Alarm Sticky

BT TELEPHONE SOCKET WIRING





BT's leg A connects to terminal 5, and leg B to terminal 2. This was due to a design/manufacturing error but 99% of devices will work with either polarity.

Also, terminal 4 is best connected on extensions when two lines share the same cable - it prevents cross talk, and prevents the possibility of the second lines phones tinkling when the other line rings.

Be warned that the above colour codes may not have been followed.

Does your alarm "go off" when there is a power cut?,

or is the alarm dead when the mains is turned off? But "goes off" when the mains comes back on?

The the chances are the alarm panel standby battery is dead, too old or flat and should be changed. (it may also be the battery fuse, but if the battery is old............)

Checking the charging voltage proves nothing (other than it should be charging)

4)

wiring two external sounders

Each sounder has its own cable which is terminated as shown in the control panel

Why a resistor?

Only some alarm panels require a resistor, check the manual for your panel. If your panel does / can use resistors you will also need to check the value of these resistors.

Some panels use the same value of resistor for shunt and EOL, some use not the same. eg.

Menvier use 4k7 shunt and 2k2 EOL Microtech favor 1k shunt and 1k EOL

When the device is its normally closed state the alarm panel can only see the End Of Line Resistor (not shown in sketch) so all is well.

When the device opens (it could be a door contact or a detector) the panel now sees the EOL resistor AND The shunt resistor, so it knows the device must be open, so an alarm condition is created

If you cut the cable the panel sees nothing at all, so it knows the cable must be cut, so an alarm condition is created
If you short out the EOL resistor the panel sees a short, knows there is a short, so an alarm condition is created

Surface contact with shunt resistor
Surface contact with shunt and End of Line resistors

Flush contact with shunt resistor

Detector with shunt and EOL resistors

Please note: Colours used were my choice for this information only.

Also the wires only come out of the detector this way so it is easier for you to see them.

7)

Detector with no resitors

This is the "normal" way of wiring a detector. The cable has 6 wires.
2 for the 12v supply (Red and Black in this case)
2 for "normaly closed" (orange and brown in this case)
2 for tamper (green and blue in this case)

Surface contact no resistors


Black and orange are the circuit pair Red and blue are the tamper pair

Flush contact - no resitors

Please note: Colours used were my choice for this information only.

Also the wires only come out of the detector this way so it is easier for you to see them.

8 ) What is the difference between a duel tech and a PIR


See for yourself

In short, a duel tech is a duel technology device which uses two technologies to detect movement.

The most popular combination is the Microwave and PIR as shown above.
You can clearly see the duel tech (on the left) has all the components of the PIR and some additional compenents for the Microwave

It takes loads more lines to explain how they each work, but the duel tech is often better than a PIR as there both PIR and Microwave need to be activated to cause an alarm condition[/img]

9) Alarm control panel batteries should last up to 5 years.


The above is a Yuasa brand of battery (other brands of battery are available)

Other brands may cost less but often only last 2-4 years

If you check the voltage of your battery it should be 12.5 - 13.5 volts

The charging voltage of a battery should be 13.5 - 13.8

If your battery is warm / hot to the touch (sometimes splits in the side) it needs changing

Old / worn out batteries are often the cause of problems.

10) Detector configuration.

No matter what the detector is be it PIR, a Break glass, Duel Tek etc, it should be wired back on its own circuit.


The reason being, that if it goes off the panel should indicate which detector has actvated.


If you have more than one detector on the same circuit how do you know which one went off? There are a couple of exceptions to this.

If the detector has a latching facility (The light on that detector says on / flashes or changes colour) such an example are shock sensors


This is a SHOCKGARD, shock sensor, other brands of shock sensor are available.

The other "exceptipon" is a door, since in theory if a door causes the activation it will still be open / ajar when the alarm is turned off

11) A.I.R Beams These are not often found in domestic premises. But i thought it may be interesting to see some.


This is the outside



This is their "guts"

Please note other brands of A.I.R. beams are available. (These are also some what old)

These are the real version (all be it, these are old) of what you sometimes see in films, where they "duck under" the beams. so yes they do exists but the workings are not as they show in films, but thats for another time

12) pet detectors do exist, they have no trouble detecting pets.

First of all you have to understand how a P.I.R. works to appreciate how a pet detector works, but as thats too long and boring lets just say a normal P.I.R "looks down" at an angle (lets say 30 degrees from centre)

A pet detector does not look down at "30 degrees", it looks "flat" (neither up or down) from centre.

