HKC Alarm Fault!!!

rob w

Hi,

Just wondering if someone with a bit more knowledge in the area can help me out. (Am a sparks myself but limited experience with alarm systems )

HKC alarm system at home,is showing a battery fault at the keypad. I changed the battery in the panel a few years ago now, so maybe its gone already. Thing is though, when the mains power is cut to the system, the internal bell rings constantly and the keypad is completely dead....so the system cant be reset. I have disconnected the battery leads to stop this now. So essentially the system only works on mains power (but is obviously still showing a battery fault.) But the fact that the battery can maintain the internal bell ringing makes me think its ok, and doesnt need to be changed!

So, the external SABB is not sounding either when the alarm activates, strobe is working fine, but no bell. So I was thinking maybe its the battery in here that's failed and causing the fault.....but that doesn't explain the keypad dying when the power goes!

Think I should just get a new panel battery first anyway and test it out before replacing the SABB.

I got up and had a look at the connections on the SABB earlier on though....seemed a bit funny to me though (but bearing in mind no wiring has been changed on this and it worked fine in the past).

The connections I found at the SABB are as follows;

Cable| At Ext. Bell| In Panel
Green & White| Strobe terminals | Int. Bell terminals
Yellow | 0V terminal | Not connected
Blue | Tamper | -12V
Black | Trigger in | Ext. Bell Terminal
Red | +12V | Ext. Bell Terminal

The fact the yellow cable is not connected is a bit strange......I had a look around the panel to see if it had snapped out of a connection or something but couldnt find any evidence of that!

Any ideas or advice would be great thanks!

KoolKid

I would check the battery first. It seems that is too low to hold up the keypad but still has enough to ring the internal.
On a tamper activation the internal bell will only ring. Check the external bell on a full alarm activation or by activating a panic button.
Leave the battery disconnected and do these ttests on mains only. A low battery can also draw down the dc power in the panel.

rob w

KoolKid wrote: »

I would check the battery first. It seems that is too low to hold up the keypad but still has enough to ring the internal.

I will take out the battery and change it when I get a chance during the week! I did think that myself earlier, so temporarily disconnected the internal bell and knocked off the mains to see if the keypad would stay on, but it died after a couple of seconds!

KoolKid wrote: »

On a tamper activation the internal bell will only ring. Check the external bell on a full alarm activation or by activating a panic button.
Leave the battery disconnected and do these ttests on mains only. A low battery can also draw down the dc power in the panel.

No panic buttons here, so how can I cause a full alarm activation? I thought there was only one type of activation!

Thanks for the reply!

KoolKid

Full or part set the system & open a window or door that is alarms (not the entry door)

rob w

Just got round to sortingthis yesterday evening.

Changed the battery in the panel, so that's the main problem sorted. But the external bell still not sounding on full alarm, so that'll need replacing too I guess.

Thanks for the replies!

KoolKid

I would be doing a few more tests before jumping to a new external bell.
Have you a multi meter to check all the fuses and the power for the external bell?

rob w

KoolKid wrote: »

I would be doing a few more tests before jumping to a new external bell.
Have you a multi meter to check all the fuses and the power for the external bell?

Yeah I do have a multimeter, and I did check the fuses and connections at the panel the other day. Will double check the again at the bell when I get a chance. Although the system is installed about twenty years now, and there is a bit of corrosion on the PCB within the external bell.

I will take another look though to be sure before forking out for a replacement!

KoolKid

Connect the bell negative into the aux negetive and see if the siren rings.
If not check the voltage across bell + & - and bell + & bell hold off up at the bell to confirm the cable is OK . You should get 12 -13 volts on both.