Electronic Alarms and Home Security Devices - Focus 32 "No Power"

Hi,
Im wondering if anybody can help me,
I foolishly tried to test a new mulitimeter on my back up battery.

I noticed the trouble light came on and showed "a lack of AC power" as the problem.

I figured I would trip the breaker and see if this would reset...
nope.. then I tried removing one of the leads from the battery and now I have no power at all...

keypad does not light up, no door chimes. nothing

Could this have been just a weak battery? (aside from my stupidity)

thanks

I'm not sure why you think it was foolish. You didn't say that you let the smoke out of anything. Are you familiar with how to use your new (or any) multimeter?

If so, switch it to AC volts, and check the terminals where the ac power comes into the alarm panel. It should be marked, or follow the wire from the plug in transformer. You should get 16 to 24 volts, depending on the type of panel. If you have no power there, then check the outlet plug for 120 volts ac. You can also just plug a working something in to it to see if there is power at the outlet.

As far as the battery, switch your meter to dc, and see how many volts you have on the battery. My guess is it will be 11 volts or so. You should have around 13 volts. When the power was lost, it was working on battery. It may have had enough left to keep it working for a bit, but not enough to start it up after you unplugged the battery. After you restore ac power, the battery should charge up again in a few hours. Unless it got down to 7 volts or less, which is unlikely unless you have an older panel.

Thanks for your quick reply..

Im not home right now but im pretty sure I don't have a plug in Transformer.

My system is wired directly into my circuit breaker panel (in fact pared up with my furnace)
and the breaker is not tripped.

or should I look for a hidden "plug in transformer"
I just assumed it was under the label "Alarm System" written on my panel directory.


P.S. the smoke happened when I forgot to switch back to AC and stuck it in a wall socket. lets just say I need to buy a new multimeter and now I know how to use it.

Generally only commercial fire panels are hardwired. But if yours is, it will have a transformer in the alarm panel enclosure (can). Otherwise, a plug in transformer is about the size of a small fist, that plugs into the outlet. They can be white or black, but typically they are tan. This will have the smaller wire going to the ac terminals on the alarm panel.

Yep, once you let the smoke out, it doesn't work anymore (theory of contained smoke). But check it for a fuse. Mine has one, which is why it's lasted over 20 years. been throught 3 or 4 sets of leads though.

O.k. I found the transformer, it is attached to my breaker panel and directly wired into a port inside the panel.
I measured the transformer and it reads zero along with the ports inside the alarm panel labelled AC input, I measured the battery and it reads 12.5.

The transformer is warm to the touch.

the transformer states: 120 input to 16.5 output. but looks pretty old.

Hopefully you will say buy a new transformer and all your problems will disappear!

Thanks

You checked the transformer for AC volts out, not DC, correct? This is hardwired to the electrical? Very odd for them to do that, in that way, but...

12.5 volts should be enough to power the panel. But I think, not absolutely sure though, that the focus 32 has to power up with ac first. It will run on battery, but won't power up on battery alone.

So, if you have 120 vac into the transformer, than that's your problem, and yes replacing it should solve all your problems.

ah yes things are making sense now..

I caused the surge in the electricity and this led to these events..

1. surge must have killed the old transformer.
2. alarm was working on battery (with trouble light on)
3. I flicked the breaker.
4. now it won't fire up without AC power..

I will try and replace the transformer and let you know

Sweet, things are working fine!!

thanks for the advice.

Cool Beans. Stick around Banshee. I'm sure you've got some knowledge to impart in some of these forums.:thinker: