ASTEC 63 Control Pad Replacement

eddiem74

Hi Everyone,

I have an ASTEC 63 Alarm installed for the last 7+ years with little issues apart from a window sensor needing a tweak as it kept triggering the alarm, and the battery needing to be replaced.

However one thing that has become an issue of late is the control pad. It is located in the porch of the house which can get a little cold (not that its the cause?), and we seem to be experiencing issues now when either setting the alarm or just turning it off i.e. buttons are unresponsive or require lots of patience.

Is this a common issue with these alarms ? Do I need to have the control pad replaced? If yes, how much for this to be done.

Many thanks for any guidance.

KoolKid

This can be solved by cleaning the keypad side of the PCB with a lightly damed cloth with some nail varnish remover. Gently wipe over each key contact . Do not apply pressure just gently wipe.
If that fails, its replace the keypad I'm afraid.

eddiem74

koolkid wrote: »

This can be solved by cleaning the keypad side of the PCB with a lightly damed cloth with some nail varnish remover. Gently wipe over each key contact . Do not apply pressure just gently wipe.
If that fails, its replace the keypad I'm afraid.

Ok, will look to do that, how do I remove the front cover? Does it just pull off? Is there some screws or ?

KoolKid

Remove the keypad from the base by
turning the plastic screw on the right 90 degrees.
The keypad will now easily move away from the base.
If you do not have engineer access the alarm will sound at this stage.
You can silence the internal siren by removing it from its base in the same manner.
To open up the keypad remove the 4 screws from the rear.
The front will now lift off. Remove the number pad and clean as described above

eddiem74

KoolKid wrote: »

Remove the keypad from the base by
turning the plastic screw on the right 90 degrees.
The keypad will now easily move away from the base.
If you do not have engineer access the alarm will sound at this stage.
You can silence the internal siren by removing it from its base in the same manner.
To open up the keypad remove the 4 screws from the rear.
The front will now lift off. Remove the number pad and clean as described above

Thanks will look to do this, need to find a time when I won't upset the neighbours, as I don't have engineer access.

Also, for informational purposes at this stage, how much would it roughly cost to replace the keypad ?

KoolKid

They cost around € 60.
If you wanted it fitted you would be paying a call out on top of that.

eddiem74

Ok, so managed to remove the keypad and give a clean as suggested. Got it all back together however I am not sure the rubber keypad cover is back on as good as it can be. I took it back off a second time, and do have the rubber lined up correctly, and in the required placement holes, but I think the little rubber placement pins might need to be pushed or pulled through a bit more.

Anyway, that aside some of the keys I had issues with improved, and in general some of the other buttons do seem more responsive. So I also found the manual to the alarm online, and reset the password to something else, not using some of the digits which were not working as well.

All seems to be well now for the time being.

Thanks for the help.

KoolKid

Glad that worked out for you.
Any bother you know where we are.