Veritas R8 Help Please

[ARobinson]

Hi all,

New to the forum, looking for some advice please.

We have sold our house and going to be moving out soon so we are currently putting any little things right that need fixing for the new owners. One of the things that needed fixing was the alarm keypads on our 2 alarm systems, both have worn buttons, which has never bothered us as we just altered our user code to not include the worn buttons.

Anyway, we have 2 separate alarm systems, both the same model, a veritas r8. Each system has just one keypad each. One of the systems is about 10 years old which was installed when we had an extension built an the other system was installed 20 years ago when the house was originally built.

I have changed the keypad on the newer system as I knew the engineers code hadn't been changed on that system so I powered it down, disconnected battery and changed keypad and had to enter default engineers code (4321) upon powering back up the system.

The problem is, I'm not sure if the older system has a different engineers code as it was already installed in the house when we bought it 15 years ago.

Is there anyway of testing if the engineers code is still set to default? bearing in mind that the no 1 on the keypad doesn't work.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Andy

 

[Specialist]

If you can't use the number 1 key then you obviously can't enter the original default code, if the system was originally installed by a professional then they would normally have changed all default codes to keep the system secure anyway.
Unfortunately although there is normally a way around this, it's not information that we would be able to give you. My best advice would be to call a good Local Independent Alarm Installer.

 

[ruston]

As above It would be unprofessional to answer this.

 

[telectrix]

agree with above posts, but.... you won't need the engineer code. undo the keypad, enter the user code to silence the tamper alarm. fit new keypad, remembering that there's 12V on the + and - pair, so replace wires one at a time. button up keypad and reset. the codes will be unchanged as they are stored in the main panel.

 

[SparkyChick]

If you just want to be able to enter the engineers code to find out if you have the right one, a lot of these alarm keypads are rubber with conductive pads that work by shorting out traces on the PCB of the keypad.

If it's the almost standard construction on the buttons, you could slice the button open and use a flat bladed screwdriver to short out the traces on the PCB where the pad normally lands, but you would need to be careful you didn't inadvertently short out something else while you're at it. If they are more mechanical switches with a tactile click when pressed, this approach may not help, it all depends on the switching mechanism.

 

[SparkyChick]

Interesting... a dislike Which part of it?

 

[Specialist]

Interesting... a dislike Which part of it?

Hi: PM'd you a reply.

 

[telectrix]

If you just want to be able to enter the engineers code to find out if you have the right one, a lot of these alarm keypads are rubber with conductive pads that work by shorting out traces on the PCB of the keypad.

If it's the almost standard construction on the buttons, you could slice the button open and use a flat bladed screwdriver to short out the traces on the PCB where the pad normally lands, but you would need to be careful you didn't inadvertently short out something else while you're at it. If they are more mechanical switches with a tactile click when pressed, this approach may not help, it all depends on the switching mechanism.

not really a good idea.

 

[ARobinson]

Thanks all for your replies,

If I powered it down to replace the keypad, do I leave the backup battery connected?

The first system that I have replaced, I powered that one down and disconnected the battery backup which meant the bellbox was sounding for 10-15 mins whilst I changed the keypad, upon connecting everything back up and re-powering, the panel has reset to default factory settings, the user code has defaulted back to 4321.

Is it easy enough to re-program the zones and entry/exit delays? luckily the system that has reset is the system for the extension so only has 3 sensors.

Any help is appreciated.

Regards

Andy

 

[telectrix]

best to leave the panel powered up. just be careful not to short out the + and - atr the keypad while doing it. see my previous post.

 

[ARobinson]

Thanks for the reply telectrix, I will leave it powered up when replacing the 2nd systems keypad tomorrow.

Have you any idea why my 1st system has lost its settings? I thought the system had a NVM chip yet after changing the keypad on the 1st system (powered down and disconnected battery) it has reverted the factory settings and the user code has reverted to 4321.

Looks like I'm going to have to re-program the zones and delays etc.

Andy

 

[telectrix]

Thanks for the reply telectrix, I will leave it powered up when replacing the 2nd systems keypad tomorrow.

Have you any idea why my 1st system has lost its settings? I thought the system had a NVM chip yet after changing the keypad on the 1st system (powered down and disconnected battery) it has reverted the factory settings and the user code has reverted to 4321.

Looks like I'm going to have to re-program the zones and delays etc.

Andy

sometimes panels will revert to factory settings when powered down. they shouldn't but sod's law applies. if you don't power down, settings will stay as they are.

 

[ARobinson]

Thanks telectrix, I will leave our 2nd system powered up when I change the keypad tomorrow, just got to print out the engineers manual and set up our 1st system again. I'm sure I'll work it out.

Andy

 

[SparkyChick]

Non-volatile memory takes many forms. Some, despite it's name, does require a source of power to maintain content. The CMOS memory on PC motherboards for example typically requires a lithium button cell. Others use super capacitors which have a finite retention period and may loose content if the power is removed completely for too long.

Could simply be it has a backup battery that is well past it's life span.

 

[ARobinson]

The battery is about 2 years old but I disconnected the battery whilst changing the keypad so that's maybe why it lost the settings.

Andy

 

[SparkyChick]

Just looking at the installers manual for the R8 now, it doesn't mention a backup battery other than the main one so I don't think the NVM requires one.

However, it does mention that if you've lost the engineers code, you can reset the panel to factory defaults. This involves disconnecting all power, re-applying it followed by a button press within 10 seconds, having read the detail, it's entirely possible you reset it yourself without knowing what you were doing.

And before anyone suggests this is bad practice or immoral, this information is available publicly via a google search so I'm not putting anything out there that bad types can't already find (worst of all, it's being hosted by an alarm company).

 

[ARobinson]

Just a quick thought, I can't change the wires one at a time as they have to be all fed through a hole in the back panel of the keypad.

So what would be people suggest?

Andy

 

[telectrix]

Just a quick thought, I can't change the wires one at a time as they have to be all fed through a hole in the back panel of the keypad.

So what would be people suggest?

Andy

what i do is snip each one close to the terminals in the keypad. this also leaveas a bit of coloured insulation in each terminal so you know what goes where. then cut the + wire 5mm shorter than the rest. once fed back into the new keypad, strip and connect the + first. then the rest one at a time.

 

[ARobinson]

Thanks telectrix, I'll do that. This may be a daft question but I'm not that clued up on electrics, will I get a shock from the 12v wire when stripping it?

Andy

 

[telectrix]

no danger of shock from 12V.