Have you had this problem with the caravan alarm on a frosty morning?

[trevor123]

Since we had the van from last April the alarm been fine, it a Stinger 310 model, This morning as I got up at 5.30am we was having our first cup of tea by 6am the van alarm went off, flew out the back door no one about, Phew Thanks god for that then turn the alarm off, had a look round all ok, turn it back on in the next 1/2 hour it went off again, could't see why?
So I look into it later, got back in the van turn it on then shut the van door it went off again, tried it again same thing happen, so now it turn off for a while, Look in thr van Handbook it said bright light from skylight can set it off but I got a piece of cardboard in the skylight to stop the light settting off the alarm since we had the van, but the other 2 little sky light one in the kitchen and the bathroom are open, Did wonder because it was a very frosty morning -4 today. would the cold weather have anything to do with it?
Had this happen to you and what did you do? Thanks Trevor123

 

[SteveW77]

Snap!!!!
I had exactly the same thing this morning, Tracker control woke me a 6-30, flew down to storage yard, found nothing wrong, checked battery condition, OK. no sign of mice or any other small animal, so what now?

Steve W

 

[xtrailman]

Perhaps disabling the PIR, and monitor the alarm.
Its going to be cold again tonight, so a good test.
On the unicorn you need to remove the batteries.
I did have a IDM1 alarm on a Avondale were the pir was picking up Taxi radio signals and setting of the alarm, with the IDM, you had a led display that told you the offending sensor.
A new pir electronics board with a mod was the cure.

 

[RogerL]

Lead acid batteries and dry-cell batteries all have reduced capacity as the temperature drops as well as reducing as they age - BUT - the design of the installation should have taken that lower capacity into account.
That's a reason why smoke detector batteries should be changed every year rather than allowed to gradually drop in capacity over 5 years or so.
Surely a modern caravan, fitted with the correct battery, should be able to function perfectly in these temperatures which aren't unusual for the time of year? I do wonder if caravans are "fit for purpose" if leaving them outdoors gives problems !

 

[trevor123]

Hi Steve W
After the frosty morning we had, turn the alarm off for a while had a look at the caravan handbook it did say close all skylight blind, but I got a big cardboard fitted in the big skylight, but not the other two small one kitchen/bathroom,
Had a look at other forum about the Stinger alarm few people said they had problem with it on a frosty morning, But what I done is cut out two piece of cardboard to fit the other 2 skylight and put the alarm back on late afternoon so far ok,it -2 here this morning and it been ok so far so will keep a eye on it as it said the weather will be up to -3 one night this week , so we see what happen then,
Hope you got your problem sorted out? Trevor123

 

[SteveW77]

Like you, I found nothing wrong. I keep all my blinds drawn when the van is in storage, but as it was as black as the ace of spades at 6-30 in the morning i don't think it has anything to do with light. It was -4 here last night and yes you have guessed it, nothing happened at all.

I have asked Phantom tracking if they can shed any light on the subject, but heard nothing as yet, maybe their techies don't work at weekends.

Steve W

 

[Willi-Wonti]

Lead acid batteries and dry-cell batteries all have reduced capacity as the temperature drops as well as reducing as they age - BUT - the design of the installation should have taken that lower capacity into account.
That's a reason why smoke detector batteries should be changed every year rather than allowed to gradually drop in capacity over 5 years or so.
Surely a modern caravan, fitted with the correct battery, should be able to function perfectly in these temperatures which aren't unusual for the time of year? I do wonder if caravans are "fit for purpose" if leaving them outdoors gives problems !

I am agreeing with you again Roger (thats twice today

).
We get people phoning us saying that their smoke alarms are beeping during the night.
We can only advise them that the battery loses power when cold & to change the battery

 

[Whittakerr]

I have just had a stinger 310 alarm fitted under warrenty. This is an extract from the user manual

"Please be aware that extremes of temperature can affect the operation of the
PIR. With temperatures above 30 deg C the PIR’s ability to detect a human
body is reduced, and therefore the sensitivity can be adjusted to improve
detection. With temperatures below zero the PIR’s sensitivity will increase,
and therefore the sensitivity can be reduced to eliminate false triggering."

Hope this helps.

