Rudely awoken this morning by alarm...

[Corvr6 0]

Calm down ,wasn't a break in,my first false alarm! :lol:

At least I know it can wake me up now. :shock:

I have only had the car 3 weeks so am still finding my feet a bit :mrgreen: ,but was sure the alarm was "sound"(excuse the pun).

I beleive it is a factory fitted full enclosure unit.The name SPYBALL (after surfing the net briefly "SPYBALL" is the name of a "motorcycle" alarm :oops: )is printed on the bottom and a sticker with R57/R on the top.There is also a seperate Immobilser fitted to the car.

The alarm sounded twice in succesion before I could get to my key fob to deactivate it.After ensuring it wasn't a break in attempt I reactivated the alarm.

Now untill this morning when I activated the alarm it always followed this procedure;

1)press button once(on keyfob)

2)First long tone,2nd long tone,doors lock/windows close.

3)After approx 5-10 seconds 1 short tone.

4)Done

8)

 

This morning step 3) is replaced by 4 short tones. :shock:

I opened and closed doors, windows, boot, bonnet and have managed to get it down to 2 short tones but was up to 9 short tones at one point. :?

 

Additional info (since ownership):

Drivers side lock will not activate central locking,passenger side will.

Unable to lock/unlock boot with key,only with full enclosure activation.

Additional info (since last night):

I parked my car in a differant location on the drive,slight tilt to one side.

I left the car in reverse gear,didn't use handbrake,as bedding in new brakes(trying to avoid hotspots).

I hung an air freshner from the rear view mirror.

It was very cold and a bit windy last night. :roll:

 

Questions: :?

1)Does the alarm have a tilt/vibration switch? :?

2)I have noticed 2 rotatable pots and some dip switches on the unit,what do these control? :?

 

I have just been out to the car and reset the alarm and you guessed it,

3)After approx 5-10 seconds 1 short tone.

*&$!* and hooray. :oops:

 

I am open to suggestions and theories :crazyeyes:

[h100vw 0]

Spy ball alarms have I believe a 'spyball' in them. This is a movement sensor. There is a little box, with a curved bottom, with a ball bearing in it and there are ultrasonic sensors pointing at the ball. When you alarm the car the ball comes to rest in thw bowl. Any movement over the limit set by the adjustment pot will cause an alarm condition.

 

I suspect that the number of beeps/tones has something to do with the sensor that caused the alarm condition.

 

You mention wind and cold. The wind may have set off the movement and the cold/wind can cause ultrasonics in the cabin to trigger, especially with air vents open.

 

Try online, to find the user instructions for your alarm and see what they say.

 

Cheers

 

Gavin

[joebrent 0]

yep, spyballs do have use a ball as the guy mentioned above, i know this as my dad has got a spyball on his bike! so the tilt in your drive probably caused the false alarm, but believe it or not your air freshner may also of triggered it, if it was swaying in your car it would of set the sensor inside the car, i have a sigma alarm in my corrado and the manual says this can be a cause of false alarms!!!

[Corvr6 0]

Thanks for your replys guys.

It has been 24 hrs now,and no false alarms. :)

I have levelled the drive a bit,although if it had a movement sensor I would expect it to have triggered when I rocked the car :?

Last night I left it out of gear,with the handbrake off,so any wind could do its worst.

I haven't moved the air freshner.

I cannot seem to find the manufacturer's website,only resellers :mad:

Will update this post if any new occourances.

[Corvr6 0]

I can only put it down to the air freshner I hung from my rear view mirror triggering the ultra sonics when the car rocked slightly in the wind.

Sounds almost obvious now. :oops:

A lesson to all as dum as me :)

[dr_mat 0]

Along similar lines, the only time my alarm on my Vauxhall (spit) ever went off in three years of ownership, I'd parked it outside the house on a nice sunny day with the sunroof tilted open, just a crack...

Some cheeky little sod came along delivering leaflets, and dropped a bl**dy leaflet through the gap.. Setting off the alarm.. :lol:

 

He crapped himself and legged it, I saw him belting round the corner when I got to the window... :lol:

[Corvr6 0]

:lol:

Cheers

[Jim 2]

Does anyone else here find that if they leave their mobile phone in the car (close to the alarms box of tricks) it sets the alarm off? I've experienced this now with two different cars, both with different alarms, and different mobile phone handsets!

 

My Corrado used to have a 'Conlog 300' alarm which was pretty flaky tbh - I left my phone in the driver side door pocket a number of times, and whenever the phone rang it would set the car alarm off without fail.

 

And now just last week I parked my Saxo up outside the local tyre centre and left my phone in the centre console, where I assume some of the gubbins for my Clifford Concept 300 are. The alarm has so far been very well behaved but it just went off for no reason whilst I was getting some tyre prices.. I ran outside and looked in the car to see my phone had a missed call.

 

Phones have gotta be to blame!! :D

[biggrim 0]

Mobile phones can alledgedly seriously fcuk up your car electronics, more so on modern cars. I've heard of horror stories where peoples engine management systems have went off the rails when a mobile went off in the car. :shock: But, I've also heard the horror story of mobiles blowing up petrol stations but never actually heard of an actual event. DM's mobile set off his concept 300, microwaves and microwaves don't really mix. I parked my car up the back of my drive next to the house where the microwave is in the kitchen. Armed alarm and went in to make a hot chocolate. Switched on the microwave and alarm went crazy!!!!! Think the microwave is buggered (seal away) to cause that. Anyway, back to doing 3-D CAD in uni then

[Corvr6 0]

I believe it is possible for a mobile phone to cause an electrostatic discharge due to confined/shielded places,like the inside of a metal box...er car...when some of the waves don't get out and bounce around acting a bit like a microwave oven.

I guess thats another good reason for an external aerial when using the mobile in the car. 8)

[Guest]

the reason you can't use mobiles in petrol stations is purely because, if you were talking on it, and dropped it, it could cause a spark, what with the battery hitting the ground etc. Thats why they warn you not to use them.

 

Thera

[Corvr6 0]

My alarm stills goes off but only when it freezes outside. :(

I suspect a switch is contracting in the cold somewhere,I don't suspect the ultrasonics as they only trigger when waving frantically in front of them.

Has anyone else had similar problems with their alarm on freezing nights?