house alarm in trailer - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

cooks · 10-23-2008, 08:56 PM

Got a question for the alarm guys on here. With all this talk about trailer setups and tool storage, this began my thought that you could use a house alarm for your trailer. I am thinking that it would work just like it would in a house, you open door, sensor "sees you", and you put code in to shut it off. I know someones going to say that all they will need to do is cut the speaker wires to keep it from going off anymore but what if you put it in a job box where it cant be easily accessible and run all wiring behind plywood walls. My only real question is i know normally it is plugged into a 120v outlet which is also acting as a transformer to make it low voltage. So can this be modified to work on a 12v system that is charged by solar power. I know that it also has a battery backup for when your power would go out on your house your alarm would still work but i dont know what voltage the battery is. I would go look at it but i am not at that house right now. And also if this will work i can get these for people if they need them

MALCO.New.York · 10-23-2008, 08:58 PM

Nearly all Residential alarm systems are "steeped down" to 12 or 24v DC. Should be easy.

SLSTech · 10-23-2008, 10:17 PM

You might look into this: http://dewaltmobilelock.com/main.asp

Rates: http://www.dewalt.com/us/security/mo.../rateplans.asp

Security101 · 10-23-2008, 10:35 PM

Or this one (monitoring may be cheaper than Dewalt depending where you go)

Elk Guard Self-Contained Portable Wireless Alarm System http://www.elkguard.com/elkguard/index.asp

Or let me know if you want to design "just what you described" as I can show you the equipment needed.

Another way to protect the siren is to cut a hole in the bottom of the trailer, metal mesh it, install siren over that (inside) - hard to find and attack.

Jim

Chris Johnson · 10-23-2008, 10:48 PM

MobileLock works for me, $ 500.00, charge it once every 3 months, has GPS, notifies me within minutes of being set off.

MALCO.New.York · 10-23-2008, 10:49 PM

ELK makes good home systems. ADI.

ABLE1 · 10-24-2008, 07:23 AM

There are a lot of possibilities to do what you are asking.

If you use a standard residential alarm system and want to operate it off of a solar panel the following will be needed. Deep cycle battery with charger and solar panel about 16" x 18" in size. This will depend on the amount of available sunshine year round. Basically you need to replace used amps so that the battery does not run dry. Must consider the amount of amps or watts needed based upon all components that are attached to the battery for power. Remember it is will be running 24/7.

Next you will need a panel that can be tricked to not be in trouble with out any AC power. Some panels can do this if you connect 12vdc to one of the 16.5ac power input terminals. The panel that I used in a similar project sadly is no longer manufactured. The project was a cabin on top of a mountain that had no utility power, only generator when owner was on site 4 -5 times a year. Works great!!! Was even monitored with cellular but no police dispatch since there were 3 locked gates to get thru.

Some of the other suggestions will work quite well. Considering the cost of putting together your own system (including your time for the learning curve and troubleshooting) they can be the better price.

Hope this helps.

Les

Security101 · 10-24-2008, 08:59 AM

Les has it right. Although we can still get a "keyswitch type" control (can be used in vending machines etc) that is a basic control that can be used for this purpose with great success. The "loss of AC" isn't a problem with that control.

I'll try to upload some pics of our "new construction alarm" which is a hardened system with cell radio, control, and remotes in a steel can. It has a wireless radio so we can put sensors around the property. The difference between ours and the others noted is durability. We designed and build them here and they work great in the field...

Jim