Why does my home alarm keep tripping?

Erica78

It usually gets fixed by reformatting the system or either changing the batteries.

scarletjim

Yes the resistor is certainly 'interesting'. The thing is, the alarm hasn't tripped at all today, so if it only does so again this evening during peak hours, then presumably that must support the theory that it's the back-up battery or something to do with the back-up battery? Which could include that resistor, but I've got no way of finding out what it does, that would be way beyond my skills.

The other theory as several of you have indicated is some kind of problem with the tamper loop, which could be a right pain to locate...

Question on the battery - if I bought a new one (only about £13), could I safely fit it without turning the mains off (and therefore presumably resetting the whole system to default)? Or would that be too dangerous? In any case I guess that wouldn't solve the burnt resistor problem anyway, and I assume I can't just ignore that...

So it looks like one of two things will happen - either it won't trip again, and perhaps get consigned to history as an unsolved mystery, or it will trip again, in which case I'll call the fitter to come and look. (Will he be willing to do that even though I've had the case off? I've not done anything, and it's not under any guarantee etc, but I know some people are (understandably) reluctant to touch electrics that amateurs have been able to 'get at'...)

EDIT: Assuming I do get them to come out, am I better off considering investing in a new system? If so, what should I be looking for and where should I begin researching? I don't need home automation generally, but it would be useful to be able to fully control the alarm somehow, i.e. kill it completely for a few days when it develops a fault, also it would be useful to have a system that let me know more clearly what is wrong with it when there's a fault...

Ant555

[QUOTE=scarletjim;73583417
Question on the battery - if I bought a new one (only about £13), could I safely fit it without turning the mains off (and therefore presumably resetting the whole system to default)? Or would that be too dangerous? In any case I guess that wouldn't solve the burnt resistor problem anyway, and I assume I can't just ignore that...
[/QUOTE]

Note that I purchased a new battery off Amazon and fitted myself - really easy and mine is an Opima system too. I think I left the mains on when I did this.

However, You should note that disconnecting the battery and turning the mains off will not reset the system to factory default and mean you have to start again - you can power down/isolate, switch back on and it will remember your zones, code etc.