Aritech CS350 Alarm - Low Battery

LittleTimmae

Hi All,

I have the Aritech CS350 and due to procrastination allowed the battery to get too low. Had a power cut on Wednesday and then the battery died [Panel Blank]. Didn't manage to get a new one until today. Changed the battery, panel still blank. I followed tips from KoolKid & altor to no avail. The panel is still blank. Could this be a fuse problem on the board? Or have I F1ked it? I see four fuses. One in a black casing [easy to remove]. I'm sure you guys know what it looks like, but I have a pic if required.. Any help would be appreciated. Tnx

KoolKid

With the battery removed does the panel still not power up?
Have you a meter to check all the fuses?
Also check the ac power into the panel. The dc power to the keypad and the dc power down the battery leads.

LittleTimmae

Yep! it still dead when when powered up without the battery.

Trying to locate a meter to check..

Sorry for sounding dumb, but could you expand on check the power in the panel and the dc power to the keypad and the battery leads [no experience with MM'] What should I be looking for?

Don't know if this means anything to you. The mains was off when I put the new battery in, and as soon as i did the alarm and the tamper alarm started blaring.

KoolKid

Forget the battery for a minute and concentrate on getting the system to power up.
Start at the power into the panel.
You should be getting 220 volts ac out of the mains fuse into the power supply.
If that's good you should be getting approx 18volts ac coming out of the power supply to the pcb board.
If that's good you should be getting 12 volts DC on Aux power, keypad +&-, bell +& BHO and on the battery leads with the battery disconnected.
Also when checking continuity on the fuses remove them from the board.

LittleTimmae

Cheers M8. Hopefully have these questions answered tomorrow. Tnx for you help.

KoolKid

Let me know how you get on. Hopefully just a fuse or 2.

LittleTimmae

Will do. Fingers crossed.

degsie

Might be a daft question, but have you checked the breakers after the power cut?

LittleTimmae

ECB? All OK

ferkh10

Having a bit of a nightmare with my house alarm. Its an Aritech CS45003 alarm with a CD34 keypad unit. I recently had a "Low Battery" warning on the keypad unit so I took the cover off the alarm unit and changed the battery for a new one.

As soon as I connect up the new battery and reconnect the fuse and mains electricity the alarm goes off. I suspect this is to be expected.
My problem is the keypad unit simply says "**** V04.02 ****". I try to put in my old code but nothing happens, the alarm is still going off and the keypad unit still keeps that message on.
I've also tried what I believe is the default keypad code (01122) and the engineers code (01278 down) but neither of these do anything, the alarm just keeps going off and that message stays on the screen.

Ive disconnected the battery and the fuse from the alarm unit to stop the alarm going off.

Any ideas how to connect it back up and turn the alarm off?

KoolKid

Check all the keypad connections.

LittleTimmae

KoolKid wrote: »

Forget the battery for a minute and concentrate on getting the system to power up.
Start at the power into the panel.
You should be getting 220 volts ac out of the mains fuse into the power supply.
If that's good you should be getting approx 18volts ac coming out of the power supply to the pcb board.
If that's good you should be getting 12 volts DC on Aux power, keypad +&-, bell +& BHO and on the battery leads with the battery disconnected.
Also when checking continuity on the fuses remove them from the board.

Checked everything as instructed. Thought I had the answer when I discovered a blown fuse. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Power going to everywhere it should, Panel still dead. Had a colleague go through to double check. Still no joy.
So, it's an engineer for me...
KoolKid, many thanks for your help...

armstrongracer

Time to dip into this old thread.

I was investigating a low battery alarm on an Airitech CS350 and discovered that the fault was a fractured terminal on the battery (12v/7ah). The fracture was right where the terminal meets the potting and essentially the terminal was only being held in place by the potting, it dropped off as soon as I picked up the battery. When I was checking the system I put a meter across the battery leads and measured 21v with no load (battery disconnected), this seems quite high for a 12v battery. The board has an adjustment pot on it, when I replace the battery should I adjust the output voltage down, or leave it as is?

KoolKid

Are you sure you are measuring it with the meter on DC?
You can turn the pot down but I don't think it will adjust far enough. That voltage should be just over 13 volts DC .
I wouldn't leave a battery connected if its much higher.

armstrongracer

Cheers KoolKid,

I'd be inclined to believe the meter, its a Fluke not a Maplins cheapie. Having said that it's ac/dc auto sensing for volts so I wonder if the current is too low for detection to work properly. At a guess I would say that the battery box predates the Airtech, the charging pcb is made by Scopetronic Security Products Ltd, the pcb looks about 20 years old. Any chance that the pcb might be 12/24v and a link has fallen off or something has shorted to make it go into 24v mode. I agree with you, charging needs to be sorted before a new battery goes in. If the PCB is shot any suggestions for a suitable psu? PowerPlex do one but it comes complete with a cabinet, I have a perfectly good one already fitted to the wall so would rather put a replacement transformer/psu in.

