Three so-called techs from both my insurers and the present alarm company visited here the last few days to inspect the totally silent, unresponsive alarm panel. The now faulty panel was one of the most expensive systems the company offered about maybe 22 years ago and we had hardly any false alarms during this time. On Saturday, the original installer of both systems we had over the past 40-odd years, was tracked down as he is now retired. He faffed-around but was unable to get a squeak out of the equipment.
Next up was company X's chief current tech who had to be cajoled to even remove the cover which I did for him.
"Naai, Meneer, ek kan nie aan hierdie panel werk nie want ek weet niks". I gave him the very comprehensive setup manual as well as the zone's diagram. I then showed him how I restored the keypad so that it lit up since the panel was impacted by fist, I guess. I showed him the careful resoldering of a loose capacitor and the burnt area around 4 diodes which I also reflowed with fresh solder. My brother Jan's soldering skills are similar to mine and we showed the tech where we resoldered twisted-together wires and how we shrink-tubed them.
Reluctantly, the bloke started reading the setup procedure from the manual but it appears he either can't read or comprehend.
What he did know how to do, was to write a cash invoice in the amount of R797 excl VAT. For doing bugger all but sit and stare.
Being a bit of a greenie, it's hard to give up just like that on a system which worked faultlessly for so many years. Since I have the go-ahead from my insurers to repair or replace the panel and check and repair all circuits where necessary, I asked them to quote on their current 'best' system which is a Texecom panel - never heard of it.
Then our insurer sent their own contractor who basically also just sat and stared but he did at least make a note of where all the pirs and magnetic contraptions were as well as (miss)-counted the number of panic buttons
in my house.
The system which will be integrated with the existing alarm wiring my insurer is offering, is "Model PC1808, Power Series from DSC/Tyco International.
My question is are any or both of these panels reliable and of good quality? I'm accustomed to near zero false alarms over a very long period.
Thank you for your replies.
skollie
Next up was company X's chief current tech who had to be cajoled to even remove the cover which I did for him.
"Naai, Meneer, ek kan nie aan hierdie panel werk nie want ek weet niks". I gave him the very comprehensive setup manual as well as the zone's diagram. I then showed him how I restored the keypad so that it lit up since the panel was impacted by fist, I guess. I showed him the careful resoldering of a loose capacitor and the burnt area around 4 diodes which I also reflowed with fresh solder. My brother Jan's soldering skills are similar to mine and we showed the tech where we resoldered twisted-together wires and how we shrink-tubed them.
Reluctantly, the bloke started reading the setup procedure from the manual but it appears he either can't read or comprehend.
What he did know how to do, was to write a cash invoice in the amount of R797 excl VAT. For doing bugger all but sit and stare.
Being a bit of a greenie, it's hard to give up just like that on a system which worked faultlessly for so many years. Since I have the go-ahead from my insurers to repair or replace the panel and check and repair all circuits where necessary, I asked them to quote on their current 'best' system which is a Texecom panel - never heard of it.
Then our insurer sent their own contractor who basically also just sat and stared but he did at least make a note of where all the pirs and magnetic contraptions were as well as (miss)-counted the number of panic buttons
in my house.
The system which will be integrated with the existing alarm wiring my insurer is offering, is "Model PC1808, Power Series from DSC/Tyco International.
My question is are any or both of these panels reliable and of good quality? I'm accustomed to near zero false alarms over a very long period.
Thank you for your replies.
skollie
