Recommendations for replacement wired home alarm systems?

[brewdexta]

Just looked at Pulnix, looks good, about 150 quid a pair mind, but there may be cheaper models. I hate it when sites won't give you a price until you create an account

I avoid wireless for anything critical, I find it a PITA, convenient for browsing/laptop/phone but too fragile for anything you need to rely on. I can never see the point of many "wireless" things, cameras for example. You still need to get power to them so use PoE instead.

 

[DAPPH]

Just looked at Pulnix, looks good, about 150 quid a pair mind, but there may be cheaper models. I hate it when sites won't give you a price until you create an account

I avoid wireless for anything critical, I find it a PITA, convenient for browsing/laptop/phone but too fragile for anything you need to rely on. I can never see the point of many "wireless" things, cameras for example. You still need to get power to them so use PoE instead.

The Pulnix had multi core well screened earthed stilw armoured cable buried in the earth for the outdoor units. Ducted some three feet down below drive / access roads Sometimes I had put in supplementary power units in the cable if runs were over 50 mtrs as the voltage drop in 12 volts in times of peak mains electricity demand was enough to drop the sensors out of a set system and cause alarm triggering.

 

[brewdexta]

looks like Pulnix and Takex are one and the same now, these are £75, the £150 ones were quad beam.

Takex 30m External / 60m Internal Twin Beam Detector PB-30TK

The Takex 30m External / 60m Internal Twin photoelectric beams are designed to meet the highest standards of quality and reliability for photoelectric beam intrusion detection.

alertelectrical.com

 

[brightspark]

this post put a jinx on my alarm never had any bother and had the meter changed today and it went haywire . battery was knacked so i replaced it checked the date and it was 9 years old so cant complain a tenner for a new one

 

[angellonewolf]

Any time I am filling out house insurance forms there are always several questions about the alarm system. About who installed it and what category etc and if it is maintained and monitored to name a few. I always select the lowest grade of "alarm- other alarm - not maintained"

just never say you got an alarm it gives them an excuse if your broken in to and its not armed

 

[JOEPRO]

this post put a jinx on my alarm never had any bother and had the meter changed today and it went haywire . battery was knacked so i replaced it checked the date and it was 9 years old so cant complain a tenner for a new one

So the sounder went off and therefore it's battery must still be OK?

How often are the barreries supposed to be changed anyway? Every 2 or 3 years something like that if it's a serviced alarm system they must have some sort of replacement interval I would imagine.

 

[brightspark]

the only time id change them is if theres a power cut and it sets off.9 years isnt bad

 

[Robotstar5]

So the sounder went off and therefore it's battery must still be OK?

How often are the barreries supposed to be changed anyway? Every 2 or 3 years something like that if it's a serviced alarm system they must have some sort of replacement interval I would imagine.

Ours is changed with the annual service which is due next week. We get a couple of power cuts a year round here and you can hear the chorus of alarms that have never had a new battery

 

[brightspark]

Ours is changed with the annual service which is due next week. We get a couple of power cuts a year round here and you can hear the chorus of alarms that have never had a new battery

i normaly get that turning leccy off for doing wiring in punters housing its a pain in the ass

 

[JOEPRO]

OK so I got a test fire up of the panel this evening. Still waiting on the blue keypad and final PIR to come in post tomorrow so I hooked up a spare keypad and left all the wires unconnected and not touching at the one missing PIR to turn the system on.

I also left the alarm bell backup battery jumper to off since I knew this was only a short power up.

All went fine - showing tamper faults until it's programmed. All PIRs are working which I can tell by the red LED. They are much more accurate and sensitive than the 20 year old ones too!

I did get the Smartcom connected to my WiFi OK by following you tube videos all that went fine. However the alarm panel keypad won't show me the option to generate an app code for the smartcom. So that was my fear that the firmware in the board may require updating. (Even though smartcomm has been out for at least 5 years and my alarm board was manufactured only a few weeks ago )

Powered down again for now so tomorrow I will fit the final keypad and PIR then will likely have to sit through the programming by keypad to get it going until I see if I can get a smartcom app code option to show. I am also checking with eBay vendors who sell the Texecom USB cables and firmware flash cables if they work with my particular board before buying.

Anyway good news is all wiring seems fine and tomorrow evening I'll have it going and manually programmed for now and figure out the smartcom issues or other means of being able to connect the Wintex software.

 

[JOEPRO]

The alarm is now fully commissioned with basic programming on the main house. I will be adding the expander and garages + setting up part arm zones at a later date and using Wintex.

The fobs are very handy, don't even have to open the keypad in normal use.

Sorted the tamper alerts etc so all running great. New keypad finished after the drill mishap




And stupid things like the bad plasterwork and buried original PIR has been filled, repaired and painted before the new PIR went in.

 

[JOEPRO]

Separately for my garages I have ordered a pair of the highest standard Texecom Capture wired PIRS with quad sensors and dual technology. Texecom glass break sensors to be located on the ceilings adjacent to the windows and door contacts for the pedestrian doors. Didn't bother with the shutters as I think those may give rise to false alarms in windy weather and besides that good luck to anyone raiding a garage without setting off the PIRs.

The bell is background illuminated and looks fairly snazzy too.



(LED lit permanently factory default)

 

[DAPPH]

So the sounder went off and therefore it's battery must still be OK?

