Burgalar Alarm problems

loobs40

The house I moved into three years ago has a basic burgalar alarm system installed. The people who lived there before me didn't know the code so basically it hasn't been used.

I suspect that it was installed by the housebuilders, Crest, for their own purposes as the house was their showhouse. The house is 10 years old.

A local security firm came round this week when I rang them to give me a quote on resetting the alarm code and giving me a new one. They said they don't do that with systems they have not fitted, but they could 'upgrade' it for £596. I managed to keep a straight face, just.

The alarm is on i.e. there are some lights lit up on the control panel, but obviously not set. The surveyor warned me that because of the age of the system, it might start to fail e.g the back up battery fail, or a power surge may damage it making the system think it was being attacked and therefore trigger it. That is my worst nightmare. The damm thing going of in the middle of the night and me not being able to do anything about it.

Basically I just want to disconnect/disable the system as I can't afford to get it 'upgraded' and have a maintenance contract. This company said they would charge me £90 + vat (call out) to disable it which I think is outrageous.

Does anyone have any ideas on a diy solution to this, such as disconnecting the bell on the alarm (how would we do this) or recommend a cheaper trader who can disable it. I live in the Northern Home Counties

Hunnymonster

Usually there are two parts to this problem......

The bellbox on the outside wall might have a backup battery so that if your local criminal element were to snip the wire to it or lift it off the wall the alarm would go off. So you need to be up the ladder (wearing ear defenders) and remove the bell box and clear out it's insides)

At the same time because you'll have disturbed the tamper ciruit, the main control panel will be squawking too..... which you need to dash downstairs and reset/disable too. Don't worry about the noise - you have ear defenders on

Personally when mine went AWOL after a close strike by lightning, I did it the other way round - I disconnected the control panel from the mains, whipped out the battery from the control unit and let it run down the bell battery (you may want to be ready with a ladder to shin up and disable it)

StephenB_2

Why not get the thing working properly? If your system is like mine, disconnecting the mains & the internal battery will reset the memory and you can reprogram it.

So: firstly arm yourself with a manual for the system. Have a good read and see if the codes are still set at the default values.

Disconnect the mains input (AIUI there should be a nearby fuse). The alarm should stay on, powered by the internal battery. Take the front off. The 'tamper' circuit will fire, so expect loud internal & external noises. Disconnect the internal battery: the internal unit will shut up, but the external unit will keep making a racket. Reconnect the battery, put the front back on (the outside unit should shut up), reconnect the mains, and use the manual to reprogram the unit.

Replace the internal battery if you're worried about its age, the sheds sell them.

Good luck.

SJB