Re: troubleshooting old alarm, worked perfectly till this am....

[JoeRaisin <joeraisin2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

Open each door and window, one at a time (make sure you have a clear
panel besides zone 1) and note the lights on your alarm panel.  It is
possible that you may have several opening on one zone so write down
which openings correspond to which red lights.

If there is no change when you've opened a contacted opening, note that
also but go through the entire system before stopping (this will also
give you references for future troubleshooting.

Once you've identified the doors and/or windows that do not cause a red
light on any other zones you have identified the location or locations
where the trouble exists.

Next step is to pull the contact and detach the wires.  Ensure all other
openings (assuming there is more than one) on the zone are secured and
twist the wires together - this will "trick" the panel into thinking the
contact is closed.  If there is a resistor connected to the wires,
ensure that it is included in your circuit.  for multiple openings,
leave the wires twisted as you move on to the next opening.

If your zone clears, you have a defective contact, if not, it is
possibly the wire or the zone on the panel itself.

Go to your panel and detach the wires from zone 1.  If there is a
resistor in the panel, or if you found one connected to the contact,
place the resistor across the terminals for zone 1.  If you haven't
found any resistors, use a multimeter to check resistance on a zone that
is functioning properly - place that same resistance across the
terminals.  Also check the door of the panel enclosure, it will often
have a diagram of the terminals and may indicate what resistance, if
any, the panel requires.

Zone 1 MAY have a different resistance required than that of the other
zones - it is rare, but I've seen it and I am not familiar with the
product you mentioned.

The zone should clear indicating you have a broken wire somewhere.  If
it does not clear, then your panel is faulty.  If you cannot replace the
panel immediately, you can place the wires from zone 1 in series with
another zone.

In case it's the wire - that can get tricky.  Moisture in the walls can
cause corrosion at the connections and is not uncommon, as is mice, rats
or chipmunks (yeah, yeah, they're cute, but they're also destructive
little bastards) chewing through the cabling.

If there are several devices, you may find the wire twist clears the
zones at some point - that indicates that the break is 'after' that device.

If that is the case, come back here and report your findings, how many
devices are connected to the zone, where it cleared (if it did), how
many conductors are present in the cabling that was attached to the
contacts and also find out where (if anywhere) you have access to the
alarm wiring.

May also be helpful to put pictures of your panel on a site such as
ImageShack and post the link here.

Happy hunting