Veritas 8 Alarm - Blue strobe outside even when unset

[TerminatorUK]

Hi all,

I'm experiencing an odd issue with our Veritas 8 Alarm system.

Recently we had a brief power cut (no more than a minute) and the power came back on and the alarm wasn't sounding - thought no more of it.

However, outside the blue strobe on the bell boxes is flashing along with the normal green alternating lights which normally show.

Most of the time the blue strobe shows once every 7 seconds but sometimes this can be every second or so.

There are no abnormal lights (e.g. flashing 'unset' or tamper lights) shown on the remote panel and the alarm still can be armed / de-activated as normal.

Putting 2 and 2 together, it has been over 4 years since I last changed the battery so I ordered a new one and fitted it - no difference.

I have checked the battery fuse and it doesn't appear to be blown but for sanity's sake I have replaced that too - no difference.

Typing either the user code or the engineer code and pressing the 'Reset' button also does not make any difference.

Resetting the Seven-event basic log made no difference either.

I have used the programming menu to test various functions and have verified that the external siren responds to Option '1' (so I know I was in the right menu) but the Strobe test (Option '2') made no difference whether it was switched on or off.

As a test, I have tried disconnecting the AC to the main unit (leaving the battery plugged in) and immediately the remote panel loses power and the external alarm activates which leads me to believe:

- Both the battery and the replacement are dead (unlikely)
- Both the original and the replacement fuse are dead (again unlikely)
- During the power cut / power restore, something has shorted on the main board and it needs replacing

I have checked the polarity on the battery and connectors into the PCB board are secure (I have unscrewed and re-seated these to be sure).

I'm beginning to run out of ideas now - has anyone seen anything like this or have any recommendations of what I could try next?

Many thanks for any information in advance - it is greatly appreciated.

 

[secureiam]

If the panel loses all power when mains disconnected, then the battery or battery fuse needs looking at.

Its not impossible to get a duff battery but unlikely.

Not heard of it triggering the strobe though, if you disconnect the wire going to the strobe at the panel does the strobe stopflashing./ if not does it stop when you disconnect at bellbox.

If you have a mutli meter you can measure the state of the strobe terminal to see if its changing.

 

[sparkymarka]

If the fuse IS ok and the battery is ok ..... It's a new panel job as said before disconnect the strobe wire in the panel if it's still flashing it maybe new BELLBOX aswell . Texecom did have an issue with bellbox strobe staying on but this was 2000-2005 , as far as I can remember

 

[TerminatorUK]

Thanks very much for your reply - it is greatly appreciated.

So I have already attempted to replace the battery as well as the battery fuse but these resolved the lack of power on battery only unfortunately.

Good idea on disconnect the stone at the panel - I'll try that tonight.

I'll see if I can get hold of a multimeter to check the strobe terminal too.

One last nugget of information I forgot to mention is that there are two bell boxes (one at the front and one at the side of the property) and both of them have started to do the sane thing at the same time - I'm guessing that would rule out an issue with the boxes themselves or the wiring to them if both have been affected simultaneously?

 

[TerminatorUK]

Thanks very much for your reply too Sparky.

That scenario isn't beyond the realm of possibly - the panel is a Texecom D5010-02.05, copyright 2002 and says PCB345 in the upper right hand corner (the PCB is a brown / green colour).

I have tried looking for a replacement but it seems that this exact PCB is very hard to find.

I can, however, get hold a Veritas R8 PCB and case at a very reasonable price.

I have checked the wiring layout and fuse ratings and it is identical to the board I already have.

If I was to go with the Vertias R8 PCB, I assume I can re-use the same remote panel which on face value looks identical to the one I already have installed?

 

[secureiam]

The veritas units should be compatible, I have put new stuff on old panels and vice versa and no ill effects, just some features may not be available but unlikely to be anything major.

The date on the pcb isnt the date of manufacture it is the date for the pcb design, there maybe a price tag like sticker on the back of he pcb with a date its usually the manufacturing date plus a few months to allow being sat on a shelf.

