Optima MX6

[DazJWood]

My parents have an Optima MX6 alarm. It played up a few weeks ago where the keypad ceased to work. I think this was following a power failure but could have been coincidence. I went round and disconnected it from the mains (pulled the fuse on the spur), opened the box, disconnected the battery and left it for a few minutes before reconnecting it back up again. This seemed to reset it back to working order again until the weekend. There was a power failure in the street and once again the keypad became unresponsive. I went round again and disconnected the mains and removed the battery. Only this time the siren outside went off and upon reconnecting it all back up it continued to go off. The keypad worked for awhile whilst I tried to shut it off and then at some point went back to not working. No matter what I tried I could not shut the outside siren off.

Unfortunately I had my father's ladders at my house so I could not get up to the siren to disconnect the internal battery. My mother called an alarm guy and in the time spent waiting for him I managed to get the keypad working and shut the alarm off again (though this could also have been an amazingly timed coincidence and the box may have reset itself).

So the guy comes round and after me telling him that it's the board that has developed a fault, he opens it up and tells us it is the board and he can't do anything more. That'll be £50 call out. Hmmm not bad work if you can get it!

He pointed at the ribbon that connects the keypad to the PCB and said it had burnt. It did look slightly discoloured on two of the tracks but I can't say it looked as though the connections were broke.

Anyhow, I have now bought a second hand box off ebay to replace my folks box (or I may just replace the keypad if it can be done).

My question is, and excuse the lengthy scenario setting, is there a way to silence the outside wall siren without getting up to it on a ladder? I have a feeling when I start tinkering the siren will go off again and if there is a way to connect or short the feeds to it somehow to turn it off then this would be more ideal than balancing precariously on a ladder

Thanks in advance,

Daz

 

[Europlex]

I would suggest that the control panel battery has seen better days and that is your problem rather than the board, how old is it?

If 5yrs or more, you need a new one, if less than the 5yrs it could be faulty.

 

[oasistechnical]

all you have to do with an ADE Optima panel (XM6) is if the keypad locks up,
change the back up battery for either a 1.2ah or better a 2.8 ah (12v) battery and change the external siren back up battery.

the external siren units battery could be any of about 3 types and i would advise removing the cover from to external siren and checking.

no offence to the engineer who visited, but i have only ever come accross the ribbon cable fault once (in 25 years + of working in this industry)

but a failed back up battery will cause the lock up on the system.

ADE (advance design electronics who used to be part of Philips electronics now part of Honeywell) fitted an early type of `watchdog` this little piece of microprossesor technology locks the system if there is a major power or load fault.

give it a go any way and see how you get on, there are a few of us professional installers here to give advice.

but as we all say to DIYers be cautious there is mains voltage in there and it bites !!!!!

 

[scott1980]

I would agree with the above, a new control panel battery is all that's required 99% of the time with these kind of faults.

The external bell box will probably require a new NiCad battery, but to be honest, for what it's worth, I would just change the entire unit for a new one...

 

[DazJWood]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Much appreciated.

I will get a new battery for it and try this first before changing the main unit. Incidentally, when the mains power is off the battery in the control unit still provides power to the unit. Is this still likely if it is the battery that's at fault?

And is there anyway to stop the siren going off without getting a ladder to it and disconnecting the internal battery?

Thanks again!

Daz

 

[oasistechnical]

if you disconnect the mains to the panel and the panel still has the usual indicator LEDs lit IE day only (power will extinguish when mains is out).
it will only show that the battery has enough power to keep the system going for a time.

if you are aware of the age of the battery you can sometimes work out if it will keep the system `up` for a time, but to be honest i ALWAYS change them, because as an installer the last thing i need at three in the morning is a call out to a failing battery!!!

so as most of the installers on this forum would agree (i hope) change it out, because for the cost of a new one it aint worth it>

and in regard to the external sounder,
yep it will make a noise if you disconnect the power and the battery (its designed to do this) but it should only sound for a maximum of 20 mins (depending on the make/'model)

but as the previous but one poster put up, if you can change the external siren unit for a new model, (remember its your choice, replace the battery in the external siren or just change the box)

if you need any extra advice just post it here,

john

 

[DazJWood]

Thanks again all.

I'll try changing the battery first then I think. The external siren battery must be working ok as it rang for long enough the other night without power

If I did change it what would be your recommendations for a new siren?

Thanks again all,

Daz

 

[oasistechnical]

texacom siren / strobe units are a good bet.

easy to fit and easy to terminate

and they look good !!!

John

its a personal thing tho, other makes and models are available

 

[DazJWood]

Thanks all!

I bought a new battery for the control box and connected it up. I turned the mains off to try and reset it and left it a few minutes. I then turned it back on and the keypad started responding again. It wouldn't work with my parents code but I tried the factory default one of 0123 and it reset the box. So all is good!

Thanks again for all your advice and it seems the alarm guy who came out just wanted to rip my folks off for £250 for a new box as well as the £50 call out for a minutes diagnosis of a new control panel. I've since checked his advert in the yellow pages and he also had 'no charges' for his 24 hour call out.

It's a shame there are people out there that have to resort to dishonesty to make money, but it is the way of the world I guess.

Thanks again all,

Daz