Alarm

[churst]

W reg 4.0 chim 25900 miles
Used the car at weekend and everything fine exept for a little sluggish when turning over.
Anyway come to this morning and decide to take the car to work. Only just started turning over
very slow. Go to work approx 42 mile commute. Come out tonight and not enough in battery to start the car. Moved the car at lunch time to a more remote part of the car park and turned over and started fine. Either battery knackered or alternator not charging. No problem will get it checked at weekend by local auto electrician. Anyway back to my question, how the hell do I stop the alarm from
going off when the battery is really low. Going off in works car park tonight when battery had very little charge in it due to trying to start it. had to push start in the end. Got home and car straight in garage and put on battery charger while still on car. just a bit apprehensive that if alarm goes off how the hell am I going to stop it.

Col

[dc400]

hi .i had dead battery last year ,alarm would not stop even with battery off. put new battery on alarm still going.car started still alarm going .in the end i had to remove front grill disconect alarm totaly. alarm wrapped up in a box in boot still going 6 hours later .it has stopped now but its still in boot. good luck

[BrianMillar]

If it’s a Meta alarm with the original siren, the siren has a built in battery. It is not possible to stop the siren going off when the battery is flat or disconnected.
This is a feature of the alarm to prevent thieves just disconnecting the battery to silence the alarm.

If the siren is the later type it has a switch built into it to disable the siren so that maintenance with the battery disconnected can be performed. Look at the siren for a round black rubber cover on the switch.

[Cider Andy]

The alarm is sensitive to voltage drops, eg. if the battery has discharged, which tends to trigger it. It remains in this state even if the battery is properly and fully recharged. Once recharged, disconnect and reconnect the battery: the alarm will sound but should reset ok on the key.

Your battery was so weak it struggled to start the car, but it kept running on a 42 mile journey. Had the alternator not been working, I doubt you'd have made 42 miles on a weak battery. The alternator sounds ok. But as it struggled to start again afterwards, I'd suspect the battery: a 42 mile journey should have given it sufficient charge if it's in good condition.

[churst]

Thanks for the info guys.
Brian, didn't know about the switch on the siren just hope mine is the later type if not I have a
very large lump which should deafen the sound.

Cheers guys

[churst]

Apologies seemed to have missed the word "hammer" off last post. All though large lump does sound
pretty flattering.

Col

[BrianMillar]

As I remember the original siren was an M11A it had an orange sticker on it. They are sealed units and when they fail they can only be replaced.
The replacement siren was a M12A with a yellow sticker (not at home at the moment so I can’t check). These are the ones with the override switch.

I would think twice about using the lump hammer as a volume control. It will cost you around 80 quid to replace the siren.

Mind you, when I am working on the car, I normally discover that I don’t have the siren key with me about half a second after I disconnect the battery.