Accenta G4 Bell Box Wiring

[jake.evans]

Hey Everyone,

Just needed some advice, basically I've moved from an Accenta 6 and upgraded to a Accenta G4 Panel with an LCD keypad. Everythings gone well so far, pir's are working, internal siren working, door contacts all good, so the last step I wanted to do was hook back up the 2 bell boxes and then relax!

But as always, its not worked out as upon connecting the bell boxes, my LCD Keypad locks up "it jams on the hardware info - i.e. - "Accenta V..etc" and on top of that my internal siren starts making a clicking sound. If I disconnect the bell boxes, it works fine again.

Now the bell boxes worked perfectly on the accenta 6, but is there a reason for them not working? are they too old or something?

Heres a picture of one of the bell boxes

Now because it didn't work, I only wired one bell box to the alarm control panel, and still no luck:

Could anyone shed some light on whats wrong here?

Strobe Trigger (Bell Box) goes to Strobe - (Alarm Panel)
Siren Trigger (Bell Box) goes to Bell - (Alarm Panel)
Supply Hold Off 0V (Bell Box) goes to SCB A (Alarm Panel)
Supply Hold Off +ve(Bell Box) goes to Bell + (Alarm Panel
A/T Ret Sign (Bell Box) goes to SCB B (Alarm Panel)
White COM cable in alarm panel connects to the green cable in the other siren box

Do you think its to old which is why its freezing up my LCD keypad?

Kind Regards,
Jake

 

[Handymanjo]

Are both bell boxes the same ?
Are both bell boxes wired with the same colour configure ?
Strobe -yellow to strobe - in control panel
Siren ring. Blue to B control panel
Ov Black to A control panel
+Red to D control panel
A/T return Green to T control panel

How are you powering other bell box while not connected to panel ?
Put a temporary wire link in the between T and A
This will link out bell box tamper circuit if fault is on the wiring between the 2 bell boxes
Then check if keypad locked out

 

[jake.evans]

You've been really helpful, Handymanjo, thanks for your reply.

Yes, I can confirm that both bell boxes are exactly the same.
I can't confirm whether they are both wired exactly the same (I just cant get to the bell box at the back of the house, only the front)
I'm 99.9% certain it probably is wired the same, except for some reason the previous engineer left the white wire (from that com port) and is connected to a choc block which then connects to a green wire which goes to the other bell box, is this correct? I'm so confused, but I don't mind having just one working for now, i'm dreading the pain of having to get new ones

Anyhow, the rest of the colours you mentioned above are pretty much how it is connected at the moment.
I'm only trying to get one bell box up at the moment (backup battery disconnected until everything works), the other bell box I cant reach still has a backup battery.

Will definitely try to put a link between T and A tomorrow morning, fingers crossed it works.
I'm quite doubtful though as from what I can see, the LCD Panel froze on the accenta hardware information screen and the internal siren was making a clicking sound.
Do you think the sirens outside are to high voltage for this panel? (from having a google around, I've noticed nowadays bell boxes require far less power now than from 10-15 years ago)

Kind Regards,
Jake

 

[Handymanjo]

The tamper return wiring could be an issue ?
With the link in the control the panel will ignore the tamper fault.
To sort problem work on one bell box at a time to ensure the wiring and bell box work ok.
If you can get to one bell box start there
If you are still having a problem with the keypad disconnect bell box from panel and leave link in between A and T
If you still have problem you need to check keypad wiring .
Some panels sometimes do not like having two bell boxes connected due to power issues.
Best way to sort one job at a time and move on to the next when sorted.
Did the bell boxes ring correctly before you changed panel ?
Clicking noise can suggest faulty piezo sounder on bell box ?

 

[jake.evans]

Thanks for your reply Handymanjo,

Yes, you could be onto something regarding the tamper wires. I'm so tempted to try it out now to see if it works but i'll wait till the morning.
I will definitely do one job at a time, hopefully if one gets going the other should be a breeze.
The keypad works perfectly well without the bell boxes connected, programming menus, set/unset, walk tests all work fine even the internal extention speaker works nicely.
Its only as soon as I connect up even one bell box, the whole thing freezes when powering it up, its like it hates the voltage or something.

The bell boxes worked perfectly with the old accenta 6 system, they triggered correctly, had to press reset and strobe would stop, it all seemed perfect.
The clicking noise was coming from the internal extention speaker on power up when the bell box is connected, haven't heard a noise like that before,
yet if I remove the bell box, the internal extention speaker plays the beeps normally.

Kind Regards,
Jake

 

[Handymanjo]

The bell box you can not reach is it still powered for the control panel or a battery ?
The wire in the choc block will be how the tamper return from one bell box to the other is wired.
Do you no make and model of bell boxes ?

 

[jake.evans]

Thanks for your reply Handymanjo,

The back bell box is disconnected at the moment from the panel (and i'm pretty sure the backup battery is flat in the bell box as I had to let it drain down during the panel change;unless it stopped itself after the 20min window)
I'm just trying to work with the front bell box (that backup battery is disconnected at the moment) and was just trying to at least get panel power to work first before reconnecting it back up (neighbour headaches otherwise..)

Thanks for explaining about the choc block, it now makes sense why they did it that way
Unfortunately I don't know the make/models of the bell boxes, I know the installers who fitted them probably did it 15-20 years ago are called JR Alarms (that name is printed on the bell box along with a non-existant phone number ; probably closed down) on the yellow plastic outer case of the bell box, other than that, i'm guessing they bought some unbranded bell boxes and printed their name on top purely for advertising , sticks out a mile away.

Kind Regards,
Jake

 

[jake.evans]

No Luck Tried to link out the T and A but the bell box is still causing the panel to freeze up, guess im going to have to shell out for 2 new ones

Kind Regards,
Jake

 

[Handymanjo]

With the bell box wire disconnected from the control panel and the wire link inT and A does the alarm work correctly ?
Possible faulty bell box?
If you bell box is 15 /20 year worth replacing any way
Pyronix delta bell can be fully back lit at night and great bell boxes.
If you have a problem I would only replace one bell box first before you fit second bell box.Could be issue with control panel ?

 

[jake.evans]

Hi Handymanjo,

1) Yes, with the bell box disconnected and the wire link in T and A, the panel and keypad work perfectly.
As soon as insert the strobe, Bell +, and Bell - and switch it back on, the whole system freezes and wont start up.

2)I don't think the bell box is faulty as they both worked perfectly well on the old accenta 6 system, but it could be some compatibility issue since they are that old,
i'm glad I'm getting rid of them though, cant stand that bright yellow! Thanks for your recommendation on the pyronix delta bells, they sound great.

3)Will definitely test the first bell box (might just wire it up indoors quickly to run a quick test), I pray that its not the control panel

Anyhow, thanks for all your advice, i'm really pleased you're here as I don't think anyone else knows the answers or are just busy

Kind Regards,
Jake