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Thread: Hills Security 12/NX12

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    Default Hills Security 12/NX12

    Hi all

    I am new to the forum, my name is Iceman and I was hoping someone out there could give me a hand?

    I have a NX12 home alarm system and I am quite familiar with it. In the last week I have been getting an unusual issue that I cannot find any answers for in the installation manual and user manual.

    Occasionally for no reason when the alarm is disabled, the codepads start beeping constantly. Its the same sort of beeping you get when there is a power failure. Once I enter my code in once the beeping stops.The networx manual says that there is a system fault and to press *2 to see what has caused the issue. This only works when I am in service mode and the system is not displaying any service light so pressing *2 does nothing.

    I thought maybe low battery and have checked with meter and it is showing 13.65V DC. The battery is 4 ears old , but seems to be in good nick.

    Can anyone else tell me what it maybe. The system arms fine and disarms fine with no codepad beeps when arming or disarming. The issue only happens once now and again and is inconsistent. When the codepads start beeping I just once again enter the code and it stops till next time.

    I do not have a blinking power light either. In fact I cannot fault it except for the fact that it keeps doing it now and again.

    Could it be faulty zone sensor? Ot even though battery is showing as good could it be on its way out?

    Any help much appreciated.

    Cheers

    Iceman



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    Are any zone lights flashing when the keypad starts beeping? It could be that your external siren tamper has been programmed as a trouble by day alarm such that the keypad beeps when activated. Or, that a spare zone is programmed as such and has an issue.

    Either of those is fairly easy to resolve but without either checking the system log for the fault or the zone programming to confirm if any zones are programmed as trouble by day you're throwing a dart blind folded.

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    Thx for the feedback Drift

    I had not actually noticed the lights when it sounds I just entered the code to stop it. I will take note next time.

    Is there anyway of getting into a mode on the keypad to see if it can tell me what happened? I know how to check last tripped zone, but as it is not armed when it starts to beep that is of no use.

    This behaviour has not happened before and the system is 9 years old. Only issues I have ever had is a low battery many years ago and a service light showing that siren was faulty recently. I checked wiring at the siren and it was heavily corroded, so replaced wiring.Service light disappeared after that and system has been rock solid for about 4 months since. Beeping code pad only started on Friday when it started to rain.

    This ones a little more of a pain as I cannot get it to fault. It just does it when it "feels" like it.

    Cheers

    Iceman

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    Is your external siren on a sheer wall or gable? If so, given that this started since it's rained, I'd suggest your external siren tamper switch is the problem. Being 9 years old, it's quite likely one of the old style plunger switches, not to be confused with the newer plunger reed switches. The former all fail sooner or later as the internal contacts corrode. If the siren box is on a sheer wall without being sealed across the top with a bead of silicone, it's possible that water has actually found it's way into the switch, or your recently fixed wiring, causing the problem.

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    My siren is under the eaves near the garage door. It is inside a semi weatherproof white plastic box suspended under the eave. When I was changing the corroded wiring I did not notice any tamper switch. All it was was a set of wires coming out of the garage roof above the eaves and into this white box which has the siren in it. The wiring went into a small terminal block and then into the siren. The wiring was all corroded inside the terminal block so I stripped it back cutting out the bad sections of wiring and re-terminated to a new terminal block which I then heat skrank and taped up so no moisture could get in.

    Could the actual siren be causing the issue perhaps? It is 9 years old although has rarely gone off.

    Cheers

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    Oh I thought I would also add that when I stripped back the wiring going to the siren, the copper wire was black? I have never seen this before. I had stripped a good 300mm back and it was still black.

    I have never seen black copper wiring and am wondering if this is environmental or just how it came from the factory? The re-wiring was done over 4 months ago and this issue has only started recently. I had a service light on when the siren wiring was an issue, no service light since.
    Last edited by iceman808; 03-06-12 at 12:34 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by iceman808 View Post
    My siren is under the eaves near the garage door. It is inside a semi weatherproof white plastic box suspended under the eave. When I was changing the corroded wiring I did not notice any tamper switch. All it was was a set of wires coming out of the garage roof above the eaves and into this white box which has the siren in it. The wiring went into a small terminal block and then into the siren. The wiring was all corroded inside the terminal block so I stripped it back cutting out the bad sections of wiring and re-terminated to a new terminal block which I then heat skrank and taped up so no moisture could get in.

    Could the actual siren be causing the issue perhaps? It is 9 years old although has rarely gone off.

    Cheers
    No tamper switch? Slack installer.... It's unlikely that the siren's causing the problem. If the siren was at fault, your service light would be on and advising you of a siren fail.

