Electronic Alarms and Home Security Devices - DSC PC-1550 intermittant alarm problem

Hi,
We have a DSC PC 1550. Accidently I cut an alarm wire that connect to a motion detector but the detector was'nt there prior I move to the house. I though it was a phone wire so I cut it, the alarm start over...I didnt know what to do so I unplugged the transformer and the battery. When we connected the new battery a week later every thing lights up EXCEPT the ready and armed. The alarm goes off in an intermittant mode. We hit any key and it is quiet for 2 minutes and then sounds again. The Ready or Armed remain off.
The alarm is not monitored. We have the manual but not sure how to systematically go about getting the system back on track. Would appreciate your help. I'm a beginner, and I really dont know what to do. I have the manual, and I think the installer and master code stay the same as before. The system was functionning perfectly before I cut the wire. Maybe I have to plug the transformer and battery in a specific order. Any ideas?

Your narrative is a bit confusing, but I'll give it a shot.

Is the sounding from the siren or just the keypad?
If the siren is alarming in an intermittant fashion, that is normally the fire alarm mode. Are you sure this was a motion detector and not a smoke detector?

The operating codes do not change on a power down. Entering the code should shut the sounder off.

Have you reconnected the cable you cut?

Sorry for my confusing narration...:) English is not my primary language.

-Is the sounding from the siren or just the keypad?
A: the siren

-Are you sure this was a motion detector and not a smoke detector?
A:The last homeowner tell me it was a motion detector.

I didn't try to reconnect the detector since it was working perfectly before.

"We hit any key and it is quiet for 2 minutes and then sounds again. The Ready or Armed remain off" How I can proceed to put the ready or armed on? I tried my master code, it doesnt seem to do anything but lights on the zones light.

You have to reconnect the detector. That zone is open, therefore, the system will not give you a "ready to arm". It almost sounds like you defaulted the panel, but that actually takes a bit of doing.

I have to reprogrammed it? It looks like to me a bulk of work:) Dam hehe...
How much time can it take , where do I have to start...how could I know which zone goes with which section of my home if the zone lights doesn't light on respectively. Does it exist a Dummies guide for the DSC PC-1550?

Thanks for any help

Noooo. You just have to reconnect the device you cut out of the system. Security alarm loops generally work on a normally closed loop. When you cut the cable to the motion detector, you opened the circuit. It's just that your description almost sounds like the pane has somehow been reset to factory default (which is very hard to do by accident).

If you strip back the insulation on the cable you cut there should be 4 wires. Two of them (probably red and black) supplied the 12 volt power for the motion detector, the other two are the actual alarm loop. If you strip back just those two wires (_not_ the 12v power) and short them together the open zone should close and give you a ready light (assuming that nothing else is open). If you splice the wires back together where you cut them, the system should also go back to normal.

These systems are often programmed to power back up in the last state that they were in, so killing the power and restarting often doesn't remove the previous alarm. Don't just hit any key. Enter your _user code_ . If you never programmed one, the factory default is 1234.

The Installer manual for this system can be found at a number of sites for a token download fee (it's an older panel and was quite common). The manufacurer published this manual in at least 4-5 major languages that I'm sure of.

You can search this forum for prior posts. This system comes up pretty often. The DSC website (DSC.com) has a pretty decent FAQ, but there's no magic step by step.

I'll try to be clear with what I did, maybe youll find something wrong with what I did :

First my battery and adapter on my system is off.


1- I removed the plastic (1 inch) around the wire, and I found 4 little wire (black, red, green and white).

2- I removed the plastic around the green and white and I twisted them together.

Next 2 steps , i tried them alternately:
3a- I plug the adapter, I enter the master code...the alarm stop 2 sec and then intermittendly continue with a loud bip every sec.
3b- I plug the battery, I enter the master code... same thing .


Maybe should I try to twist more tightly the green and white one?

Maybe should I try other combination?

Ok, I'm stumped. For the life of me, I cannot duplicate this effect on a PC1550 panel I have in my stash. I think you need to bite the bullet and have your installer fix this. Clearly, there's some indicator that you simply don't recognize, or know how to look for, and it's a shame that you were clearly given zilch for end-user information.

Ron is right, based on the information provided, what likely happened is the when the wire was cut, there could have been some damage done to the control panel. Since the wire that was cut carried some voltage, the act of cutting the wire could have shorted the power loop enough to cause the damage to the panel.