[MKLahay]

I'm a 63 year old California woman living alone in safe neighborhood in a house that has a wired B_____? wired alarm system. With some checking I find their products now under ADT? Anyway, haven't run it in a couple years when my boyfriend lived here, but he's gone to his Maker and I can't find the code written inside the panel to re-arm it. My worse problem is this:

Finding the code is step 2, step one is fixing the following: a flooring guy installing new flooring down the upstairs hallway accidentally cut one of the long long long skinny wires that appears to run from the panel in the closet to some (God knows which one) window or door downstairs). Regular electricians don't touch this stuff, so now I have two problems:

(1) how to repair or Who to call to repair/(splice?) the cut wire at the top of the stairs near beginning of the hallway. (How much can I expect to pay for this quick job I suspect. IF I don't hire an alarm company, what is the name of this kind of specialty in case I can find a small biz owner / handyman who does it?:vs_sob:
(2) assuming Item 1 is repaired, Is there a way to find the code, change the code, ??? the code so I can get the system up and running again? Can the same technician who can fix # 1 take care of this also? I DO NOT have the income to pay for company monitoring, and talking to ADT salesman, now I'm confused whether a wired system is even worth fixing/having?

Final bad news...Putting in a wireless system appears to be contingent on paying the company who does it for 24 to 36 mos of monitoring fees.

HELP ANYONE? :vs_worry::vs_sob:THANKS A LOT!!

 

[Tom738]

I'm a 63 year old San Diego (aka Chula Vista) woman living alone in safe neighborhood in a house that has a wired B_____? wired alarm system. With some checking I find their products now under ADT? Anyway, haven't run it in a couple years when my boyfriend lived here, but he's gone to his Maker and I can't find the code written inside the panel to re-arm it. My worse problem is this:

Finding the code is step 2, step one is fixing the following: a flooring guy installing new flooring down the upstairs hallway accidentally cut one of the long long long skinny wires that appears to run from the panel in the closet to some (God knows which one) window or door downstairs). Regular electricians don't touch this stuff, so now I have two problems:

(1) how to repair or Who to call to repair/(splice?) the cut wire at the top of the stairs near beginning of the hallway. (How much can I expect to pay for this quick job I suspect. IF I don't hire an alarm company, what is the name of this kind of specialty in case I can find a small biz owner / handyman who does it?:vs_sob:
(2) assuming Item 1 is repaired, Is there a way to find the code, change the code, ??? the code so I can get the system up and running again? Can the same technician who can fix # 1 take care of this also? I DO NOT have the income to pay for company monitoring, and talking to ADT salesman, now I'm confused whether a wired system is even worth fixing/having?

Final bad news...Putting in a wireless system appears to be contingent on paying the company who does it for 24 to 36 mos of monitoring fees.

HELP ANYONE? :vs_worry::vs_sob:THANKS A LOT!!

For the wire, an alarm installation company would usually have technicians that do it and generally charge a bit, although you may have to call around a bit to find one that will do it without a monitoring contract. Other people ordinarily won't touch it for insurance reasons. Be sure to price it with at least two different alarm companies. The guy who broke the wire should really pay for that.

Otherwise, personally (and if my contract with my insurance company didn't say otherwise) I would probably just figure out the best way to make the connection myself--there are different kinds of wires but I believe most wires in a classic wired alarm system are just simple wire that you can probably splice into easily, assuming a new long run is too inconvenient. Some particularly non-risk-averse handyman might be willing to do it and might even do it right. That being said, I've never had to do it, and you may prefer to have a professional do it and get in the habit of using the alarm if you have serious insurance worries (fine art in the house, that kind of thing).

How hard it is to reprogram the code depends on what kind of system it is. You should have a main panel somewhere that basically has a motherboard and all of the wires in it. Usually when you open the panel there will be a label on the board that tells you what the system is. Then you can try looking it up online and see if there is a way to reset it. The code may also be written down in a manual or the like.

ADT is likely to charge a lot for monitoring (I remember some insane monitoring prices from them for million-dollar homes). There are usually *much* cheaper options although they may require updating your system, which is expensive. For example, some systems can be set up just to notify your phone or notify a relative's phone. (Although these usually don't qualify you for the insurance company credits). Most of the wired components can probably be used without a problem in an upgraded system that is properly chosen, but if your system is old enough you would likely need a new main panel and keypad.

Whether it makes sense depends mostly on what the difference in your insurance will be with and without the alarm monitoring, and on whether the price is worth it to you for the convenience of a panic button that makes a REALLY loud noise to scare a home intruder, for example. If you have a dog, they are less relevant.

They can also be useful if you spend long periods away from home and want to alarm water usage, etc...

 

[Tom738]

Note: be sure to check the repair price before deciding to do the splice yourself. You may find one that's surprisingly cheap if you call around.

 

[ron45]

Do yourself a favor and get a dog...
Forget the alarm system and get life alert.