Powermax Complete CPU Tamper troubles

gallagag

My brother and I are trying to install a Visonic Powermax Complete Alarm system in our house. After I connected the phone cables to the control panel and screwed the cover back on, there were the following trouble messages that won't go away:

CPU Tamper Alarm
System Troubles
CPU Tamper Open

Did I do something wrong, or is this because we haven't mounted the control panel to the wall yet?

altor

That is correct. There is a spring on the back of the panel that once closed will end the CPU tamper open alert. If you have no faults on the system then you will need to clear the alarm memory. To do this, listen to the alarms, then arm the system away, then turn it off. Ready to arm should appear then.

gallagag

Thanks altor. Only problem now is that I'm getting a GSM unit failure message, but I don't even have a gsm unit connected! Something's wrong here.

altor

gallagag wrote: »

Thanks altor. Only problem now is that I'm getting a GSM unit failure message, but I don't even have a gsm unit connected! Something's wrong here.

Are you sure its a GSM fail and not a line fail ?

gallagag

Definitely a GSM failure message. I really think the control panel is faulty. A siren tamper message just flashed up there even though the siren was closed; it disappeared after 30 seconds. GSM failure message is still there though.

altor

gallagag wrote: »

Definitely a GSM failure message. I really think the control panel is faulty. A siren tamper message just flashed up there even though the siren was closed; it disappeared after 30 seconds. GSM failure message is still there though.

If you go into define communications, CS reporting then dont report the line monitor if not connected, then into GSM/GPRS do the same see if it clears it for you.

Did you test the signal for the outside bell ?

gallagag

Thanks again, altor. I got rid of the GSM error message eventually. This might be a stupid question, but how do you test the signal for the outside siren? Is it by pushing the test button in the siren itself?

altor

gallagag wrote: »

Thanks again, altor. I got rid of the GSM error message eventually. This might be a stupid question, but how do you test the signal for the outside siren? Is it by pushing the test button in the siren itself?

Good to hear you got it sorted.
If you go into the diagnostic menu, WL SIREN TEST. You should get a strong signal. Anything less I would move the bell. It is a two way bell so should test straight away.

gallagag

Strong siren signal.:) It turns out that when replacing the battery cover after connecting the phone cables, I didn't thread the tamper spring through the hole in the cover and it was trapped underneath it, hence the "CPU tamper open" message. Luckily the tamper spring does not seem to be damaged. Not sure what caused the GSM error message - hopefully it won't come back.

I really appreciate your help on this, altor. Thanks again!

gallagag

Altor, just one more question. Is it OK to connect the control panel to the power by plugging it in to a regular electrical socket or do I need to wire in a fused spur?

altor

gallagag wrote: »

Altor, just one more question. Is it OK to connect the control panel to the power by plugging it in to a regular electrical socket or do I need to wire in a fused spur?

A 3 Amp fused spur is best. Also if you go into define panel set the supervisory to 12 hours. I know by default it does be off.

The GSM is a strange one as it is plug and play so if you did not install one it should not see it.

gallagag

Altor, can the Powermax be set up to contact me if the there is a power cut and the battery takes over? The system does contact me when the control panel box is opened but not when I disconnect the AC power.

altor

gallagag wrote: »

Altor, can the Powermax be set up to contact me if the there is a power cut and the battery takes over? The system does contact me when the control panel box is opened but not when I disconnect the AC power.

Yes, you need to set up the reporting to private to be alerts - open/close. This will report all events except the set/unset.
If you then go into define panel you can set the time delay, I think its set at 5 minutes by default.

gallagag

Great, that's sorted too. My control panel was set to warn of AC failure after 180 minutes; I changed it to 5.

altor

gallagag wrote: »

Great, that's sorted too. My control panel was set to warn of AC failure after 180 minutes; I changed it to 5.

There seems to be a few different settings compared to normal settings. At lease it all working for you now