reason for house alarm going off???

mrs_baggins

all by myself . middle of the night and alarm goes off!! Once I had got my heart going again I went downstairs and turned it off. Had a look in all rooms etc with a newspaper in my hand ready to beat burglar senseless!. No apparent reason for alarm going off. I managed to work out which area it was that went off and there were no curtains blowing, windows/doors open etc. Apart from a possibly huge big spider going across the PIR unit what may have triggered it? I must admit to not having it serviced regularly basically as I cant afford it but does anyone have any suggestions?

Biggles

Spiders (not even big ones) are quite a common cause this time of year. Old PIRs can be susceptible to tiny flies getting inside for the warmth and can need sealing/replacing.

We give the PIR area a particularly good vacuuming each time and apply bug spray, esp if we're going away for a week or two.

mrs_baggins

you mean take the pir apart and vac that? will have a looksee later. thanks

dander

they can also go off if there's any damage to wires or a loose connection that could make it think there's a power failure. Just have a look at everythig to check it's in good condition and connections are plugged firmly in place.

If it's goes off in the event of a power failure it could also just be that there was a blip in the supply for some reason.

Biggles

mrs_baggins wrote: »

you mean take the pir apart and vac that? will have a looksee later. thanks

Ye gods, no! Just to vacuum around, over and behind it so there can't be anything lurking.

The tiny flies I meant we call thunder flies, but if they've got inside it's probably a job for the maintenance guy on his annual visit.

Chippy_Minton_2

Biggles wrote: »

it's probably a job for the maintenance guy on his annual visit.

The OP said they don't do that.

pboae

My Mum's alarm kept going off, and it was cos a spider had set up home inside one of the PIR units.

Biggles

Chippy_Minton wrote: »

The OP said they don't do that.

I thought it was a legal requirement if you had an outside bell/siren. Anyway, false alarms are good reason for doing it.

Chippy_Minton_2

Biggles wrote: »

I thought it was a legal requirement if you had an outside bell/siren. Anyway, false alarms are good reason for doing it.

Tell the OP that, not me.

Jonesya

Biggles wrote: »

I thought it was a legal requirement if you had an outside bell/siren. Anyway, false alarms are good reason for doing it.

I've never heard of that one. Besides what's there to service on a typical system, quick walk test to check the PIRs and change the back-up battery every few years?

Biggles

Jonesya wrote: »

I've never heard of that one.

No, it looks like that must only be for monitored alarms, rather than bells-only alarms.

Though if you've gained a discount from your insurance company for having an approved alarm, I think that implies annual servicing or your insurance would be invalid.