    Could be any number of other things. Could be that a device has water in it causing an intermittent short, could be a dodgy rat chewed cable causing the same thing, or any number of other annoying intermittent fault causing phenomena. Unfortunately, unless the service light is on, a zone light is flashing when the keypad beeps (saving zones that are actually triggered at that time), or you can view the event log (requires software and a dongle or NX-148E keypad) you're unlikely to be able to diagnose the fault.

    Time to get a tech out my friend.

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    thanks for the info it is much appreciated.

    I will ring DAS in morning and see if I can get someone out. Or find a local alarm company on the northside of Brizzy who can attend. If you have any recommendations on companies to use, plz let me know.

    Otherwise, many thx once again.

    Cheers

    Iceman
    Last edited by iceman808; 03-06-12 at 12:40 PM.

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    Just one more thing if I could , could a faulty mains power pack for the main alarm unit cause this sort of behaviour? Just thinking that its been in place for 9 years and surely they eventually go wrong.

    Cheers

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    I just think its the tamper switch on the keypad.

    Unscrew the keypad and stretch the little spring out a bit and screw keypad back on.

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    ???

    Interesting

    There is a spring in the keypad? another thing I did not not know, but hey I am an Audio Visual Tech, not a security tech so I am trying to apply what electronics knowledge I have to alarm system lol.

    So this tamper spring can cause this issue perhaps? I would like more info if possible before taking my keypad to pieces?

    Cheers
    Last edited by iceman808; 03-06-12 at 01:01 PM.

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    If I do this adjustment and remove the keypad of the wall will it set the alarm off if the alarm is disabled?

    Thx

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    One screw on the bottom of the keypad. Undo this and you will see the spring sitting on a tamper switch.

    This tamper switch when activated does create the sound you are experiencing, I give it a go, as its only a 30 second job.

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    Quote Originally Posted by iceman808 View Post
    If I do this adjustment and remove the keypad of the wall will it set the alarm off if the alarm is disabled?

    Thx
    It will only make that beeping sound that you are currently experiencing

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    Hi all

    An update.

    I removed both codepads and both tamper switches must be disabled as the pads did not make a sound.

    The code pads went off again at 4am. Checked lights. Nothing flashing out of the ordinary anywhere. Steady pwr light and ready light,all normal ,but code pad beeping its head off.

    Entered code , beeping stops.

    Have spoken to alarm tech, going to replace NX12 with new up to date control unit and replace pads with the new generation ones.

    Its 10 years old and I am pretty happy with the 10 years it has given me. With alarms I just dont want that feeling it may still have an error if I replace only some components.

    Better to be safe that sorry I say.

    Thx again for all yr help folks.

    Cheers

    Iceman

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    Hi all

    It would appear that my codepads decied to give me an actual service error at last. They are showing a 2 under service enu which is "siren trouble"

    Can anyone assist with this error please? The only issue I found with my siren was that the cabling had tarnished and was black instead of copper in colour. Would it be a good idea to remove the black section to give copper contact?

    The last time this error happened it was quite a few months ago. I stripped back the copper which was corroded.

    Or could it be related to something else?

    Many thx

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    absolutely remove the entire length of damaged cable and replace and by the sounds of it seal your connections etc with some sealant, the damaged section is only going to cause on going problems

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    The NX panels pass a small current through a horn speaker connected to the BELL output. This way the panel knows if the horn speaker has gone open-circuit or wiring to it has been cut (psuedo "tamper" monitoring, if you like). As the horn speaker is only 8 ohms, it doesn't take much additional resistance in the connecting cables to make the panel think that the speaker is missing. Since your cables are partly oxidised (or "black", as you describe), the added resistance to the cable loop is sometimes enough to trigger the problem. You need to replace the wiring, as Tastech mentioned. Also, all cable joins must be soldered and taped, or heat-shrinked (NEVER use terminal strips - from experience, the joins will always break down and corrode over time, especially near the coast).

    This problem is caused by water and/or moisture having ingressed the cable, and is usually a result of poor installation practices (not sealing the top edge of fully-exposed siren boxes with silicone; using terminal strips for cable joins etc). Other reasons include rain water getting into the box via broken roof tile ridge cappings, or home owners hosing the siren box.

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    Many thanks to all .....I will replace and seal as recommended.

    Cheers


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    Cool

    The black copper is the result of galvanic action due to water. It will only appear on one wire ( the negative I think ) You may find that you have to go back quite some distance to find clean copper. It is still electrically sound if you clean it up. I usually clean it with wet & dry paper then tin it with solder.

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