Roger

 

[Royston]

The original post recalled a incedent that happen to us on January 7th 2012, I was awakened in the early hrs 3am by our back door ringing, followed by serious loud banging on the front door.Wondering what the hell was happening feering the worst that something had happened to my daughter who lives just around the corner, leaning out of the bedroom window discovered it was my next door neighbour with a flash light, and fire extinguisher telling me that my smoke alarm was ringing, fearing the worst that we had a fire inside the van.
On entering the van their was no smoke , the neighbours wife informed us that it had been ringing since 12oclock, but they could not locate the source, they sleep with a window open we do not..
Only way to stop the noise was removal of battery.
The van is 5 years old, I change the smoke alarm battery every year, hence the charge it had to ring constently for 3+ hrs non stop.
Just wondered if the components within the smoke alarm have a shelf life of 5 years.Next morning I Fitted a brand new smoke alarm purchased from Homebase.Peace has returned.
Last winter it was alot colder never had any problems.
Royston

 

[trevor123]

Hi I'm not beening rude but what had the smoke alarm got to do with the very first reply I put on here? I.m talking about the Caravan alarm the one if someone break in to your van, not the smoke alarm,
Hope this had clear the problem here, Thanks Trevor123

 

[SteveW77]

Hi Trevor 123.

I had a word with Sargent Alarms technical support person, he supplied a modification kit, ( a piece of wire with connectors and a set of pictorial instructions. Took less than 5 Min's to fit. Once fitted you return all settings to the default and bobs your uncle problem solved ( I hope ) The wire arrived by next post, so all in all a satisfactory result.

Steve W

 

[xtrailman]

What was the wire for?

 

[trevor123]

Hi SteveW Glad you got your problem sorted out now, Our alram been ok so far since we reset it up hade a couple of sharp frost -3 to -4 again this week it been ok,
For Ray The wire is for the Stinger 310 Caravan Alarm a small thing to add to stop the alarm going off on a frosty morning
Hope this clear thing up now, Trevor123

 

[SteveW77]

According to Sargents, the wire is connected to two existing sockets on the PCB to earth the unused module connectors,
which have been causing the problems.

Steve W

 

[xtrailman]

Cheers
I remember when i made my own alarm a 16 zone for the last bungalow, using mainly nor gates, any unused inputs should be tied to either positive or ground, may be the same sort of issue, leaving them "open" could lead to unreliable operation.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Trevor 123. I have had a similar thing happen with our van Sterling Elite now I contacted Sargent and was advised that when you reset your alarm you see how many bleeps you hear on reset that indicates what has set the alarm off in the first instance I cant find my codes at the moment but Im sure they are available on line or somebody on Swifts forum will tell you
Sir Roger (WM)

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Look in thr van Handbook it said bright light from skylight can set it off but I got a piece of cardboard in the skylight to stop the light settting off the alarm since we had the van, but the other 2 little sky light one in the kitchen and the bathroom are open,

We have a Senator and not long after having it our alarm starting going off. It happened for a few days, always at the same time, about 8.30 which had a bearing on the reason. Eventually I turned it off until I saw our caravan mechanic. Because our van was on our sloping drive the sun was coming through the Heki light and shone onto the PIR at that time of the year. He told me to try leaving the Heki light blind across for a few days and since I've never been bothered with it.

 

[AlanADS]

My Sargent Stinger 310 alarm on our Coachman activated in the early hours this morning so bleary eyed I reset it and left it off. I Put it back on again about 08.00 hours and within about 30 minutes it activated again. This has happened before but until I read this thread didn't know what the problem might be. It was about -8 degrees last night in the early hours so first thing Monday I will be phoning Sargents to see if they can help and send the modification kit so that hopefully this will sort the problem out.
Alan

 

[AlanADS]

True to their word, Clive of Sargent (Stinger 310) alarms, put the modification kit and instructions in the post and we received it on Wednesday which is excellent service.
Fitted the part this morning, longest it took was taking up the seat cushions and opening up the black box. Couldn't believe how large the alarm battery was - bet that costs a lot for a new one !.
Tried the alarm before I put it all back together and all was OK. Overall it took less than 10 minutes to fit. It is below freezing now and snowing hard and the alarm has been on for about 12 hours now and seems to have done the trick.
Alan