A few nights ago we had a lightning hit close to the house that set off the siren on our non-monitored Ranger American alarm system. No matter what I do, I can't get the alarm to stop. Had to climb in the attic and disconnect the siren to get it to stop. All attempts to reset the system at the keypad don't work. System was installed in 1995 and is an RA 1500 / 1550 system. "DSC" PC 1550 label is found inside the control panel.

Ranger American wants a $100 trip charge to look at the system.

HELP! Any ideas on how to reset the siren/system?

 

Ops! Tried a reset as described in another forum and now have all zone lights on showing trouble.

 

Sounds as though you might have fried the board, but hang in there and wait for someone else to chime in.

 

If you did the system default, then you have a bit of reprogramming to do. First, you will need an installer manual for a PC1550. Websearch for it, these were common systems there are likely lots of free downloads available.

All of the zones are showing open because the default turned back on the requirement for zone resistors (which nearly no installer of DSC hardware ever uses....). The trouble light is showing because the power down unset the systm clock, and defaulted the dialer and phone line monitor circuit back to on. All of this requires going into programming.

Hopefully, the installer lockout wasn't set. One of the least endearing features of DSC panels is the it will let you use the hardware default with the lockout set, but it doesn't reset the installer code, leaving you stuck with a non-functional system and no way to reprogram it.

 

Thanks for the response. Too complicated a procedure for this amateur so I guess I'll pay the trip charge and hope I don't have to replace any hardware. If the board needs to be replaced, any ballpark figure on what they cost?

 

It's an older and obsolete model, but was popular, so the motherboards are still available. On average, for parts alone, the boards run in the 80 to 100 dollar range, often less.

I don't think your hardware is damaged. I think you just have programming issues.