Troubleshoot Ademco Vista 10SE NO AC

[fluvannahoo]

Our system keeps going back and forth from "NO AC" to AC. The other
day it sent an alarm when it did that and the battery ran down. What
can I do to troubleshoot this? The system is probably 10 or 12 years
old. Would a <failing> transformer cause behavior like this? I am
trying to avoid a $75 service call if I can.

 

[alarman]

Our system keeps going back and forth from "NO AC" to AC. The other
day it sent an alarm when it did that and the battery ran down. What
can I do to troubleshoot this? The system is probably 10 or 12 years
old. Would a <failing> transformer cause behavior like this? I am
trying to avoid a $75 service call if I can.

Start here:
Check the obvious: loose wiring at the transformer, transformer fitting
loosely in the outlet, transformer wire damaged by contact, abrasion,
rodents, etc.

The outlet itself may be faulty, or the electrical connection behind it, or
there may be trouble elsewhere on that circuit.

You may have a faulty circuit breaker.

Unplug the transformer and use an extention cord to temporarily connect it
to a known good outlet.

Plug a lamp in there the transformer was. Wiggle the plug around and see
what happens.

Try a new transformer.

Upgrade to a real alarm control panel.














Just kidding.
js

 

[nick markowitz]

I have seen bad transformer cause low ac when battery in panel starts going
bad and drawing down onpwer line causing an ac loss on ademco 10 se
definately get something better in line 20P etc or different manufactuer all
together 10 se where bamg them out the door specails

 

[fluvannahoo]

Thanks for the response. I had tried the extension cord to another
circuit and a lamp plugged into the outlet. Replaced the transformer
last evening and the "NO AC" message stayed lit until the battery
display came on sometime this morning, now it says "AC" "BAT".
Is there a way to reset the panel to turn off the "NO AC" message when
it is displayed? I've looked through the installation manual and
prgramming guide but don't see any way to do that.
The wiring and connections all look OK but I guess I could run another
length of wire from the transformer to the panel to check it. Would
CAT 3 work for that temorarily?

 

[fluvannahoo]

Don't know if your response was TIC or not but you are right. The
display went back to just "AC" overnight. It appears that the
transformer was going and the new one fixed the problem.