veritas 8 bell box strobe flashing?

Hiya people,

a friend of mine has asked me to take a look at her alarm as she noticed the other day that the strobe was flashing.
so i have had a look and cant identify the make of bell box, but there are the 2 alternating led's flashing fine but then about every 10 to 12 seconds is that the strobe will flash.
the main pannel is behind the front door and i have 2 led's on .
The power and day light. the strobe will flash if i test it and the sounder works fine too.
has anyone out there got any idea's on why this may be.
if anyone needs any more info then please just ask.
ohh there is one more thing is that how hot do these units get as i have noticed what looks like soot / sut marks up the wall behind the pannel as if there was some fire inside coming out the slots in the back of it.
this was my main concern as i dont want it to catch fire etc.

many thanx
davey

davey dot com.
January 2011