Alarm sensitivity

[Claws]

Hi Guys

just a quick couple of questions 

had a letter from council saying people have complained the alarm is being a nuisance, we can't hear it as we live away from the car,

first question

can it be desensitised?

Second question 

using the fob does first press just lock and not alarm? Or is it alarmed on first press?

any help much appreciated 

Steve

[Old Peter]

Why is it going off, Steve?

I had the same problem with a Montego ages ago. If it was parked in the road and a 'bus went past the alarm went off.

I think the first press locks the car and the second press activated the alarm  -- I will check that though, and if you don't hear from me I am either on my second cold Bud in the garden or I am right!

Peter.

[Old Peter]

Checked Steve,

The second press activates the alarm.

Now for a cold Bud in the garden.

Peter. 

[Raistlin]

Steve, is it the volumetric alarm?

If so, have you anything inside the car which could move, god forbid, like furry dice? ;)

[Claws]

So Sorry Chaps for the delay in replying

Hi Peter

I don't know what is setting it off (if indeed it is mine, see below) unless, someone is having a go at it, and its not passing traffic, the car gets parked in a Cul-de-sac

Paul

No furry Dice (thankfully) or air fresheners etc.

I spent about an hour last night in Paranoia central, hearing car alarms that weren't going off! and annoying my missus when I kept putting the telly on pause.

We gave in, and both went down to the car last night, she was sitting there being very well behaved, booted the wheels a couple of times, Nothing! rocked her as hard as I could, Nothing! lifted her as high as I could by the rear arch, Nothing!

Thankfully SWMBO knows a couple of neighbour's and one of them overlooks the car. The strange thing is, she (the Neighbour) has heard alarms going off during the day only? and she thinks it was two other vehicles, not mine? anyhow she will keep an eye out for us and will let us know

I have left her locked (Obviously) on one press of the fob, although the red dash light is flashing as normal, so fingers crossed. it makes you wonder is it a bit of jealously that someone would make erroneous complaints, or a more devious tactic, to get the alarm disabled? (Oops, there goes that Paranoia again)

Just a random thought, could the alarm possibly be acting funny, if the battery is on its way out? I don't have a multi meter, and wouldn't know how to use one if I did, me and electrics don't get on.....

Steve

 

[Old Peter]

Hi Steve,

I think that there is some element of possible jealousy or that there is a professional complainer around.  It is very hard to locate an alarm when there are several places it could come from.

Regards,

Peter.

[Claws]

Hi Peter

forgot to thank you for checking the button thing on the fob, hope the cold buds went down well by the way

The problem is I can't see it or hear it from were we live, so don't know what is happening, I'm now relying on the neighbour to let us know, the other problem is the council have stated if it continues to be a nuisance, they will send someone to silence the alarm or move the car to a place were its not going to be a nuisance at my cost!

if I hear anymore about it I may consider a camera (do they record sound?) 

Regards

Steve

[Old Peter]

Hi Steve,

I think there are dash cams that do record sound.

You will need to hard wire it in so that it works all the time, though.

Regards,

Peter.

[Claws]

Cheers Peter

i know nothing about them (there's a surprise!) but I guess they have a limitation on how big the memory is, and I guess they would slaughter the battery?

by the way just as an aside, the last two replies you have made have not popped up on the 'Alarm bell' icon at the top of the page, just thought I would let you know 

Regards 

Steve

[Claws]

Hi Guys

Apologies for bringing this up again, and for not contributing to the JOC for quite a while.

I am currently at my caravan, and the alarm has tripped 2 or 3 times in the last 4 or 5 days! it  would seem the initial complaint from a neighbour was valid. I am now convinced its because the sun is shining directly on the drivers side, which would make for extremely awkward parking at home, as previously mentioned the car gets parked in a cul-de-sac where the sun travels from one side to the other.

has anyone experienced this and found a solution? perhaps extra insulation in an area around the alarm control module (or whatever its called?)

as always any help greatly appreciated

Regards

Steve

[Russ68]

Hi Steve,

Hope you're well, long time no hear!

The alarms / locking don't seem to like direct sunlight, mine refuses to lock / unlock remotely if in strong sunlight, but I've never had an issue with my alarm.

Would the 1 click lock, 2 clicks alarm activated be the same for all models does anyone know?

Hope you sort it!

Cheers, Russ 

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

I'd say the alarm sounder has failed,

when the nicads inside them fail, they start to play up, the sensitivity can be adjust with IDS/SDD software

you could get a second hand one but, the odds are the batteries/nicads would be on there last legs and you can't be sure it will work anyway and it will need programing

they also do a alarm sounder/horn thats not battery backed and you never get any problems with it, but would also need programing with software

the active one like yours, the nicads inside only usually last 5 years, so they do really well to last as long as it has

usually when the alarm activates as well it flashes a different amount of times on the hazards light when you disarm, to tell you the alarm was activated

cheers

Joe

[Claws]

Thanks for the input chaps

Russ

thanks for asking, I'm fine thanks, I was made redundant in October after 12 years in the role, so just decided to take some time out for myself, including staying away from computers! but now I'm back in the job search market, hopefully getting an interview next week (Fingers crossed) so just goes to show what I was doing whilst at work, Yes, Contributing to the JOC!  

It would appear that 1 click locks & alarms, 2nd click activates the dead locks, I have turned the car around, (The Van & car are south facing) as we are expecting some sunny days down here (Caravan site) the passenger side will get the bulk of the sun, drivers side very little, as the shadow from the Van will quickly put the car in the shade, so will be interesting to see what happens....

Joe

Thanks for the info, that sounds like a Main Dealer type job, (I still have yet to find a decent Indie that I would trust) do you have an idea where about the unit is? if its easily accessible, I may try some form of extra insulation

Many thanks again Guys

Regards

Steve

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

mine is in engine bay, left front area, under the fusebox

cheers

Joe

[Claws]

Cheers Joe

Well the alarm went off again yesterday, it has to be heat, the front of the car was bathed in sun for several hours, I don't suppose there is a way to isolate it manually? if anyone should know please PM me so the info is not out there for any Tom, !Removed! & Harry to view, I'm aware a disabled alarm will invalidate insurance

Steve

[Borg Warner]

My wife's RAV4's alarm would go off for no apparent reason during the day when in the sun.  I changed the battery in the key fob and it no longer goes off.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi Steve

You could just unplug it and remove it

its in a place, not easy to get at, thats why I assume, if you wanted to remove it, the alarm would sound as soon as you open the bonnet and would take a good ten minutes to get at.

the sounder is also mounted inside a steel box/enclosure

also if your handy, its usually the nicad inside that fails, I fixed these in the past by splitting the alarm sounder and changing the battery inside, which is a 6v nicad, then Ive used black polyurathane adhesive to stick the two halve back together

cheers

Joe

 

[Claws]

Many Thanks Guys

Joe that is extremely helpful, and very useful. I presume that is a back up sounder? will there be any affect on central locking or the main Horn? I also presume, no special security fittings are used to stop tampering?

Again thanks for all your input

Regards

Steve