Clifford Concept 100

Hello,

I'm quite new to the car alarm thing, so I thought this would be a good place to get some help.  I have an older Clifford Concept 100 alarm that I have installed in my car.  It was originally in a different car, so I took it out and after getting wiring diagrams etc., figured out how to install it myself.  Just about everything is working correctly: door, hood, trunk, immobilize.  The only problem I am having is with my shock and glass tampering sensors.

I set both to max sensitivity, and armed alarm.  After starting by lightly tapping on body and glass, getting nothing, gradually stepped up more and more until I still was getting no sensor response.  I finally went and basically pushed as hard up and down on my trunk as I could until the shock sensor recognized but didn't set alarm off.

However, after this, I could just barely tap anywhere on the car and both glass and shock sensors recognized and gave 5 beeps.  Tapped a little harder on fender, shock sensor set alarm off.  Disarmed alarm, re-armed, and sensors went back to doing exactly what they were originally.  This time NOTHING I could do would set off either sensor(short of breaking glass...which I didn't try)

Now, being new to alarms, I have NO idea what this could be.  I'm guessing at my conclusions, but I don't think sensors could be bad, since they work correctly at least some of the time and alarm doesn't throw any codes about them.  Could it have to do with my battery being low?  Maybe a wiring/ground issue?  Basically I would like some direction where to start looking before I either spend a load of cash replacing or chop the whole thing out.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks,

-Dustin 

Thanks for the help so far.  As for wiring, all connections I made were soldered and either covered with heatshrink or electrical tape. 

As for how long I wait, after thinking about it I'm not sure if I did wait 30 seconds or whatever until testing.  I understand shock sensor doesn't test vibration, but I was just trying to explain that I started with gentle taps, went to more and more impact, until I was basically making as solid a blow as I could without breaking something to the car, still with no response.

What I am wondering is why if I set the sensor off once, then after disarming, it will work properly once at max sensitivity, with only me tapping gently anywhere on the car, but after that, it goes back to nothing again?

-Dustin

Well, I went out and did a bit more testing today.  Found out that part of what I think the problem is lies with the Clifford unit, and part lies with me.  I was doing some testing of the shock sensor, and I would arm, wait 30 sec, then set it off.  I read in the manual it is called "remote siren silencing", , that Clifford alarms let you silence the siren without remotely disarming.  What it says though is that after hitting your lock/unlock button on the remote, 2 chirps means you are still armed, 4 chirps means ignition is on or hood/door/trunk are open and it is a real theft attempt.  However, I would always get 3 chirps after I silenced the siren, and couldn't find anywhere in the manual where it indicated what this would mean.

When I waited 30 sec, set off the shock sensor, I would get 3 chirps when remotely silencing, then 3 again when hitting disarm, which I know means a sensor was set off.  What I was noticing though when testing the shock sensor, was that after remotely silencing it, and testing again, it wouldn't go off.  I could see the LED on the actual sensor blinking, meaning it was registering shock, but the alarm wasn't going off.  The only way I could set it off was to disarm and re-arm.

Looking through manual again, I noticed something called FACT-false alarm control/test.  It said if you set off your shock sensor, let your siren complete it's cycle, then try to trigger the sensor again, it won't set the alarm off.  This sounded almost exactly what I was doing, except I wouldn't let siren complete it's cycle, because of the obnoxious noise

Does this sound like it is working correctly?  I tested with glass sensor, same thing.  Door switch wouldn't do this though.  To me, it seems like on one hand it would prevent falsing, but if any thief set off your shock sensor once, it would be free reign after that since it wouldn't go off again.

Sorry for my long replies, but I am very new to this, and just trying to pick up as much info as I can that the manual doesn't seem to tell me.  Thanks,

-Dustin

Hello,

I think I've got just about everything figured out with my Clifford Concept 100 install.  I have only 2 questions left that I need answers to:

1)I can pop my trunk when the alarm is armed...how can I rewire this so it works correctly and will not pop and set off alarm when armed?

2)My main problem.  I got this alarm used with the car, and the previous owner had no idea what it was. The factory Clifford valet code was changed, and I have no idea what it is. I need it to change some settings in the features(ex. door lock polarity, etc).  Is there any reset on the unit at all? If not, could I use the CliffordWizard to change the valet code? Would I need the Regular or Pro version, and with either one, would I need to know the valet code first to be able to access settings or to change the code itself? Thanks for your help,

-Dustin

You can change valet code through either version of wizard, and i don't believe it asks for the old one.  As for the trunk you need to turn on aux output interlock.  However, this can only be done through pro version of wizard, or it can be done through programming switch, but it is in the installer programming grid.

Thanks again for your help.  Now that I know I can just get a cable to get my code, that is all I need to know.  I'm not worried about the wizard software, because in the installers guide it has the programming grid, but without my valet code, I wasn't able to use switch to program any features.

Any idea on the cost of a cable?  I'm guessing they are up on eBay, just haven't looked yet.  Thanks again,

-Dustin