Alarm silence/power query ??

Peter, You will have to either disconnect the siren to avoid disturbing the neighbors, or power the unit down by removing ac power AND disconnecting either the red or the black wire on the system battery that is in the control box. This is not the keypad, but the control unit that is usually found in a closet or basement..

Depending on the brand of the alarm system, you should be OK when you are finished to power it back up. When you power up, connect the AC transformer first and then connect the battery. Certain panels will require you to reset the system time. When you are ready to do that, just come back to the group for help. Regards, Allan Waghalter Houston, TX

It sounds as though the gentleman has a bad battery. How long has the battery been in service?

I did a service call saturday...battery was 15 years old. Lady didn't = think it needed to be changed...after all they should last forever = right?

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disconnecting=20

The best part is when the client thinks that the dead battery ought to be covered under the system warranty (which has also expired).

Your camcorder battery wears out with time; so does your cordless shaver battery, your cell phone battery ... and your alarm panel backup battery. Most backup batteries have a useful lifespan of 3 to 5 years.

As this gent is in the UK, I would agree with the bad battery. The external bell has it's own back up battery and will sound on power loss for about 20 min. Try replacing the Main Control battery. If you wish to power down for a long period the only way to disable this is to disconnect the battery in the bell or wait for the 20 min time-out.

I always thought that the standardized use of self-contained bell boxes in the UK was a better idea than what we do here in the US. What I'd really like to see is a self-powered siren in a tamper-resistant cabinet.

Yep. Out here car batteries only last 2 years...that's the analogy I = use.

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How come? I would think this to be a major annoyance...especially with = false alarm & audio annoyance ordinances we have here.

I've also had panels have runaway sirens when battery is really = old...without remote bell batteries.

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They're more secure. Even if you cut the cable the sounder rings for the alloted time.

I recall having that happen with old Moose panels. It hasn't happened to me with Napco although YMMV.

Many thanks for all your help.. I'm off to buy a battery for the main unit then....

Much appreciated :-)

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I don't even put outside sirens in anymore.

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Since I sold my alarm company and am only interested in DIY sales neither do I. :^)