Re: Paradox Esprit fails to activate alarm siren in 3 Zones

[Julian <julian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 14 Jan 2007 17:12:34 -0800, "tourman" <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>Sir, I am in complete agreement with Doug on this. I have over 600
>Paradox panels in service, and they are not something you want to mess
>with unless you know exactly what you are doing. Finesse with computers
>stand for nothing. Alarms have a language all their own, with a
>complete set of definitions all their own. Save yourself some grief and
>have someone do it who has done it before.
>

Agreed. If this was a DSC panel, you could do it. But an Esprit is a
different beast. I always program them with the download software from
my 1994 laptop. That's the only use I have for the damned beast now!

>It seems the last installer didn't know what he was doing either, to
>set zones to "silent" that didn't need that feature.

Seems to me that a number of responders to the original message are
getting on the original programmers case. Why? The panel is 8 years
old and presumably DID work. I have about 500 Esprits in service and
they have been know to get their programming scrambled by electrical
spikes/brownouts. If on the other hand, the panel has been in this
condition from day one and this is the original owner of the system,
then he doesn't deserve help after leaving for so long. But that
doesn't sound like the situation.

As the older Esprit panels age (software versions .96 and .97B
specifically) they are prone to cooking themselves due to a less than
favourable design of the power supply. There is black soot in the
inside of the white can above the power supply heat sink. The circuit
board, which is green, will have turned brown in areas near the power
supply. It was corrected in software versions 2.1 and 3.0 which work
almost flawlessly. I've had to replace a small number of the earlier
versions, maybe 5%.

Julian

>
>Cheers !
>
>R.H.Campbell
>Home Security Metal Products
>www.homemetal.com
>Seaside Gardens, Florida
>
>
>Doug wrote:
>> There is nothing difficult really about setting up the average alarm system,
>> its the reasonable IQ that will help you set up your system correctly, not
>> familiarity with computers. I never really understood why people seem to
>> preface " I should be able to <fill in the unrelated to computers blank>
>> because I'm a computer whizz.
>>
>> Try www.tech-man.com for an installation manual.
>>
>> Doug
>>
>>
>>
>> "Joe H" <Joe@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:45aabdc6$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> > Can anyone tell me why the installation manuals are not on internet and
>> > are not available from the alarm companies? What is so difficult about
>> > setting up an alarm system to people who are familiar with computers and
>> > have a reasonable IQ?
>> >
>> > Regards, Joe
>> >