Car Alarm: LED Flashes to beat of stereo

It sounds like a "feature" not a bug :-)

| > The car installer said that he's never heard of this problem before. | > Any thoughts? | >

| > Thanks | > Sam | >

| >

| | |

Reply to
Crash Gordon
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I have a Black Widow 1800 Car Alarm installed in my Mazda3. Everything is stock inside the car. I noticed the other night while sitting in the car and listening to the stereo that the LED was flashing to the beat of the stereo. The heavier the beat, the stronger the flash. I only had the ignition in the ACC position. This problem is not always easy to replicate; however, it shows up most of the time.

The car installer said that he's never heard of this problem before. Any thoughts?

Thanks Sam

Reply to
Sam

I think that some of the ideas of the cause are good but ...... I'd leave it alone. Sounds like a neat feature to me. You might think about hooking it to your neon running lights. Das Coo man!

Reply to
Jim

It may be just your mind playing tricks on you. If you stare at anything long enough, it will seem to do strange things. If your car alarm has a shock detector attached to it, it may be reacting to the vibrations of the music bass beat.

Jim Rojas

Reply to
Jim Rojas

Does it do this with the car running or with the engine off? It may be a low battery and the bass notes are dropping the battery voltage enough to cause the alarm to flash the LED

Reply to
e-nigma

Voltage induction. Your LED wire is probably run next to a speaker wire. The varying voltage from the speaker wire is "inducing" a small amount of voltage onto the LED wire. Do a google search on electro-magnetic induction.

Reply to
Stanley Barthfarkle

Voltage induction. Your LED wire is probably run next to a speaker wire. The varying voltage from the speaker wire is "inducing" a small amount of voltage onto the LED wire. Do a google search on electro-magnetic induction.

Reply to
Stanley Barthfarkle

Lower the volume

Doug L

Reply to
Doug L

Eh? Wahdyasay?

Reply to
Jim

Highly unlikely, it will need to act as a transformer and the LED will require far more current to illuminate than simple paralell induction will induce. Also if this were the case the problem would be more prominent if the engine were on as the amplifier would be receiving more voltage and would have greater headroom. I vote for a big voltage drop at the alarm module causing a hickup that flashes the lamp.

Chad

Reply to
Chad Wahls

simple...

the ground or power line for both the alarm and radio are shared...and its too small (cant handle the total load of current) or its week..(bad connection)...

"Sam" a écrit dans le message de news: SMhcf.441004$oW2.244572@pd7tw1no...

Reply to
petem

What would cause a big voltage drop at the alarm module causing a hickup that flashes the lamp?

Reply to
Sam

: I think that some of the ideas of the cause are good but ...... I'd : leave it alone. Sounds like a neat feature to me. You might think about : hooking it to your neon running lights. : Das Coo man!

Me thinks there could be other issues at play here. Many Mazda3 owners are complaining about an intermittent rough idle. Nobody has determined the source of the problem, maybe this issue is a symptom of a larger problem?

Reply to
Sam

what would you suggest be the fix to rectify the situation?

Reply to
Sam

Every time the bass hits, the car voltage drops. the amount of drop depends on how strong the battery is.

Reply to
e-nigma

check the wiring for ground and voltage supply

beef it up..

one way of knowing for sur wheres the trouble is to take voltage mesurment while its happening..

those mesurment should be made between the battery ground ant the various point where power pass for the radio and alarm device (but i would highly check at the auxiliary switch of the ignition ;-) )

"Sam" a écrit dans le message de news: nKTcf.477722$oW2.44608@pd7tw1no...

Reply to
petem

The voltage could drop enough to cause the alarm to think weird things and blink the LED. Even at full output there will be enough voltage to illuminate an LED. The reason it does not dim is because it's probably illuminating at the BOTTOM of the voltage cycle or as the cycle is coming back up. Does the LED flash immediately after you apply power to the alarm system?

As for 6 month..... I had the battery replaced on my brand spanking new car within a month of purchase. No system in it. Sometimes you get a bad one. If a battery lasts the first few months it will usually live a normal live barring abuse. The weak ones get weeded out quick :)

Chad

Reply to
Chad Wahls

: Every time the bass hits, the car voltage drops. the amount of drop depends : on how strong the battery is.

Just curious, if the voltage drops then the LED should dim, but in my case, when the bass hits, the LED brightens. Since the car is only about

6 months old, I don't believe the battery is the issue.
Reply to
Sam

Does it do this with the car running? or only when the key is in ACC

Reply to
e-nigma

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