“Maxim Burglar Alarm” burglar alarm, Southwark • Fine vintage alarm previously shown here, but not close up. Actually I think the logo is an A in an M, so technically not one big letter. • Spotted: Pages Walk, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Burglar Alarm Britain 
Recently took a look inside this bell box and inside was just a gent of leicester tangent underdome bell painted red.
Also i saw what looked to two magnets on the cover to maby hold a metal lantern battery if an SCB was used.
My name is Bill Chisholm and I worked for Maxim Alarms ltd in Glasgow and Dundee late sixties early seventies. The base a of the inside and outside bell box was made from a very hard wood so that the burglar would find it difficult to pry off. There was a large battery in the outside box that would activate the underdome bell if the wire was cut to the outside box. In the inside bell box there was two relay modules and another cycle type battery that sent power to the outside self activation module. The system was controlled by a key located in a small box close to the exit door that was a shunt switch that shorted out the doors and a flick wire to arm the system. Maxim Alarms ltd was the first company to offer 24 hr protection on all the circuit wires by sending 3 volts from 2 large Flag batteries at the end of the circuit and shunting out the doors during open hours by the key switch at the exit door This system could work without any connection to the mains power supply. Having being involved in the Alarm industry from 1969 to present Scotland and now in Canada this was an advanced system for its time
Thanks for the comment – I’m sure there are others here who will find it most interesting.
Are you saying that mounted on the wooden back box was the underdome bell with battery and SAB module and THEN another wooden box mounted over that with the metal maxim cover put over the whole assembly?
Thanks for the info – love hearing about the old days!
Andy why would they need to put the wooden back plate up? Is the bell bits inside attached to the wooden bit or is there another metal back plate? I’d be surprised if this works still
I have never seen under the cover of a Maxim bell, but would guess, like older companies such as Rely-A-Bell, yes, the bell and any circuitry would have been mounted on the wooden back plate with no other metal back plate existing. On the basis that it is a physical bell I would guess that if power were applied to the bell it would still work!, however, it would be a safe guess that the actual alarm system has long since gone and even if it is still in the premises, no longer works. Considering it must be at least 35 years old it doesn’t look too bad. I have been in business 28 years and I am 47 years old….remember seeing these bells in my early informative years.
I also don’t understand why the wooden back plate, I joined the industry around 1968 and never came across a box with wood. Although it was normal in the industry in the 60s on large installations to fit all the equipment on a large sheet of wood, they hadn’t moved on to fitting all the cables in trunking unlike the electrical industry.
I’m sure Maxim had a branch in Tooting SW London in the late 70s.
You did well finding one of these. Maxim are long gone,. They were acquired by Modern Alarms many many moons ago. Maxim alarms were a Scottish company, quite big. They opened a branch in London but I don’t think it did very well. When Modern Alarms purchased Maxim they kept the Maxim brand/name in Scotland and the Maxim brand was more respected than the Modern Alarms Brand. Note that the back plate is wooden. I have only ever seen a handful of Maxim Alarms and they are all the same.