David Rose
09-25-2006, 2:14 AM
I have a 20 year old Radio Shack Safe House wired alarm on my business. It is setup for "normally closed" operation with door switches and window and door foil tapes. Shortly after we got to church tonight the alarm started going off. It reset and went off around 4 times from 6 to 10 PM.
After we got home, answered the messages from neighbors, we started searching for the problem. This one turns out to be "not so easy" to find. It is only one loop of four in the system. All wiring is exposed for easy searching. :rolleyes:
The odd thing, and what makes it hard to find, is that when I touch any exposed contact or point on any tape in that loop, it stops showing a broken circuit. Let me better explain. I am holding a test lead. I touch ONE contact to any wire or tape in the system and the alarm stops! I am not touching the other end of the lead to anything including myself. I supose it is just induction from my body through the insulated wire that causes it to quit failing.
I have sent a note to Radio Shack, but I have no idea whether they will respond. I don't think they have carried this unit for some time.
Tonight I spent over two hours bumping wires and slamming the door and checking contacts and never got the unit to show even a flicker of a break. We did get one alarm while searching. I went over every wire and connection while the alarm light flashed. Nothing seemed to effect it. Then again, one touch of one end of the test lead to the tape very gently and it stopped.
Does anyone have any ideas or any place I might search out such a problem? I have to be home to shut the thing down before the police are called. They got 4 calls this evening. I don't want to be one to "cry wolf" until they don't listen, besides needing my sleep.
I don't know whether there is a relay for each loop or whether there is one for the whole unit. If there are separate relays, I suppose one of them could fail.?
Thanks for anything in the way of help,
David
After we got home, answered the messages from neighbors, we started searching for the problem. This one turns out to be "not so easy" to find. It is only one loop of four in the system. All wiring is exposed for easy searching. :rolleyes:
The odd thing, and what makes it hard to find, is that when I touch any exposed contact or point on any tape in that loop, it stops showing a broken circuit. Let me better explain. I am holding a test lead. I touch ONE contact to any wire or tape in the system and the alarm stops! I am not touching the other end of the lead to anything including myself. I supose it is just induction from my body through the insulated wire that causes it to quit failing.
I have sent a note to Radio Shack, but I have no idea whether they will respond. I don't think they have carried this unit for some time.
Tonight I spent over two hours bumping wires and slamming the door and checking contacts and never got the unit to show even a flicker of a break. We did get one alarm while searching. I went over every wire and connection while the alarm light flashed. Nothing seemed to effect it. Then again, one touch of one end of the test lead to the tape very gently and it stopped.
Does anyone have any ideas or any place I might search out such a problem? I have to be home to shut the thing down before the police are called. They got 4 calls this evening. I don't want to be one to "cry wolf" until they don't listen, besides needing my sleep.
I don't know whether there is a relay for each loop or whether there is one for the whole unit. If there are separate relays, I suppose one of them could fail.?
Thanks for anything in the way of help,
David