Fair play to you for helping your elderly neighbour out. Classic Accenta G3/G4 and modern universal SAB sounder mismatch is very common on these older systems.
Here is the physical wiring reality of what is happening:
Your old 30-year-old bell was likely a passive sounder (only powered when the panel went into alarm), whereas the Challenger AU1000WBX is a modern Self-Actuating Bell (SAB) with its own internal NiMH/NiCd backup battery.
A modern SAB sounder requires a permanent "hold-off" power supply (constant 12V-13V) to keep its internal battery charged and hold off the internal sounder trigger. If that hold-off voltage drops, or if the Tamper loop is broken, the sounder's onboard electronics assume an intruder has cut the cable outside, and it fires the siren from its internal battery (which explains why it triggers after a 2-minute delay with the panel disarmed).
Here is the correct terminal configuration between the Accenta G3 board and the Challenger AU1000WBX:
1. Permanent Hold-Off Power:
- Panel [13V+] (or Aux+) -> Bell Box [12V+] (Hold-off positive)
- Panel [0V] (or Aux-) -> Bell Box [12V-] / [Hold-Off -]
Do not take permanent power from Bell+/- terminals on an Accenta; those are switched outpu
2. Trigger Signals:
- Panel [Bell-] -> Bell Box [Trig-] / [Siren-]
- Panel [Strobe-] -> Bell Box [Strb-]
The Accenta switches the negative rail to 0V (open-collector transistor) when the alarm soun
3. The Jumper Setting (Crucial):
Check the jumper pins on the AU1000WBX PCB. Most universal bell boxes have a jumper for Trigger Polarity:
- Set it to "Negative Applied" (sometimes marked "Trig -" or "- Applied").
Do NOT set it to "Negative Removed" or "Positive Applied". With Negative Applied, Bell- sits floating/high at rest, and only pulls down to 0V when the alarm activates. You do not need any 47k resistor pull-up trickery on an Accen
4. The Tamper Loop (The 2-Minute Mystery Siren):
The reason the siren is triggering after 2 minutes is almost certainly the Tamper Return or back-tamper switch.
- On the AU1000WBX, ensure the spring-loaded wall tamper switch at the back is fully depressed against the masonry (or jumpered out temporarily on the bench while testing).
- Connect the Bell Box [Tamper] / [RTN] terminal back to the [T] or [Tamper] terminal on the Accenta panel. If you don't connect the tamper return, or if the microswitch isn't clicking firmly shut against the wall, the SAB timer expires and sounds the ala
Check those jumper pins for Negative Applied and check the rear wall tamper switch, and it should settle down nicely without replacing the panel.rm.ta.ds.ts.