Alarm, wiring etc

[Oli]

I'm going to be fitting an alarm to my MG soon, i am pretty good with wiring and the associated diagrams etc - How hard would this sort of thing be to fit?:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAR-ALARM-IMMOBILISER-REMOTE-START-CENTRAL-LOCKING_W0QQitemZ200247447104QQcmdZViewItem?hash=i tem200247447104&_trkparms=72%3A636%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C2 40%3A1308&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Any help/advice much appreciated.

Oli.

[E_T_V]

Never heard of that alarm before so I don't know how reliable it'll be. However as with many things, how well it is fitted makes a big difference to how reliable it'll be. I use Toad A606i's for most of my cars as they are cheap (for a CAT approved alarm), and reliable. Not too hard to fit but that depends on how good you are with electrics.

If you are looking at a theft deterrant then a proper disclok would be the best plan in my book.

[Russ]

the maplin one is pretty good if your on a budget also their immobilisor is ok ,but as Dan says the a disklok is best as mr chav can see that before he destroys your dash to find out if your electronic gear works or not!
Russ

[fatboy.01]

i just brought one of these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lock-Security-Car-Alarm-System-Remote-Control-Central_W0QQitemZ220273601684QQihZ012QQcategoryZ75 329QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

there is a clear a day wiring diagram and its got all the bit with it
not bad for £19.98 posted

[Beaker]

Save your pennies and get a disklok.

[fatboy.01]

i brought a dummy led last summer after the scum broke into the car seemed to have worked but i'm always at the window keeping an eye on the car every little noise i'm there lol

[Oli]

I've got a disklok people!
Dan, how much is the said Toad alarm?
Russ, do you mean the maplins "portman car alarm" which is about £40 iirc??

[E_T_V]

Toad alarm isn't cheap but it is reliable. £110ish if you DIY fit it.

I've actually got a removed from car earlier lower spec Toad alarm in the loft somewhere which I'll probably never get round to fitting. I'll have to dig out the specs for it and see if I can find some instructions online for it.

The disklok will be the biggest deterrant by a long way so make sure you use it.

[Oli]

Would you be interested in selling that unit Dan?

[E_T_V]

I'll see if I can turn up some instructions and all the bits for it as it is in my loft somewhere.

[Oli]

You're a star:cool:
Let me know what you turn up.

[E_T_V]

Right I found the brain and the remotes but the siren is nowhere to bee seen at the moment. I'll ask the missus if she has seen it. No luck on a wiring diagram yet and the ultrasonics have been cut unfortunatly so they'll need replacing or ignoring. It isn't looking promising at the moment is it!?

[Oli]

Still potentially interested, let me know if you find the other bits mate:)

[Russ]

Russ, do you mean the maplins "portman car alarm" which is about £40 iirc??

Thats the one,mine seems ok

[Oli]

Thats the one,mine seems ok
Did you fit it?

[Russ]

I did, fairly easy as all the wires can be got from inside,and it works the cdl
Russ

[Oli]

Cool, how does it wire upto the cdl?:)

Oli.

[Peter J]

I've got a Maestro van, and thieves do tend to go for vans more than cars. So I fitted microswitches to the door mechanism so it triggers the alarm just by pulling the door handle - the play in the mechanism is enough to trigger the switch without opening the door. This way the alarm goes off before the thieves get in, and no false alarms. Because the only thing that will trigger the alarm is someone actually pulling a door handle or the bonnet catch. It was a bit time consuming to do, despite the fact there are only 3 doors to do on the van. But I think it has been worth it because it has been set off several times over the years, without anyone ever breaking into the van.

[Oli]

I've got a Maestro van, and thieves do tend to go for vans more than cars. So I fitted microswitches to the door mechanism so it triggers the alarm just by pulling the door handle - the play in the mechanism is enough to trigger the switch without opening the door. This way the alarm goes off before the thieves get in, and no false alarms. Because the only thing that will trigger the alarm is someone actually pulling a door handle or the bonnet catch. It was a bit time consuming to do, despite the fact there are only 3 doors to do on the van. But I think it has been worth it because it has been set off several times over the years, without anyone ever breaking into the van.
Jesus wept!
That is a FANTASTIC idea, why did i never think of that???

Could you get pictures of this install? Or talk me through in detail how you did it?

Oli.

[Peter J]

It has worked very well. I imagine the reason professional installers don't fit them like this is that they can fit the usual shock/ultrasonic sensors in about 10 minutes. Problem is they are notorious for false alarms, and unlikely to work before the tea leaf has already smashed his way in. It took me about 10 hours to fit mine with the door handle switches, which I suppose would be uneconomic for a professional installer. But it has been set off several times, which can only be done by pulling the door handles. The last time was when I was parked at Lloret de Mar in Spain earlier this year, so my feeling is that it it was worth the ten hours of fitting just for that once if it stopped me getting a window smashed and broken into out there.
You need an alarm that has a door switch sensor wire, which sets the alarm off simply by a switch connecting this wire through to (negative) earth. Not a current sensor that is set off by voltage drop - eg the interior light coming on. Unfortunately it does tend to be only the more sophisticated and expensive alarms that have this door switch sensor wire, and then also include ultrasonic sensors etc which you don't need (but can easily disconnect as per the alarm instructions) The one I have is a Sparkrite SR100, which costs about £100 in Halfords or £30 when you can find one on ebay.
I bought the door switches cheaply from an electronics store like Maplins - have a picture of one attached. Then it is simply a matter of fastening them inside the door under the mechanism so that it operates the switch when the door handle is pulled. It only needs about 2mm of travel to operate the switch, so the play in the mechanism is enough to set the alarm off even when the door is locked and the door is not actually opened.

For good measure you can put a pin switch under the bonnet so that opening the bonnet will also complete the circuit and set off the alarm.

Vans tend to be targeted more, not just because of what they might be carrying, but also because they would be more useful to someone stealing to use in a burglary. In the first 2 years of having the van I had 3 window breakages and a forced door lock. Then I fitted this alarm and have not had one window breakage or break in during the 15 years since. The alarm has been set off numerous times, which can only be done by trying a door handle. It seems to me that they will always try a door handle first, and when that sets the alarm off the surprise has been enough to discourage them :)

So it has been worth the effort for me as I have had 15 years use out of it already. But, bearing in mind you would have 2 more doors to do in a car, and if it is an old car you may not have so many years use out of it, and a car is not so likely to be broken into anyway, the time involved in fitting these switches into every door isn't going to be worth it for everybody.