Our alarm keeps going off at night!

[WabbitPoo]

ie the alarm is sounded.

Various zones are triggering the alarm, although there is no apparent cause eg animals, intruders, etc. It seems to go in phases - no probs for months, then it goes off say, every other night for a while.

In a nutshell, what can cause an alarm to go rogue? Maybe the battery (I read the sticky), although wouldn't that just get worse and worse?

The alarm is an Intellisense Securit 800L+, with 6 PIRs and a panic button.

it was serviced last year. Maybe I need to open the PIRs and clear out any dust etc?!?

TIA

 

[joe-90]

Best changing battery to be on the safe side.

Last time I had this problem (after changing just about everything) it turned out to be a faulty motor on the washing machine putting out voltage spikes.

 

[Alarm]

Being serviced is good, but when was the battery last changed?

With the probable age of the system a clean out of the detectors is a good idea and if the cable entry holes are a bit large use some blutack to seal them. Newer detectors have sealed optics and do not need this.

Then all should be well.

 

[JohnD]

I once had one that was sometimes triggered by an external lamp on a PIR. Presumably a tiny power surge or spark or something.

 

[joe-90]

Being serviced is good, but when was the battery last changed?

With the probable age of the system a clean out of the detectors is a good idea and if the cable entry holes are a bit large use some blutack to seal them. Newer detectors have sealed optics and do not need this.

Then all should be well.

But why is it only doing it at night? JohnD has a point. Gotta suspect the battery first.

 

[WabbitPoo]

Thanks for all that. Its about 3 years old, so would that make the battery suspect still?

Given the engineer code (which I do have) is it a simple matter to change the battery?

 

[Alarm]

But why is it only doing it at night? JohnD has a point. Gotta suspect the battery first.

Is it your difficult period of the month?
I agreed the battery is a probable cause, would you care to explain why?
The "smoothing effect" it has for instance? The capacitance involved?

As for night time spikes, possible. But there is no mention of items being used after this being mentioned.

OP with the code a battery change is easy.
Isolate mains supply before removing any covers if your unsure about things, or just get someone in.