off, which would increase the visibility of the Xenon strobe.

Is there a bell box I’ve overlooked that meets all of these requirements without the drawbacks?

If you had to choose, is the Odyssey X-B G3 actually louder than the Orisec ES-330 in real‑world use, despite both being rated at 115dB?

 

[sparkymarka]

Best of luck with the flash guard …..don’t think they have made them for years …

 

[secureiam]

You are in the trade ?

Where you getting the flashguard from, Klaxon(Texecom haven’t made these for years)

Orisec is trade only.

As for dim in comparison to which bellbox and with what colour lens?

You can make the back lights flash on the odyssey X, but it’s an output to fire.

The odyssey requires wiring to a photo cell or output to make it come on when it’s dark.

The Orisec draws less power for the output in terms of volume.

Does use a built in photo cell.

You can adjust the light intensity program with Orisec panel or manually using tamper to set to one of 8 settings.

Biggest issue with Orisec is probably the plastic screws to look the lid.

Perfect fit screw driver and make sure the back plate isn’t over tightened as it bends and can make the plastic screw retainers awkward to operate.

I guess you would need to write down what you want from the bell and tick each one off your list.

And see which one meets the list better

 

[secureiam]

If your trade then screen prints usually require minimum order of 30 or more, odyssey x branding packs are available and these are cheap and don’t take up much room as they are insert sheets, if back light being used you want something to light up.

Screen prints look better than inserts until the screen print fades.

 

[ali2019]

When the Orisec ES-330's comfort LEDs are alternating, they are dim compared to the odyssey XB and Deltabell X.
When the tamper circuit is left open on the Orisec ES-330 and the single comfort LED is flashingg, the single comfort LED is very bright.

In terms of the backlight on the Odyssey X-B. Is there a way to have the backlight on when the bell box is in normal operation but then flash or switch off when the bell box goes off?

 

[secureiam]

what colour lens?

the back light on the odyssey X is wired to 12V and 0V at default, you literally wire one leg to an output and have a custom out output.

Need to know what panel its going on.

for example all orisec and Texecom elite panels you can program an output up, on other panels like the Excel or R8 this wont be possible, however, you should be able to use the positive or negative leg of the back light going to the strobe terminal to acheive on all the time and flash when activated.

 

[ali2019]

The lens colour is blue.

The panels i tend to use are Orisec CP-20 or Pyronix Euro 76

Thanks

 

[secureiam]

if you were using the Odyssey 3 , and not the X you would Struggle to see the leds at all during the day. when the odyX was released the blue lens was so much easier to see the LEDS.

Have to say on the Orisec LEDS I haven't struggle to see them during the day on the ES120/130 or indeed the ES330 and I use white and blue usually but the inverted anthracite designs look so much better illuminated that the original design.

I give my customers the choice on installation day as to which lens.

I personally would keep the equipment the same manufacturer

 

[secureiam]

The back light can be wired to the strobe output of the panel and or an output and use chains wrt to the orisec panels and custom outputs on Texecom panels and similar applies to most of the other more sophisticated panels.

 

[secureiam]

https://texecom.websitetoolbox.com/post/odyssey-x-backlight-flash-8493344?highlight=strobe%20backlight&pid=1295546763

may help you understand how on a Texecom panel

 

[secureiam]

WRT to the phone discussion and a look at the LEDs when one LED or or alternating properly.

I could only find one youtube video showing the closed lid and it being tampered and untampered to show the leds as single and both flashing.

I think the reason why you think the LED is brighter is light bleed on the you tube video so the single LED potentially looks brighter then the alternating LEDs. That probably could be due to white leds being used and you wouldnt see the same issue with green ones maybe, but I am not in a habit of swapping leds out of bellboxes these days.

Haven't seen your videos yet that I say I would take a look at, but will guess that is what they show.

I spoke with with Orisec wrt to testing the LEDS and brightness in that you tube video and they said they had tested it earlier and couldn't see a difference, they advised they would get a few more to test to make sure as they take the issue seriously.

If your not happy I would send Orisec support your videos of your bell boxes so they can see if they can see the problem or not, then return them and they will swap them out as from what you have told me they are under warranty.

 

[ali2019]

if you were using the Odyssey 3 , and not the X you would Struggle to see the leds at all during the day. when the odyX was released the blue lens was so much easier to see the LEDS.

Have to say on the Orisec LEDS I haven't struggle to see them during the day on the ES120/130 or indeed the ES330 and I use white and blue usually but the inverted anthracite designs look so much better illuminated that the original design.

I agree the Texecom Odyssey 1, 1E, 2, 2E, 3, 3E and 3m are all difficult to see in daylight because they all have green comfort LEDs.

 

[secureiam]

Mainly because the plastic on those is very thick for the lens. Can’t remember the default colour on oddy X

 

[ali2019]

The back light can be wired to the strobe output of the panel and or an output and use chains wrt to the orisec panels and custom outputs on Texecom panels and similar applies to most of the other more sophisticated panels.

To have the backlight switch off on the Odyssey X-B when the bell box is going off, Texecom Tech Support adwised me to wire the backlight as shown in the following wiring diagram below.
Tech Support advised me to ignore using Control Timer when programming the output and instead set the output to Alarm. Tech Support said this should then switch off the backlight when the external sounder is going off.

Note. I have not tested this as of yet, so not sure whether it will work and I don't use Texecom panels.

 

[ali2019]

Mainly because the plastic on those is very thick for the lens. Can’t remember the default colour on oddy X

The default comfort LEDs on the Odyssey X are white. Same as Orisec and Pyronix Deltabell

Thanks