KoolKid

Sounds like this is a separate power supply to the panel.
Can you post up a picture.?

armstrongracer

The battery sits in a standard Rittal type metal box with a screw lid, anti-tamper micro-switch and a pcb feeding the battery. This sits just above the Airitech CS350. Mains goes into the battery box, output wires go to the Airitech. This is a picture of the pcb which sits in the top left of the box. Integral with the PCB is a square type laminated transformer

KoolKid

Where do the wires out of that connect to the CS350

armstrongracer

KoolKid wrote: »

Where do the wires out of that connect to the CS350

Didnt pay much attention to the Airitech. Just had another look. Mains power is also going to the Airitech from the same fuse as the battery box. 2 smaller red + black wires go from the battery pcb board into the CS350. You can actually see them in the photo. The two thicker wires go to the battery terminals. I got a new battery and powered it up. When I put meter across the output with battery connected volts drpp to 13v from 21v. Figures cos its under load. Adjustment pot doesnt do anything.

KoolKid

Id be careful of it. Still curious re the external power supply. What terminals on the CS350 are the red 7 black connected to?

armstrongracer

That's going to be a difficult one.

There are only 4 wires going from the battery box to the Aritech main panel, 2 are from the battery charging PCB marked Load +/-, the other two are from the anti tamper microswitch on the battery box door. Unfortunately they go into a birds nest of wires and resistors in the Aritech CS350 panel. I would probably do more damage tracing those wires back to source, they probably haven't been disturbed in 15-20 years. Logic says that the +/- wires go to the input that monitors the battery, which in turn sends the 'Low Battery Voltage' alarm to the keypad. If I can find a suitable 12v linear psu to charge the battery I would rather change that and be safe. The laquer on the pcb has gone brittle and some of the components are very blackened, as with a lot of old houses the whole system is sitting in a damp space under the stairs, even if the alarm is back functioning ok that pcb is probably a fire risk. As I mentioned earlier the battery charging box probably pre dates the CS350, and that is already old enough.

KoolKid

An is the battery and the charging voltage ok in the CS350?
If so I would disconnect power down that power supply completely and see what happens. A small panel like a cs350 should not need an external power supply.

EB_2013

Sorry to bump an old thread but I'm looking for some advice for my CS350.

I moved in to an apartment recently which had this system fitted and there was a low battery message appearing on the panel display. I don't have the previous owners code or manual.

I decided to take off the cover which houses the battery as I suspected I need to order a new one. One of the battery terminals was disconnected so I thought maybe it might work if I connected the other terminal up but the battery message appeared again after a few minutes. I'm just worried now will the alarm sound the minute I connect up the new battery? Also if I try the engineer mode and it doesn't work will the alarm continue to sound? Thanks

kub

EB_2013 wrote: »

Sorry to bump an old thread but I'm looking for some advice for my CS350.

I moved in to an apartment recently which had this system fitted and there was a low battery message appearing on the panel display. I don't have the previous owners code or manual.

I decided to take off the cover which houses the battery as I suspected I need to order a new one. One of the battery terminals was disconnected so I thought maybe it might work if I connected the other terminal up but the battery message appeared again after a few minutes. I'm just worried now will the alarm sound the minute I connect up the new battery? Also if I try the engineer mode and it doesn't work will the alarm continue to sound? Thanks

So you took the cover off the panel and the system did not activate?
Well if it did not activate for that, it most certainly won't when the new battery goes in.
Being honest, I think there is more of an issue there than a low battery, I would get a professional in to look at it.

EB_2013

Thanks, I thought the panel might have already been off before and the alarm let run down until the battery ran out.

The place had been unoccupied for a while before I moved in.

eringobragh

EB_2013 wrote: »

Thanks, I thought the panel might have already been off before and the alarm let run down until the battery ran out.

The place had been unoccupied for a while before I moved in.

Same alarm in ours when I moved in -stuck in new battery and message cleared and then came back

in the end it was a glass fuse on the board - they can be got from a motorfactors for pennies - just take out the fuse and check if got a break inside

EB_2013

Thanks I'll try that.

beanian

Guys,
Sorry for bumping an old thread, my elderly neighbours have an old aritech alarm system. The bell has started going off randomly, 4:30am this morning till about 6:00am. It went off again about 8:30 and i called in. The alarm is disarmed and reporting a low battery .
When you try to arm the alarm it reports "Call Alarm Co. 06"

Entering the disarm code while the alarm is sounding appears to have no affect. The internal siren doesnt sound at the same time.
Any ideas?
Pic attached

Cheers,
Ian

degsie

A low battery can cause unpredictable behavior. Suggest changing the battery asap.

KoolKid

If you don't have engineer access you may need to default and reprogramme that panel or get a licenced installer to do it for her.
If low battery has been on it a long time that may be causing the bell fault and activation.
What displays when you disarm the system after it activates?