There is an alarm system from ranger american that was installed in my home by the previous owners and there are a few windows that do not seem to arm when open or close. All the other windows work. The hardware looks still intact on each window. The contact points appear to line up when the windows are closed. Any suggestions on repair?? other than calling a technician. thanks
Ranger American does a lot of tract homes in southern Florida. If your home is in this area, lightning is one common problem. It can freeze magnetic sensors (contacts) closed or open. Mostly they stay open though I've seen it both ways.
There could also be a break in the wire somewhere.
The panel or a zone expansion device could have failed though this is less common.
The panel is the easiest thing to eliminate so check it first. Pull one of the working zones off the panel and read its resistance. If it's less than 10 Ohms the system is not using end of line resistors. If it's 1.0K, 2.0K or 2.2K Ohms (these are the most common), then EOL resistors are in use. Either way, restore the good zone's wiring now.
If there are no EOLs short out the problem zone with a short wire. If the panel still doesn't show ready to arm, the panel is the problem. If it does, go on to the next step.
If there are EOLs in use, short out the problem zone with an appropriate resistor and proceed as above.
If the tech did a decent job there will be a service loop (extra wire) in th wall behind the magnetic contacts. You can pull them out and use a meter or continuity tester to see if the contacts themselves have failed. While bringing a magnet close to the sensor check the resistance between the leads. If nothing changes the sensor needs replacement. They're cheap -- typically between $2 and $4 apiece retail.
If the sensors are all working, temporarily short them out and see if the panel will arm. If so, the problem is a broken wire. You'll have to trace and repair it or run a new wire.
That may very well be so. I've seen a number of their installations while looking at homes under construction. I didn't check the wire itself but I noticed they use cheap even for large, custom homes. There's a 2 million dollar home off Clarke Rd not far from my place where they installed a Power632. There are about two dozen doors (including sliders, French doors, overheads and regular doors). They installed two motion detectors and three door contacts. There's a wimpy little siren in a closet -- no outside horn anywhere.
Did you ever consider that the homeowner may share in the responsibility for this installation? It's sort of what you get for accepting the lowest bid and not doing your homework/due diligence. Then they "whine" about the poor service, installation, and false alarms. Many so called "rich people" are the biggest tightwads. I guess that's why they're rich. :-)
looking at homes under construction. I didn't check the
There's a 2 million dollar home off Clarke Rd not far from
(including sliders, French doors, overheads and regular
There's a wimpy little siren in a closet -- no outside horn
The homes I was referring to were being built on spec. No homeowner was involved in selecting anything. I looked for a new construction home when I first decided to move to Florida. Builders almost invariably select the lowest bidder. The homeowner doesn't even know who did the work until he buys the place.
I found the same practice when looking for a larger home a couple of years ago. That the place I finally bought was prewired by some sub-contractor during construction but the original owner didn't sign up for service so they never finished the job. I'll have to run new wires to eight sliders facing onto the lanai since the "technician" didn't bother to wire them. The house has 3,800 sf under air plus 2,200 sf of lanai and a 3-car garage. All they wired for were three doors and a couple of motion detectors. Idiots!
I wonder what would make someone "so-called" rich. I can afford whatever I need but I don't consider myself rich. I would never settle for a half-olsoned job like these people did though.
A million dollar home that the contractor let the electrician wire because he was there with Cat5...no keypads, no power, no siren, just doors & windows...or worse than cat5; everything wired with duece...two conductor keypads and motions.
Yep any old monkey can do it.
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Yeah, I love it when the keypads are prewired to boxes set at light switch heights and motion detectors are all looking at the windows. Two inch wire coming out of the hinge side of the door jams from a 1/4 inch hole. Wire coming out from behind the outer edge of the molding by the windows on the bottom only.
Then the builder asks, how'd ya know the electrician did it?
Ranger American installs the keypads at switch height...really dumb when you install an LCD keypad...client has to get down on their knees to read the display. So it aint just the electricians..but yah..electricians should stick to pulling romex and leave the skinny wires to us:-)
I'm gonna have to start carrying my camera to job sites again...we should start a museum of alarm installation oddities.
Like installing the panel in the back of a tiny hall closet, 7 feet high with the damn shelf hitting you in the face...idiots. Turns a half hour panel trim into 2 hours of backbreaking cursing.
| > A million dollar home that the contractor let the electrician wire because | > he was there with Cat5...no keypads, no power, no siren, just doors & | > windows...or worse than cat5; everything wired with duece...two conductor | > keypads and motions. | >
| > Yep any old monkey can do it. | >
| >
| Yeah, I love it when the keypads are prewired to boxes set at light | switch heights and motion detectors are all looking at the windows. Two | inch wire coming out of the hinge side of the door jams from a 1/4 inch | hole. Wire coming out from behind the outer edge of the molding by the | windows on the bottom only. | | Then the builder asks, how'd ya know the electrician did it? |
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