Which Bell Box

[devbias]

I'm looking to replace my 20yr old bell box which is located very high & I only want to go up there once so I'm looking to the expertise on here to help me get the right bell box 1st time.

My panel is a Optima XL6 and Although my old bell box has a strobe it doesn't work due to no spare wire back to the strobe connectors back to the panel.
The current bell box is orange metal with Hi Tec written on the front and is the same on all the properties built on the estate in 1990.

I haven't been up there yet but I suspect that there may only be 2 wire into the box why else would there be no strobe wires back to the panel.

I'm looking for a direct replacement with LED status lights and maybe a strobe which can share the power to the siren.

I have been looking at something like the ADE Activeguard AG8 is this possible to do a hassle free replacement.

If its going to take a little modification please let me know what I'm getting into before I get up there and any alternatives I should consider.

I also have a Texecom dialler connected to the panel if that has any effect.

 

[sparkymarka]

if its only got 2 wires forget it ! you need 4 cores at least you would have to link strobe to bell trip, 6 better, texecom bell box or pyronix deltabell would be my choice, but others just as good.

 

[devbias]

Well I guess I will need to risk life and limb twice then to confirm how many wires are in there. At very best I expect to find no more than 4.
Maybe an anti tamper and sounder wires. If this is the case would you still forget it. If not what would you recommend that wil give a loud alarm and switching LED, as I like the look of that sort of thing being a techie

 

[sparkymarka]

pyronix delta bell plus , back lit as it lights up , it will stand out ! ! can be done on a 4 core but you will have to link the strobe to bell.

 

[devbias]

That fine time to get the ladder out when it warms up a little.
Will the ADE active guard AG8 work with 4 wires as this matches my panel & I've heard that this box is easy to set up.

As ever I'm only sounding my thinking & always take heed of advise which maybe given

 

[EightyTwo]

If you look inside the panel, you should be able so see how many wires are used... It's usually five or six cores in an eight core cable. Expect +, -, bell trigger, tamper return and also strobe trigger and possible strobe +.

Sorry, I don't know the ADE bell but have used the Texecom, Pyronix Delta Bell (expect to see a lot of pros using these soon), Gardtec EW012. I hate the Toplok Elegance which is a shame 'cos the old stainless one was brilliant.

 

[Europlex]

pyronix delta bell plus , back lit as it lights up , it will stand out ! ! can be done on a 4 core but you will have to link the strobe to bell.

...... have you ever seen one, OMG, you need safety boots to walk around underneath one of those, they are, SO, tacky.

 

[sparkymarka]

have you ever installed one ?

 

[devbias]

pyronix delta bell plus , back lit as it lights up , it will stand out ! ! can be done on a 4 core but you will have to link the strobe to bell.

Been having a look at the one you suggested but I'm not keen on the backlight. I prefer to have the blinking LED on the bell box but I have read that the LED are not very bright on this box

What are the novaguard units like?

 

[sparkymarka]

they dont like the cold.... lol ....it will depend on strobe colour on how bright the leds are cant go wrong with texecom bell boxes never had a faulty unit yet...

 

[devbias]

Finally took the plunge and got myself a delta bell as recommended.

Just going through wiring and jumper settings before I fit it.
I'm connecting the pyronix delta bell to an Optima 6XL with 4 cores @ the bell

J4 jumper = neg
J5 jumper = applied

Just link the bell wire to the strobe at the bell box as no wire to strobe on panel terminal.

Are the settings above correct and is there anything else to watch out for?

 

[sparkymarka]

its ok as it comes just link the 0v to tamper thats all you will need to do

 

[devbias]

Help ! I'm stuck now!

Wires in my panel

Blue = tamper
Yellow = tamper
Orange = bell+
Brown = bell-
Red = 12v+
Black =12v-

Wires in my old bell box which was just a siren and tamper switch
Blue = tamper switch
Yellow = tamper switch
Red = siren+
Black = siren-
White linked to red at siren +
Green linked to black at siren -
NO ORANGE OR BROWN WIRES AT BELL BOX

Now confused please tell me what to connect where on new pyronix bell also where to connect the strobe link.

Thanks Sparky

 

[sparkymarka]

it must be joined somewhere 8 core to 6 ? is there a green and white in the bell box ? is it a six core red black blue yellow green white ? in your panel whats connected to 0v and tamper return T and A ?

 

[devbias]

Yeah your right!
6 core at bell box & 12 core in the panel

The six core in bell box is
Yellow
Blue
White
Green
Red
Black

In the panel I have point 15 & 16 called tamper
Yellow on point 15
Blue on point 16
But which one is 0v

Red is connected to 13v+
Black is connected to 13v-
Orange bell+
Brown bell-

The zones use the following colours in the panel
Zone 1 = green&white
Zone 2 = purple& pink
Zone 3 = green&grey

I hope you can help as I don't fancy ripping up the floor boards to find the join.

At the moment I have the bell box wired in the following but had to give up as I've lost my light for today.

Blue>>>tamper
Yellow>>tamper
Red>>>>12v+
Black>>>12v-
Green>>>strobe
White>>>bell
Link from black to blue in bell box

Observations made with wiring as above

1) Status led and backlight working as expected when alarm idle
2) Status led and backlight working as expected when armed
3) when alarm is triggered alarm panel alarms but bell box stays in idle
4) when tamper button on panel is released panel will alarm but bell box stays idle until code is entered then panel stops alarming with tamper led lite as expected but bell box will then trigger until tamper button is pressed back in.

Tried to give as much information as possible as I must of been up and down the ladders 50 times today already