Expert: Dave Neuweiler - 11/18/2004

Question
hi dave
       recently there was a power cut in my area
       for 4 hours.eventually when the power was
       restored the alarm panel would not
       reapond to the code.what can i do to
       reset it?

Answer
Hello Kevin, and thanks for your question. I've been on the road, else I'd have answered sooner.

We don't have enough clues to offer you a definitive answer, so I'll give you some general suggestions.

All alarm panels have a standby battery that takes over during power failures. The industry standard is for a minimum of 4 hours of standby power, though many manufacturers excede that number.

A healthy, not-to-old battery should have weathered your power failure without trouble.

It's a fact that after several years, these rechargeable batteries can deteriorate and no longer recharge to a useful level. If you know your system's battery is five or more years old, I would suspect that the battery has failed.

Whether this would prevent the code from operating depends on the specific control unit that your system employs. As a generality, the older the system, the more likely that it would prevent the code from operating.

Another possibility is that your system has lost its memory due to a total power loss (AC and battery). Again, as a generality, there is a master or installer's code that would be used to restore the system.

If you have a maintenance agreement with an alarm company, they'll be able to help in either scenario.

Kevin I hope this helps, and please write again if you have a follow-up question.

Best regards,

Dave