Help me set my burglar alarm

April 23, 2006 1:35 AM

Help me set my burglar alarm

Diagram here

This London flat has a "Jaguar" brand burglar alarm with no instruction manual. The controls have a numeric keypad with two extra buttons marked "Enter" and "Omit", but nothing else. Number 4 is also marked "Bell test" and Number 5 is marked "Walk".

There are LEDs marked "Power", "Day", "Exit Entry", "Zone 1", "Zone 2", "Zone 3", "Tamper" and "Panic". "Power" and "Day" are illuminated.

There is a box outside on the wall, and a white sensor box inside, with a red LED that flashes every few seconds.

I have successfully switched off the alarm after it sounded during a power outage. I want to know how to set it when I go out.

Entering the security code causes it to beep for about 20 seconds, then the control panel starts shrieking loudly, even if I have left the flat. This lasts at least two minutes, after which I've switched it off.

The landlady believes it's in working order, but has never worked out how to use it. There's been a spate of burglaries here lately though, and I'd like to start setting it.

Has anyone used an alarm like this before?

posted by TheophileEscargot to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

what you describe is consistent with how my parent's alarm works. the 20 seconds of beeping indicates that there's a door not shut - you have 20 seconds to get out and close the doors.

the motion detector (sensor box) will also cause this.

so you need to close all inside doors, arm the alarm, and go outside and close the door. the beeping should stop and the system will be armed.

when you re-enter the beeping will start again and you have 20 seconds to turn it off.

if you get the alarm going off after 20 seconds even though you're outside and the doors are all closed then it sounds like there's a problem with one of the detectors.

(there may also be detectors on windows as well as doors - do you have an open window?)
posted by andrew cooke at 5:12 AM on April 23, 2006

the different zones select different combinations of detectors. for example, my parents can turn on the alarm downstairs at night (while they seleep upstairs). i can't remmeber how you select different zones, though. sorry.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:14 AM on April 23, 2006

the iron post in your prev flickr picture is a bollard - to stop cars driving there - pictures.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:18 AM on April 23, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks... I did have a window open, but does the same with the window closed.

Rusty pillar: It could just be a bollard, though it's a lot bigger than most.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:29 AM on April 23, 2006

Response by poster: Also, I'm not sure it's a faulty sensor. If so, I'd expect the main alarm to go off, but instead there's a very loud, annoying shrieking from the control panel.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:32 AM on April 23, 2006

oh, completely missed that it was the control panel and not the main alarm. never seen that happen. sorry....
posted by andrew cooke at 5:44 AM on April 23, 2006

Is it part of your lease that you have a working alarm? If so, make the landlady pay for the alarm company to come out and fix it - or at least show you how to work it. The shrieking from the control box is definitely not normal if it doesn't stop after less than a minute, though that could be what the error tone is if it detects that you are trying to arm the alarm with a window/door/whatever left open. Could be that one of your window sensors is busted - at any rate, despite the landlady's statements to the contrary, the alarm is clearly not in working order.
posted by antifuse at 3:43 AM on April 24, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks antifuse! It's not included in the lease though, but I think you're right and it's broken.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 11:17 AM on April 24, 2006