If buying second hand PCB, need to know engineers code hasnt been locked, if it has you wont be able to reprogram the panel.

 

[TerminatorUK]

Thanks again for the tip secureiam - the one I'm buying that is new / unused condition and I know the default engineer code but yup I appreciate that's a deal breaker if it's locked!

One final question; when power down the current panel, the external siren sounds.

Is there a way to prevent this behaviour during the switch over or will it be a case of switching over the PIR zone cables, taper, strobe etc... onto the new board and then as the final activity quickly switching the bell / power off the current panel and connecting them to the new one?

I saw in the manual there was a patented engineer 'hold off' mode for maintenance - is it for this purpose or is that useless once the power goes off?

 

[secureiam]

The hold off is used for exactly that.

When you have put it in hold off, you can down power the panel completly check the led indications first on the bellbox so you know its in holdoff mode.

Thats all in the manual.

 

[TerminatorUK]

Excellent - many thanks for the confirmation again; hugely appreciated.

I think I'm all set - I'll get the parts I need and report back with the results.

 

[TerminatorUK]

So an update on this is that the new PCB has now arrived and I have successfully placed the system into the Engineer Hold-Off mode.

This worked for the internal sounder, however, the lights still show on the bell boxes and powering off the system still sounds the external siren.

My current thinking is that the current PCB isn't sending the correct 'messages' to the bell-boxes at the moment.

I'm thinking of wiring up the new PCB in-situ and then cutting over the power supply to the new board as the last activity...

 

[TerminatorUK]

Forgot to also add, if I remove the cable from the Strobe (labelled 'Strb'), it also has no effect on both bell-boxes - the lights still continue to show.

I haven't yet got hold a multimeter but I'm going to order one tonight.

 

[sparkymarka]

Unclip old pcb still connected clip in new one swop over keypad, power up battery first switch off , now swop over bell , then transformer , then rest of wiring ..program and test! , if you have two bell boxes wired the strobe issue may be coming from one only , you may have to disconnect at the the bellbox

 

[TerminatorUK]

Hi Sparky,

I've had some good success using your instructions.

I've managed to successfully switch over the PCBs and all connections.

Running off the battery alone now works - success!

I carefully reconnected all the connectors before restoring the AC power - the flashing power LED on the board (when it was on battery) has now gone solid which I assume means that it is working correctly on the mains now.

One issue now remains (although I haven't have time to program anything yet) and that is the blue strobe on the bell boxes still remains.

However - it is somewhat of an improvement - previously both the alternating green lights were showing as well as the blue strobe - now it's just the blue strobe alone flashing.

Is there something I need to do as part of the first-time setup (I managed to clear the initial '9-beeps' sequence by entering 4312 followed by the engineer 1234 code) but I haven't had the opportunity to do anything else yet.

Any suggestions for the next steps to take at welcome!

 

[sparkymarka]

Program the system !

 

[TerminatorUK]

Further update on this - I've programmed all the parts I did previously (date, time, engineer and user codes, timeout value for setting the alarm until active, reconfigured a zone to be an entry/exit).

I've also performed a walk test and checked all zones are working except for one of rear latch / magnetic sensor which doesn't seem to be functional.

On inspection, the sensor looks in poor condition.

I've now got a multimeter and tested that there is a low voltage of 0.03v at both the zone terminals end and the connectors on the sensor.

Testing this against the working other entrance, that had exactly a voltage of 0.00v when closed and 1.00v when open.

I've also tried switching this working sensor over to the faulty sensdor's zone wiring (to test there was nothing wrong with that zone on the new PCB) and it worked as expected - I'll buy a new latch / magnetic sensor for that entrance.

The blue flashing light still continues outside however and it's back to previous behaviour - combination of alternating green flashing light with a blue flash every 8 seconds.

What two points do I need to check with the multimeter on the panel to check the strobe / what would you expect the readings to be?

I also have long ladders, ear defenders and a father-in-law for assistance - what would I be looking for next on the bell-box?

Many thanks again for any further advice!