4lex

Max, hi

A guy posting under the userid 14500rpm on another board I visit suggested I post up here - having some trouble with a CC300.

It seems to chirp intemittently on arm/disarm, although everything else works ok. Any idea what I could check, or are we more likely looking at a dry junction or poor connection somewhere?

Many thanks,
Alex

chiark

If it's a different sound, that could be the battery warning chirp that warns you the battery in your remote is getting low.

Max the Clifford dealer

If you're finding that the two arm chirps and one disarm chirp don't seem to sound any more it is the warning that the siren's internal batteries are at the end of their useful life and it's just letting you know. This also makes itself aparent whenever the siren is asked to give two chirps or less, but will always give three chirps or more. One way to test this is to open the boot or bonnet and arm the alarm. You should always get the four chirps when you arm to say one or the other is open, but when you disarm, you won't get the one disarm chirp. Don't worry too much if the siren's batteries are on their way out, it will still work perfectly well under normal circumstances, it just won't run very long if it sees power disconnected and has to rely on it's battery back-up. Provided the siren is less than 2 years old, it will still be warranted and your dealer should be able to exchange it.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Max, changing the subject slightly, I live in Germany and have been told that Clifford no longer trade and have gone out of business. They were aparently taken over by a company called Viper, Clifford Alarms are apparently illegal in Sausageland due to the radio frequency that the transmitters use, is this true do you know? I was told this by an approved clifford dealer here who was not allowed to sell clifford stuff. If I was to get a clifford alarm fitted to my car in the UK would I be in the brown smelly stuff back here or should these allarms meet all EU radio frequency laws.

Cheers

Steve

4lex

Thanks Max. My local dealer wouldn't replace the siren under warranty as it was fitted by the previous owner. The claimed the whole siren had to replaced, as the unit is 'sealed and protected with anti-tamper measures'. They quoted me 85 plus vat and fitting, grand total of 160.

The unit is neither sealed nor fitted with any anti-tamper protection. The battery pack is a NiCad unit comprising six halfAA cells, rated 7.2v - I don't know the capacity as it was obscured with glue. Replaced it with a custom made pack from a local battery place, rated 800mAh - the whole job took less than five minutes and cost under a tenner.

Thanks again for the advice Max, saved me over 150 and from putting up with the idiots at my local alarm shop.

Incidentally, both the local clifford dealers here in Leicester, Car Music Centre on Catherine Road, and Car Electronics on Oakland Road categorically told me that the problem could not be caused by the failure of the siren's batteries, even when I explained that one of the docs I read on the clifford website confirmed what Max had said they rubbished me. I strongly recommend no-one entrusts their security to either of these cowboy outfits who clearly know very little about their own products.

doctor CLIFFORD

What area are you in m8?
If your any where near birmingham i will swop it free of charge as far as it being fitted by the previous owner that does not matter i will send it back for you!!


doc!

Max the Clifford dealer

Wurzel,

About a year and a half or so ago, Clifford were kind of 'absorbed' into Directed Electronics Inc (DEI), an enormous American firm who not only manufacture and distribute their own products, both security and audio/A.V., but own pretty much every major American brand of security (including Viper) and now have Clifford as their kind of jewel in their crown. So, in the UK, a very important market for Clifford and now DEI, Clifford Electronics UK has now become DEI and are also supplying everything in the DEI portfolio through the old Clifford UK headquarters, and the Clifford brand continues to go from strength to strength. The Sausageland office of Clifford may have closed, I don't know, but surely there must be another distributor there. You'd have to call the UK office on 0800 929949 and find out. As for the remote frequencies, I'm sure that the UK's MPT1430 spec of approximately 433MHz is also EC compliant. I do know that the American versions of alarms operate on a completely different frequency, but as for Sausageland legislation, someone at Clifford UK should be able to answer any questions.



4lex,

Glad to hear everything was as I'd said and you simply changed your own ni-cads

carl

I have exactly this problem (does 4 chirps OK, but not less than). Unit is just coming up for three years old, so out of warranty. Do you have a part number/model number for the battery pack 4lex? I haven't even found the siren under the bonnet yet (maybe I'll activate it then go searching). Seems a bit crap if the batteries in the siren unit don't last as long as those in the keyfob!

chiark

I *think* 4 chirps means that the alarm is omitting something, such as the bonnet or boot, or it thinks a door is open.

Simple way of checking bonnet sensor: open bonnet, push down switch, set alarm, release switch. If alarm doesn't trigger, it's that sensor at fault.

Do same with boot.

carl

No, you misread me (or maybe I've not explained it properly). When the alarm is required to do 4 chirps (e.g. leaving a door open, then arming) it does so. When it's required to do less (e.g. one chirp for the quick ignition on/off trick, two for arming, etc.) it doesn't do them at all.

I think I have a duff siren battery, as per Max's suggestion.

Max the Clifford dealer

You have got a duff siren battery pack as you think. Put the alarm in Valet mode, then disconnect the vehicle's battery. Now you can unscrew the siren's horn on the front, and unscrew/unstick the cable strain plate on the back and slide the pcb out of the case and you'll see the battery pack and how it's mounted. Not particularly high tech (-:

chiark

You're right, missed the point completely . My apologies.

4lex

Originally posted by carl
Sorry, no - was obscured by glue. Clifford won't sell you one anyway, they're clearly protecting their (extremely lucrative) aftermarket.

I got a replacement made to order, from these guys, but I don't know if they do mail order, as they're near enough for me to visit. If you struggle to find one I'll fetch you one from them for fifteen quid (it's a bit of a drive).



[Edited by 4lex - 10/11/2002 2:23:16 PM]

Max the Clifford dealer

You should be able to make up your own battery pack for a few quid from AA sized NiCad's from Maplins or suchlike that have the solder tags on each end, specifically for making custom battery packs from. It's not something I bother doing personally as I simply swap/sell a new siren as necessary. I have to make a living (-:

4lex

And fair enough Max. I wasn't willing to pay for a new siren, especially given that the car it's fitted to is worth less than a grand.

I'm not sure you'd fit six off AA cells in the unit as it goes, the pack I replaced was made of half-AA units (ie similar in diameter, half the length) - fitting them outside the siren body would pretty much void the value of having them in the first place!

Max the Clifford dealer

Sorry, I forgot they were the half-AA size cells. Doh!!!