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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Car Audio / January 2007How should I connect my car alarm to the indicators?
Can somebody recommend how best to connect my new car alarm to the indicators; I have tried several points behind the dash (the indicator light, the hazard light switch), but each time I can only get the left or the right indicators to light up, not all four. When I connect the alarm to the two separate points simultaneously, I do indeed get both sides to light up, but when I then use the indicators, both sides light up, as if I¹m using hazzard lights. Any advice is much appreciated.  Signatureremove the animals to reply Make model year of car??????????????????????????????????????? >Can somebody recommend how best to connect my new car alarm to the >indicators; I have tried several points behind the dash (the indicator [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Any advice is much appreciated. It's a 1986 Ford Capri 280; so it's all pretty basic... > Make model year of car??????????????????????????????????????? > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > > >Any advice is much appreciated. Signatureremove the animals to reply The alarm should be hooked up to the maker lights. Brown wire @ the Light Switch. Make sure that your alarm wire has a 12v+ output, some alarms you can flip from + to - with a jumper within the alarm brain. Make sure it's set to +. >It's a 1986 Ford Capri 280; so it's all pretty basic... > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >> > >> >Any advice is much appreciated. What are 'maker lights''? The instructions with the alarm specifically recommend connecting to the indicators. Thanks for the diodes tip; I'll get some and have a go with those. > The alarm should be hooked up to the maker lights. Brown wire @ the Light > Switch. Make sure that your alarm wire has a 12v+ output, some alarms you can [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > >> > > >> >Any advice is much appreciated. Signatureremove the animals to reply Parking lights, I haven't yet seen an alarm asking you wire into a flasher circuit. Sounds like a bad jap to english translation. What make is this alarm Directed? LOL >What are 'maker lights''? The instructions with the alarm specifically >recommend connecting to the indicators. Thanks for the diodes tip; I'll [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >> >> > >> >> >Any advice is much appreciated. You need diodes or a dual make relay inline with the light flash output to keep the left and right side indicator circuits separated.The diodes should be in the 4 amp to 6 amp range, and make sure your alarm can cover the overall current draw as many are made to flash only the parking lights which draw about half what the indicators do. JD > Can somebody recommend how best to connect my new car alarm to the > indicators; I have tried several points behind the dash (the indicator [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Any advice is much appreciated. > ....make sure your alarm can cover the overall current draw.... Better yet, use a SPST relay. Some alarms have one built-in, so this option might be unnecessary, but if you're really paranoid you can use one anyway--it's much easier to replace a discrete relay than it is to have to possibly go without an alarm if the on-board relay fails for some reason. http://www.ehow.com/how_8450_relay-car-electronics.html -dan >>....make sure your alarm can cover the overall current draw.... > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > http://www.ehow.com/how_8450_relay-car-electronics.html More importantly, especially if the alarm doesn't have a built-in relay, it's easy to kill an alarm brain and/or pop its power fuse by simply breaking a bulb and shorting its contacts. Using a separate relay (or two, in this case) prevents this and allows you to control both lights separately. Pick up a couple of the very-common Bosch automotive relays, as shown here: http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm (scroll down to "The Famous Bosch Relay"), and here: http://www.034motorsport.com/images/BoschRelay.jpg. Assuming your alarm outputs a positive voltage for the light-flash, wire it up thus: Connect pin 85 to ground. Connect pin 30 to power. Connect pin 87 to the wire feeding the lights. Connect pin 86 to the alarm output. Repeat for the other side of the vehicle. 1) You can do the same thing with one relay, if you use a dual make where the two outputs are isolated until the relay makes. You want a DPST with terminals 85/86/30/87/87b. 87 and 87b are isolated from each other but both connect to 30 when the relay is energized. Typically these are 10A-15A rated contacts so plenty of amperage to drive indicator lights. 2) If the alarm is so poorly built you can blow it's power fuse by shorting the parking light circuit, it's junk. All of ours have a smaller fuse on the parking light flash wire (if it's a high-current output) than they do on the power lead, so the most you can do is pop the parking light flash fuse. 3) I always liked using the indicators (turn signals in other words) myself as it is a lot brighter, you just have to be aware that many alarms are only made to cover the current draw of a typical parking light circuit (or circuits; some Euro stuff have 2-3 separate parking light circuits). Here's a *slightly* more informed source on the wide world of relays. It's a bit Euro-centric given the theme of the site but covers WAY more technical detail on relays than either of those sites did: http://www.airheads.org/content/view/159/49/ JD >>> ....make sure your alarm can cover the overall current draw.... >> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Repeat for the other side of the vehicle. > 1) You can do the same thing with one relay, if you use a dual make > where the two outputs are isolated until the relay makes. You want a > DPST with terminals 85/86/30/87/87b. 87 and 87b are isolated from each > other but both connect to 30 when the relay is energized. > Typically these are 10A-15A rated contacts so plenty of amperage to > drive indicator lights. That works too, if you can find one. I've actually never seen one (not that I've ever looked). Have a hard enough time finding an SPDT anymore, all anyone seems to carry are SPSTs (two 87 terminals). Of course, you don't HAVE to use the Bosch relays either, their SPSTs/SPDTs are just the most commonly available. > 2) If the alarm is so poorly built you can blow it's power fuse by > shorting the parking light circuit, it's junk. All of ours have a > smaller fuse on the parking light flash wire (if it's a high-current > output) than they do on the power lead, so the most you can do is pop > the parking light flash fuse. That's another option, but of course, it depends on the alarm and the install. If you're going to go out and buy a new one, it's something to look for, but if it's something you already have or you're on a tight budget, it's something you need to keep in mind. Either way, better safe than sorry. |
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