Security system goes off when door open

Mar 15, 2009 18 Replies

My house has a Vista-20P for more than 6 years. A couple of days ago, the LO BAT showed up on the keypad. After research on this forum, I was able to replace the battery. The old battery was UltraTech UT1240 (12V4Ah). The new one is Werker WKA12-5F (12V5Ah). The guy at the store told me that 5Ah is better and shouldn't cause any problem. I installed the battery yesterday without any problem. Today, when I open the back door, the alarm goes off (both siren and keypad) even it is not armed. The system works normally with all other zones, including other doors.



Could it be the new battery? Thanks for any help.


NO!! the new battery did not cause this to happen.

Enter CODE OFF CODE OFF as in 1234 1 1234 1 that should reset the system.

Then see if you can repeat the condition.

Good luck.

ABLE1, Thanks for the suggestion, but that doesn't help. I rechecked all the wires, and they are quite tight.

Which zone number is showing alarm? It could be that your system lost its programming, and has reverted to its default zone programming.

Jim Rojas

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Huh? How would it just lose it's program?

Methinks it's a low batt on an x-mitter, not the gel-cell.

zone 3. The weird thing is that all other zones work fine. I armed the system and open front door or garage, and the system went off reporting the right zone fault. Only the back door on zone 3 that going haywire.

When did you last have the transmitter batteries been replaced?

I'd say it was a bad transmitter. It should show check Zone 3 if the battery was real low or not working at all.

Try changing the transmitter battery first. If it still goes into alarm, double check the zone type in programming. If all programming looks ok, then change out the transmitter.

Jim Rojas

G. Morgan wrote:

I'm certainly not one to question the master, but I believe I'm right on this one.

"LO BAT Indicates that there is a low battery condition in the wireless transmitter** (or BAT with number displayed (00 is RF keypad). Accompanied by a single "beep"* (about once every 30 seconds) at the keypad. "

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43

We can only speculated with the amount of information given. Being that the original poster is not a security professional, we can only provide general suggestions on what to look for.

A dead or dying transmitter should not generate an alarm if the system isn't armed at all. Unless the poster was not certain what was happening to begin with.

Jim Rojas

G. Morgan wrote:

the alarm is coming from INSIDE the house. get out NOW.

I say he goes into programming and checks to make sure the zone type didn't change to 24 burg or fire somehow.

Sure it's a long shot but I've seen some weird s*it with this family of panels and it would only take a few seconds to rule out.

My original post might not be very clear. The battery that I replaced was the backup battery for the system. It's a sizable and heavy about

2x3x4in fits right in the controller box. The transmitter at the door is wired to the system and doesn't need separate battery. 2 days ago the keypad emitted rapid beeping about every 4 to 5 hours, and the display showed AC on top and LO BAT at bottom, both on the right hand side. I read on the net; all pointed to the battery, which I replaced yesterday and discover the said problem today: With the system is unarmed, I open the door (zone 3), the alarm goes off.

What I have tried today:

1- I hooked the old battery back and same problem 2- I armed the system and same problem 3- I by-passed zone 3; when I opened the door the first time, it beeped once; closed and opened the second time; alarm went off 4- Apparently my keypad is a fixed-word keypad, so according to the Vista-20P manual, I can't use it to reprogram

Thanks for any suggestion.

If you like, I can call up your system and check the programming.

Jim Rojas (813) 884-6335

Mario Everesto wrote:

I thought I read something about wireless, I must have been hallucinating.

Anyway, you can try rebooting the panel

Two methods:

  1. Enter then exit program mode
  2. Pull AC and batt power then power back up (AC first) be sure not to short the AC wire to anything

Jim, not sure how. I'll give you a call tomorrow at your number (813)

884-6335

Would I lose all the settings if I power off? I don't want to lose the existing programming on the control panel

No

The programming is stored on a EEPROM

What if he owes money to the original installer and a recent change was made via the remote programming software?

When all other possibilities have been eliminated, only that which remains, however impractical, must be true.

I know, I am posting late again, please excuse this as I travel alot.

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