Just read a post where Evil Teken mentiones that a drained battery can set off an alarm or make it act odd. My alarm has 2 extra sensors on the optional trigger wire, on 2 stage motion sensor on the 2 stage shock sensor wires (I have it off by toggle switch) and a relocated new Optima in the trunk. I have lowered the sensitivity of all sensors and checked the hood trigger but the alarm keeps going off several minutes after armed. I isolated the optional trigger with diodes. Is the battery low on voltage? How can I figure out if it's an alarm issue or a battery issue? How can I figure out if my car is draining the battery and the voltage change in a short moment triggers the alarm? Shouldn't the resistance at the battery posts be very high when everything in the car is off? Any help is welcome.

 

well you can check the output of your battery with a meter, just touch the two posts on a battery (your meter can handle this..just make sure its set to DC).

I had a similar problem, and narrowed it down to a reversed diode screwing things up for me double check the diode isolation at the sensors if the problem persists and your battery is good.

-Rage

 

Well I think I wasn't clear with my question, sorry. The battery voltage should be around the 12.3-12.7 Vdc when the car is off so how would I know there is a problem if it shows 12.6 Vdc? Do I have to measure the voltage over time when the car is of for long periods? I guess that would work but I don't have any referance as to what would be normal current drain. Just wanted any alternative methods or ideas how to establish the alarm is draining current because of a bad connection or something. The diode polarity can be but the sensors seem to work so that's odd. I cleaned and WD-40'ed the hood pin per one of the archived posts I read and the alarm seems to be working but I have driven a bit so the battery must be well charged so I'm not sure. Thanks for your help.

 

well if your battery is good, then your alarm should'nt be faulting. I belive what tekken meant when he said a low charged battery can make alarms fault, is that a lower than expected input voltage can cause irratic operation. The same is true for any electrical device, if your alarm needs 12v to operate a sensor, and your battery is supplying less, that sensor will not work as fashioned.

I realize your trying to ask if its drawing too much, therefore you can determine that there is a problem, but I don't think that your battery is suspect if its pushing 12.6 off.

Good luck!
-Rage

 

O, I got it.. Ok so if change in current is a short period probably doesn't trip the alarm (small one not like opening a door or turning on a light) then it must be a sensor issue like you say. I cleaned the hood pin and it seems to be ok so I'll just keep an eye on it for false alarms and see if the problem is gone. Thanks for the help.