Kinetic Aztech Bell Box's & Honeywell Accentra Panel Pro

[kk3960]

I have two Kinetic "Aztech" bell boxes fitted (front and rear) to my house with 2 seperate cables back to a Honeywell Accenta control panel and connected as per the manufacturers instructions. The system has been tested and was working fine since initial installation about 6 months ago.

Recently however upon an alarm condition the control panel will not silence the bells by the user code input and I have had to replace the blown 1A bell/strobe ouput fuse in the panel to stop the bells ringing.

I am an electrician and wired the sytem myself so I am confident that there are no wiring / connection issues, anyone had any similar experiences with this set up? Or can anyone provide any reasoning why the system should now be faulty, excluding any obvious reasons like a short on the cabling?

Finally the combined output of both bell boxes in an alarm condition is 740ma (from the manufacturers info) so this should not be enough to take the 1a stobe/bell fuse out in the panel surely?

Thanks

 

[joe-90]

I had this once and it turned out to be the strobe going short circuit on activation. Try disconnecting the strobe wire.

 

[kk3960]

Ill try it thanks. Bell boxes are only 6 months old as well.

 

[joe-90]

Another thing I had once was my own fault as I trapped the strobe wire in the metal alarm casing. If the bellbox is OK then check the wiring for continuity. Could be a staple in a cable - done that a few times.

 

[kk3960]

Yep ill try that thanks it's the same chip which keeps blowing so ill bell everything out again to be sure. Thanks

 

[Europlex]

Yep ill try that thanks it's the same chip which keeps blowing so ill bell everything out again to be sure. Thanks

"chip"?

 

[kk3960]

In the panel, the one next to the bell fuse on pcb.

 

[Deryck Tintagel]

Are both belboxes wired as SAB? or is one SCB?

 

[Europlex]

Ditto

One SA wired as SAB, the other wired as SCB? I bet not.

Both wired as SAB - wrong.

 

[chaindaisy]

Hi,

It's a good thing we are talking to an electrician, because you will know precisely what Europlex is getting at.

".... Finally the combined output of both bell boxes in an alarm condition is 740ma (from the manufacturers info) so this should not be enough to take the 1a stobe/bell fuse out in the panel surely?.... "

The total current consumption is about 1 amp in activation. Add up the total current of the control panel, devices, keypad (sometimes), and anything else that's connected. You will find that this exceeds 1 amp. It's not just the bell output that we consider when installing a system, and most professional installers, Europlex included, will give little 'strength' to what the manufacturer claims in the instruction manual.

Even without taking into consideration the current consumption of the other devices, 740 milliamps is too high. You should aim for about 750 milliamps in Total, including the active current state of all other units. And I reckon that Europlex would agree that you should aim for even less than that. As he states quite correctly, one sounder should be SCB and the other SAB. Also take into consideration any internal sounder and extension speaker current, which would also add to the total power consumption of the panel. You should have a fully charged and hopefully new battery in the control panel, since a partially drained battery shall also significantly increase the overall current.

No need for a multimeter, just take the consumptions from the instructions from each device, but don't rely on the bell current suggestion in the instructions. Personally, I would be comfortable with a bell output of around 450 milliamps in total, and that's stretching it in some cases.

 

[kk3960]

Hi thanks for all the info chaps, ill check if one is in SAB and the other SCB probably not, i dont usually connect multiple bell boxes and I assume moving a link in one bell box from scb/sab will solve this? Am I correct in saying one bell module will draw the current from the alarm panel SAB and the other from the on board bell box battery SCB. There are no other sounders connected to the panel just the two bell boxes.

Thanks

 

[chaindaisy]

Hi,

Just out of curiosity, did you add up the total current drain ?

You will need to use a 'run thru' on the tampers to each bell. I am shutting down now to work on video editing. Can't have background programs running or broadband when doing this, so I'll leave the professionals to tell you how to connect up a SCB/SAB config. Well Done.