compustar alarm/rs

I had a Compustar alarm/RS (RF-P2W9000-SS) installed in my 2010 Expedition in mid-January. Just about since day 1, I have been having various unusual "bugs" with the install.

First, my battery has been draining down almost every day, it'll drop from 12.6V to 11.6V in a 28 hour period. I pulled the fuse on the alarm, but it's still doing it. I have taken the car to the dealership thinking it was a dead battery, they keep pointing to the alarm, but I don't understand how the alarm could be causing this with the fuse pulled. This is bug #1.

Bug #2 is that occasionally, when I do a remote start of the car, it sets off the alarm (both aftermarket AND factory... so siren and horn). The remote says the door has been opened, and when I hit button 1 to unlock/disarm, it shuts down the remote start completely.
I have been doing a start of the truck daily (I work from home so I don't leave the house everyday) to make sure the battery doesnt run completely down. Now it seems like I can't even do that!

This is my second Compustar alarm... had another one in my last truck and never had any issues. This one is causing all kinds of pain. I can't take it back to the shop I had it installed in because they're in a different state and would be difficult to get to. So, I was hoping someone could point me to what could be causing these problems, if maybe there's a setting I could change before I take it to another Compustar shop and have it redone.

Thanks.

I forgot to mention... the alarm/RS is with the CM6000 brain.

From the sound of it the factory alarm disarm may not be connected and there was a glitch that the compustar 6000 brain had. If you use the dome light as a door trigger the compustar doesn't shunt that door triggers when remote starting and as you may notice that the domelights turns on with at first with the ignition on. The solution is to update the compustar brain to version 2.5 and that will take care of that issue. Also make sure the shop who installed the system connects the factory alarm disarm wire. If you really want to make sure its not the alarm that causes the battery to drain then you must also have all the additional relays connected to the ignition unplugged to eliminate the alarm as the culprit.

Well, there is no disarm wire... to disarm the factory alarm, you need to pulse the keysense wire. This is done when the RS kicks in, so it shouldn't cause the issue. Even if it was, why would the aftermarket alarm still go off?

I guess I'll have to take it into a shop and have them take a look at it. Thanks.

Looked at wiring and did not notice any type of disarm wire.   If there is then ignition and transponder would disarm the alarm. Personally i haven't seen any expedition with a factory alarm. Also, if you hear a horn maybe they also connected the horn wire from the compustar alarm to the car and thats why you may think you have an alarm.

The compustar brain had an issue with using the dome light as a door trigger. In your car the most simple way of doing the door trigger would be to use your dome light. only down side is that the domelight may turn on when you turn the ignition on which would basically give the compustar brain a active input when the ignition is on. But,,,,the compustar brain is suppose to ignore that trigger when the car is remote starting and after it shuts down for a few seconds. Only problem is that it doesnt and that is why the brain needs to be updated to the new firmware to do that. I bet that when you remote start with the alarm on the car is about to start and then shuts off..a second later it triggers the siren and horn....that happened to us and like tech support told me. the update takes care of the issue and it did.

I have found that most dealerships will blame the aftermarket accessory when there is a problem without even testing. Heck, we once had a customer tell us that the Direct TV technician said that his tv turning on randomly at night was caused by the Compustar r/s we had just installed. If you have a multi-meter, try disconnecting the battery and placing the meter in series with the battery and setting the meter to test for current (amps). You will have a natural draw at around .05 amps or less, but anything over .1 would not be good. Now remove the fuses to the alarm and see if the draw goes away. If not, then you know it isn't the alarm. Then proceed by pulling the fuses in the vehicle fuse box until you find one where the draw goes away. That will tell you what circuit is causing the draw.

Of course you have warranties on the alarm and the vehicle, so I would suggest taking it to the stereo shop and have them verify it is not the alarm, and remove the ignition connections as mentioned above. Technically all that would be needed is power, but it would look better to the ignorant dealership technicians if all connections were disconnected. Then take it to the dealership and tell them to fix the problem now that the alarm is disconnected.

Good luck!

Ask the dealership point-blank if they've performed some type of diagnosis that puts the fault on the alarm. If they say yes, ask for it in writing.

I'll bet they've just taken a quick look at the truck, noticed the aftermarket starter, and automatically blamed it. They might be right and they might be wrong....but it's impossible to know without really checking.

As far as the alarm falsing at remote start, try something: If you turn the dimmer switch on the dash all the way down to zero, does it completely disable the domelight?

If so, disable the domelight, and try everything again. If it stops falsing, you can be almost sure it's that software issue the others here are describing.

I'm sure you've already realized it was a mistake to have the install done far from home, but maybe there's a Compustar dealer in your area who can do both the firmware update and check out the entire installation for a current draw.

Where do you live? Maybe we can help you find someone trustworthy and local to you.

ISA, you've had some good answers here from the top people, my first thought would have been a voltage check on the battery, then a draw check, must be below 75 milliamps inc the Comp, then a drop test, then a voltage check with engine running (to test the alternator), bet the stealership did none of this, looked at the alarm and "blamed the last person in the car". Been there done that, sued and been sued.