The idea is that any pet walking on the floor will be below the area a P.I.R can "see".

Click drawing to enlarge.

This drawing is a guide only.

The problem arises particularly with cats, as they will, and can jump, be that onto a settee, table what ever, as they do they now become visible to the P.I.R

Please also note: if you do try a pet P.I.R. don't fit it looking at the stairs. What happens when the pet goes up the stairs? (I have seen this done more than once)

Some makers claim their detector will not be set off by a pet under X weight, how does a detector weigh a pet? Can you tell how much something weighs by looking at it? no, neither can a pet detector

many manufacturers of radio equipment NOW make very good pet tollerent radio detectors.

14) If you have just moved in and there is a burglar alarm and you want to use it but don't have the code the best option is to call an alarm company and ask them to "default the codes" Some alarm panels will have the installing company details / phone number, it is best to call them first.

TIP: When you call ask are they familiar with your brand of panel? (some will honestly say "no" there and then) Not all alarm panels are the same.

There is the more long winded way, which means you have to default the codes, you may even have to crash the panel. (To crash the panel means you make it forget everything it knows, then programme it back)
How ever, to do this means you will need the engineers manual (this is so you can programme it back), most panel makers do not allow the engineer manual to be published on the www. You may have been lucky and found the engineers manual, if not, see first paragraph.

15) Radio / wireless burglar alarms any good?

In general

Radio alarms are good because they have no wires, can be installed in "no time" and are very reliable compared to days gone by. (Please read on)

Facts:

Radio detectors have batteries in each detector.

These batteries will probably need replacing annually how much will this cost? (Some now use a lithium battery which is supposed to last up to 5 years. Please note the words "up to")

Radio signals do not like "tin foil", such "tin foil" is found in new build homes, its used as heat insulation on the rear of plasterboard walls, so they often radio alarms do not work in "new build houses"

Radio detectors are bigger than most wired detectors (To hold the battery) this means they do not "blend in" so well (some are out right ugly)
On the left is a hardwired surface contact. On the right is a "universal" radio contact. Much Bigger isnt it. (Other brands of radio contact are available)

There is no such thing as a "radio Dueltech"

Only commercial (expensive) radio alarms "poll" detectors to see if they are still there / working

Radio P.I.R's "go to sleep" for up to 4 minutes (This saves battery power) Wired P.I.R's have no need to sleep

Problems

Radio detectors can, and do suffer from jambing (not always intentional) but it does happen

Most radio alarms will tell you it is being jammed, but as its radio how do you know whats causing it? You can't see radio waves


A radio detector in a remote location eg, shed or garage is a waste of time / money.

When the alarm goes off people will assume its house being broken into not the garage 50 yards away (assuming it works that far)


Some radio alarms have wireless sounders, do you want to get your ladder out ever 12 - 18 months to change the external sounder battery?

There is no such thing as a pet radio pir that works 100% (see pet P.I.R's)

Decide
Its up to you what you decide to do / have installed.

Edited to change to a clearer picture

16) Smoke detectors be they mains or battery, are required by building regs. However, they are just smoke detectors, they are NOT Fire Alarms
View media item 8676 View media item 8677
The above are "typical battery operated smoke detectors"

Mains smoke detectors can be connected to the mains by twin and earth or interconnected by 3 core and earth.

Similarly smoke or heat detectors connected to a burglar alarm do not constitute a Fire Alarm. they also do not need to comply to any regulations. (Because they are neither a fire alarm or burglar alarm)

"Alarm" smoke detectors and heat detectors are connected by standard alarm cable.

So, what is a Fire Alarm?

A fire Alarm is what you will find in buildings that have public access, e.g shopping centre, hotel, shop etc.

View media item 8675 typical fire alarm smoke detector


View media item 8673 typical fire alarm sounder

It is meant to notify people to EVACUATE the building (Because there is a Fire), it does this by using sounders (or bells etc) and yes it does use a variety of types of detector, how ever it is connected by heat resistant cable such as pyro or FP 200 so that if there is a fire the sounders can still operate. (There is also control panels and other funcrions too)

There is a whole requirement of other regulations that separate "smoke alarms" from "Fire Alarms"

The above is a GENERAL guide to the differences, only.

17) Use your alarms event log to identify issues.

Alarm manufacturers have spent many years developing alarm systems, some event logs can help you narrow down where the fault is before you open up any part of the system.

More modern panels with full LCD displays give very precise information on faults and may even indicate where the device in fault is located.