How often are the barreries supposed to be changed anyway? Every 2 or 3 years something like that if it's a serviced alarm system they must have some sort of replacement interval I would imagine.

I used to do a power load to get a voltage drop over 10 min using a 12 v 21 w turn light bulb with wires & crock clips put across the disconnected battery ..if it was 11 volts or above it was OK .

 

[JOEPRO]

I used to do a power load to get a voltage drop over 10 min using a 12 v 21 w turn light bulb with wires & crock clips put across the disconnected battery ..if it was 11 volts or above it was OK .

I think I will probably aim to replace them every 3 or 4 years the batteries are cheap anyway and preventative maintenence to ensure the alarm doesn't go berserk if the electric is out.

I have a Nice branded automation system that's the other thing that is on a backup battery although it's battery is about £150 so I turn the mains off to them occasionally to cycle them on the battery and test it. Also saves a handling with her phoning me at work etc not able to open the gates if the power goes off!

 

[brewdexta]

I've decided to add a discrete alarm to the Workshop/Barn/Brewery/Office block rather than use a separate zone expander from the house. Partially because getting a cable between the house and barn would be a PITA, and it is also the quickest way to get it done as I don't have an alarm in the house at the moment - yet.

I think the Texecom Premier Elite 88 should do it. It has 8 areas that can be alarmed separately, 4 may not be enough and the difference in price between that and the one below is minimal.

To get an idea of cost, I used Security Warehouse's web site. You don't need an account to get pricing and they sell the Takex active beams I want for the driveway.

So far, with control unit, external sounder, remote keypad, 5 x PIR, 2 x shock/contacts. 7ah battery and a Takex active beam in comes to £583.90 ex VAT. I may add a couple of wired smoke/fire sensors later.

I have a large box of external cat5e, or is it preferable to use 6/8 or12 core alarm cable?

I was thinking about adding smoke generator for the workshop and master blaster for the barn, I will think on that.

 

[brewdexta]

To answer my own question, as cat5 is single strand, it can easily snap if knicked when stripping. Also has different insulation as its designed for insulation displacement i.e. RJ45 crimps and the like. So not ideal with screw connectors and probably doesn't meet the British Standard alarms for several reasons.

So it will work, at least in most uses, but could be prone to more faults. I've got both so will use the correct stuff.

 

[JOEPRO]

6 core alarm cable should work for all elements of a system

 

[MetalMonkey]

I tend to use a lot of 8 core cable, it is often the most cost effective. 4 core is also very handy when you want to run a very small cable to pick up one sensor. Ideally go for copper cable and not the copper clad aluminium which is far less durable and more difficult to work with. Cat cable will work as a bodge, but not really suitable and also physically larger.

 

[DAPPH]

To answer my own question, as cat5 is single strand, it can easily snap if knicked when stripping. Also has different insulation as its designed for insulation displacement i.e. RJ45 crimps and the like. So not ideal with screw connectors and probably doesn't meet the British Standard alarms for several reasons.

So it will work, at least in most uses, but could be prone to more faults. I've got both so will use the correct stuff.

Do a voltage drop test using a 12 v car battery on the length of cables you are running unless you already know the likely loss. Many a time in factories I was called out to sort out alarms going off and often found a voltage drop 2.7v or more volts on longs runs, a prolonged dip in the mains was often the cause of the alarm dropping out and going off.

 

[JOEPRO]

OK so I got a test fire up of the panel this evening. Still waiting on the blue keypad and final PIR to come in post tomorrow so I hooked up a spare keypad and left all the wires unconnected and not touching at the one missing PIR to turn the system on.

I also left the alarm bell backup battery jumper to off since I knew this was only a short power up.

All went fine - showing tamper faults until it's programmed. All PIRs are working which I can tell by the red LED. They are much more accurate and sensitive than the 20 year old ones too!

I did get the Smartcom connected to my WiFi OK by following you tube videos all that went fine. However the alarm panel keypad won't show me the option to generate an app code for the smartcom. So that was my fear that the firmware in the board may require updating. (Even though smartcomm has been out for at least 5 years and my alarm board was manufactured only a few weeks ago )

Powered down again for now so tomorrow I will fit the final keypad and PIR then will likely have to sit through the programming by keypad to get it going until I see if I can get a smartcom app code option to show. I am also checking with eBay vendors who sell the Texecom USB cables and firmware flash cables if they work with my particular board before buying.

Anyway good news is all wiring seems fine and tomorrow evening I'll have it going and manually programmed for now and figure out the smartcom issues or other means of being able to connect the Wintex software.

Update on this - I had purchased a used Smartcom on ebay and it did not come with instructions. There were you tube videos which covered the WiFi connection process but not the programming of the panel.

There is programing required of the panel which can be done using the standard keypad. I carefully completed everything and I got the option to generate the app access code.

But it has an error when trying to get the access code:



I also note that the cloud LED on the smartcom is blinking and not solid. So it seems to be it is connected to Web but not the texecom cloud.

After alot of research it could be the Smartcom I have is too old. So I reported the problem on ebay and got a full refund. I ordered another new one and will try again in the coming days when it arrives- fingers crossed it connects next time otherwise I'll have ruled out old / outdated smartcom version by then and I will call Texecom support and see if they will help.