replace old SL compact wired intruder alarm with .... ?

M

MamaBear

Member
I'm decorating, and the old SL Compact (Optima clone ?) control panel is on a wall that I need to paint and looking rather old and yellowed, I think it is 23 years old and original builder fit when the house was new. It is still working, and I've had the front off the panel and replaced the back up battery - so I think I must have had (or guessed a default) the engineer code when I did that ?

I now want to either remove the panel to decorate, or possibly update it

I'll need to replace / remove to decorate PIRs in a number of rooms, and I'm also replacing front and back doors which have yellowed and ugly magnetic (I assume) contacts surface mounted on them

I'm not inclined to go wireless if I can just replace things and stick with the original wiring - but maybe I should be enhancing at the same time as replacing

main drivers behind thinking about this are the need to do something when the main entry doors and frames are replaced, and the aesthetics of yellowed old PIRs and the panel (which is pretty obtrusive on downstairs loo wall)

DIY skills are not too bad - I've done a fair bit of wiring, electric shower back in the day, new sockets, garage consumer units, glands on armour cable etc - so I'm reasonably equipped to replace stuff myself

Any clues on where to start gratefully appreciated....

Can I perhaps just buy new PIRs, main panel and keypad for by the entry door and do a straight swap using original wires ?

4 bed detached, don't set in zones, just use it very simply when the place is left empty. Have pretty normal (currently BT) router and reasonable wifi - FTTP avaialable - but no ring doorbell or camera to add in (at the mo at least) to the equation.

Is there an easy straight swap I should be heading for ?

Thanks in anticiaption
 
Have look at a Texecom Premier Elite ...

A lot will depend on the number of wired connections you require and where teh panel is located - visible or hidden.

For example, if the panel is tucked away - a PE48 will give 8 wired zones and the you can add expanders for 8 additional wired or 8/32 wireless. Alos, with a wired keypad, ypu have two zones there so only neeed one cable to the entry point for a keypad and teh sensors wire to that.

The Texecom micro-contacts are wireless and very discrete.

Add in a Smartcom which connects to your network - wired or WiFi and teh alers go straight to your phone.
 
Thanks for this, I currently have 6 zones (2 doors and 4 PIRs) and have found the original paperwork and can see it was Aug 2001 install, so 20+ years old

The Texecom panel is too big I think - I tihnk I need to find something more compact

My existing panel is mounted in a really silly place - on the downstairs loo wall - and there really isn't much room. Insstalling a replacement which is bigger - and crucially deeper (as its close to and at 90 degrees to the door) - isn't ideal

Existing SL Compact (I think it is a Honeywell Accenta panel from googling, branded as SL Compact) is approx 200 x 255 x 55 (H, W, D)

The Texecom all seem to be 282 x 225 x 80.

The extra H and W are not really an issue, but the extra 25mm of projection from the wall would be.

I see Texecom do a "Veritas 8 Compact" which is 246 x 185 x 55.

I can't immediately see what the Veritas R8 (which I see is fitted by some folk on here) has which the Veritas 8 Compact doesn't. The installation manual covers both models.

That seems to be an old design though - so the only advantage of replacing my existsing would be an aesthetically more pleasing (less yellowed) panel

Open to any suggestions anyone may have please of a compact panel worth upgrading to
 
Texecom Veritas Excel with LCD keypad, if you don't require all the bells and whistles that come with the Texecom Elite, and it's vastly lower in price than the Elite stuff.
 
MamaBear said:
I'm decorating, and the old SL Compact (Optima clone ?) control panel is on a wall that I need to paint and looking rather old and yellowed, I think it is 23 years old and original builder fit when the house was new. It is still working, and I've had the front off the panel and replaced the back up battery - so I think I must have had (or guessed a default) the engineer code when I did that ?

I now want to either remove the panel to decorate, or possibly update it

I'll need to replace / remove to decorate PIRs in a number of rooms, and I'm also replacing front and back doors which have yellowed and ugly magnetic (I assume) contacts surface mounted on them

I'm not inclined to go wireless if I can just replace things and stick with the original wiring - but maybe I should be enhancing at the same time as replacing

main drivers behind thinking about this are the need to do something when the main entry doors and frames are replaced, and the aesthetics of yellowed old PIRs and the panel (which is pretty obtrusive on downstairs loo wall)

DIY skills are not too bad - I've done a fair bit of wiring, electric shower back in the day, new sockets, garage consumer units, glands on armour cable etc - so I'm reasonably equipped to replace stuff myself

Any clues on where to start gratefully appreciated....

Can I perhaps just buy new PIRs, main panel and keypad for by the entry door and do a straight swap using original wires ?

4 bed detached, don't set in zones, just use it very simply when the place is left empty. Have pretty normal (currently BT) router and reasonable wifi - FTTP avaialable - but no ring doorbell or camera to add in (at the mo at least) to the equation.

Is there an easy straight swap I should be heading for ?

Thanks in anticiaption
Click to expand...

I haven't worked on intruder alarms for a very long time, so I can't recommend any.

However, look out for the connections to the existing bell box. Different manufacturers use different ways of how they work. They also use different terms for the actual terminals. Some are descriptive ; strobe+, strobe-. Some are alphabetical; A, B, C...

So before replacing the panel, make sure you can get up to the bell box and suss out what the connections are. It may be a good idea to replace the bell box whilst your up there.
 
malbec4 said:
I haven't worked on intruder alarms for a very long time, so I can't recommend any.

However, look out for the connections to the existing bell box. Different manufacturers use different ways of how they work. They also use different terms for the actual terminals. Some are descriptive ; strobe+, strobe-. Some are alphabetical; A, B, C...

So before replacing the panel, make sure you can get up to the bell box and suss out what the connections are. It may be a good idea to replace the bell box whilst your up there.
Click to expand...

Thank you - I'll replace the box at the same time as the panel (and make sure they're compatible)
 
Rulland said:
Texecom Veritas Excel with LCD keypad, if you don't require all the bells and whistles that come with the Texecom Elite, and it's vastly lower in price than the Elite stuff.
Click to expand...

thank you - had a look, and follow what you say, same big panel case though as the other Texecom Veritas unfortunately - the 80mm depth is good for fitting in a battery, but rubbish for the frankly silly location mine was fitted in and where all the wires run to
 
Could you locate the main panel up in a loft or cupboard?

If so, put an 8 way expander at the crrent location - they are about 180x150x30 and run a single new cable to the panel
 
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