Printer Friendly Forum Posts - alarm short/issue?

Greetings,

I am new here - first post! I have an Automate 552 installed in my 2000 Town Car, with a 514T DEI Viper alarm speaker installed under the hood that, appears to be, wired into the HONK (brown) wire of the Automate 552. My issue is that the siren goes 24/7 all of a sudden and sounds like its under water, very low audio. I thought it might be the alarm speaker, so I purchased a new one, same type, off eBay and installed it - no difference. I re-terminated the wire mating they original guy did with MOLEX connectors rather than those crimp connections (I wanted to ensure I had a tight connection). Still no change!

At this point I am not sure what the issue is here. For now I have disconnected the spaker. The alarm is not tripping on the car, so not sure whats going on. I would appreciate ANY help on this matter. I have listed a link to the Automate 552 installation manual for your reference should it aide anyone in providing me with next steps or a solution.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/40067/Directed-Electronics-Automate-552.html

the main ground for the alarm is bad or loose. if you are hearing a constant, low tone from the siren then this is usually the cause. check the ground connection and make sure it hasn't been broken off or rusted or damaged in any way.

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Good info thanks!

Since the alarm is tied into the DEI Automate 552, and that unit works fine (remote start works, features associated to the unit work, etc), should I only need to check the ground(black wire) that connects from the alarm speaker to the DEI Automate 552 unit?

check the main ground on the automate

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I found the Automate ground, when I disconnected it the already diluted tone of the alarm got quieter. I suspect the issue is not the ground, thoughts? I re-terminated the ground cable just for the sake of trying, and bolted it to the other vehicle OEM chassis grounds (the original installed gave this wire it's own hole with a screw - something the Automate manual even tells you not to do!.

Next steps? If no one can suggest anything else I am thinking of taking it to Best Buy for them to resolve. I would like to avoid this though, it costs money :)

Looking forward to your responses :)

Is the 514 T a battery back up?
If so swap for a regular cheaper siren just connect the ground as you re-connected it and the brown. If it's a battery back-up, those batteries have failed, else I'm with soundnsecurity on this one, worth while checking the voltage between the Automate side of its power fuses and ground.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

Thanks for the response!

I am not sure what you mean by battery backup. I did replace this siren with a brand new one, same exact model number, as I thought it could be a defective unit. The result was the same, which is what lead me to the12volt for expert guidance.

If however you ask if the 514T has a battery backup built in, the answer is no. It pulls power from the car battery via the DEI 552 system. It connects to the brown and black wire from the H1 harness out of the DEI, normally intended for connetcing to the horn.

I would check voltage at the siren using the red and black wires as close to the siren as possible. You will have to set the alarm off to show voltage, but you should see at least 12volts. If you see anything less than 12volts then you can test each wire separately to see which is the culprit.

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Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205

Will try that today and report back.

What is the shelf life of these units? I found a new DEI 552T brain, like new, 20 miles north of me for sale. When the alarm was working, I used to have issues with it going off randomly, then stopping after a short period (1-2 minutes). I found this problem was more prominent during cold winter weather. I question if the brain unit has become defective, though it could just be a grounding issue I suppose.

As a side note, last night I was under the steering column where the 552T is placed, and the relays to the right I noticed one of the thick red wires with an inline fuse has a melted fuse. The inline fuse and fuse were literally melter together, forming this ugly "thing" of plastic with metal sticking out. Not sure when that happened or what. I am also not sure what effect this has on the system as a whole and/or the alarm issue. I cut the inline fuse out last night and there was no effect on the ystsems functionality. Not sure what it's for?

Its sitting at 10.2v...

it has to be something wrong with the ground path to brain that controls the siren or maybe it is shorted with some other wire that is 12v but there isnt enough of a connection to give the siren the full 12v, that last one is a long shot but ive seen some strange things over the years.

i know you said you check and even moved the ground to a different spot but have you checked the actual connector to the alarm brain? sometimes the pins can come loose and barely make contact. or maybe the ground wire got pinched at some point and is mostly cut internally with only a few strands hanging on inside the wire. these are all long shots but they are possibilities.

try using a new piece of wire and jam it into the same hole as the ground on the main plug to the alarm, then run the other side to a known good ground, maybe even directly to the battery and see of the sound goes away.

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Did you test each wire separately to see which is giving you the issue. My money is on the ground, but anything is possible. Here is what to test:
1) Voltage with Red lead on siren + and black lead on battery ground
2) Voltage with Red lead on battery + and black lead on siren ground

Let us know what you find with each. But for the record, my money is with sound on this one being a ground issue.

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Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205

If you have 10.2 volts getting to the siren and it is not loud, I think you have a Bad Siren.

Great, thanks for the tips. I will muck around with this over the weekend or tomorrow evening. I know it's not the siren, I replaced it with a factory new one and it sounds just the same.

Ok so I did what was suggested.

Ground battery to red 9.66; Red battery to ground 12.33

I also tested the speaker to ensure it works properly - it does! I forgot how loud 128db in a closed garage is! I pulled the Automate 553 unit out and traced the ground. I found it to be OK and followed all the way through. The brown wire from the H1 harness about 6 inches up tested at 10.23. I repaired the busted wire I described previously with an inline fuse, no change with the siren issue. It seems that the unit is properly grounded, but the unit is sending a constant 10.23v to the brown wire. Thoughts? I tested the other wires out of the harness and most of them varied around 9-10v~

I forgot to mention I also bypassed the ground from the brain, same issue. (Disconnected my plug, removed ground, plugged back in - brown to siren from brain still intact. Connected seperate ground wire from siren to chassis ground).

If I'm reading that correctly, with the black lead on the battery ground and the red lead on the speaker + you are getting 9.66v? Is that with the alarm being triggered (so the speaker would be at full volume). If that is true then it is NOT the ground and you have a problem with the positive trigger side. Do the same test, but test the siren output directly from the brain (as close to the connector as you can get or preferably right on the connector pin from the back side of the connector). If you still only get 9.66v then do these tests:

1) Red lead to main 12v input of alarm (use the smaller gauge input if the alarm has it, not the heavy gauge r/s inputs) and black lead to battery ground.

2) Red lead to battery ground and black lead to alarm main ground.

Let us know what you find. Either the main unit ground is bad, you have a bad 12v input, or the unit is bad.

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Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205

Thanks Kenny

The alarm speaker, if I plug it in, is on constantly. I didnt bother to check the voltage with the vehcile alarm actualy engaging. I will try that, and your tests, tonight and report back. I did do the first one you suggested though, tested siren output 6 inches from the brain (at my plug splice), I also tested it right at the pin connector at the brain, both read in the 10.2~ range. When I did this test, I was grounding with the pin connetced to the brain, I did not try to the chassis ground directly.

Also just to be on the same page, you want me to test from wire H1/11 as described in the manual?

https://www.directeddealers.com/manuals/ig/automate/N553A.pdf

Kenny, I asked the OP to test main voltage in my first post!
Remember our recent PMs?

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

Yes, Red lead on H1/11 and black lead on battery ground. And then also test with the red lead on the battery + and black lead on H1/8.

I also find it very odd that the siren is on constantly... which still makes me think it's a main ground issue; either in the connection to the vehicle or inside the unit.

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Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205

I do agree with you, my gut feeling says the same. I noticed when testing things last night that if I bypassed the ground from the brain and grounded direct from the siren to chassis, the sound got weaker for a brief split second when I locked and unlocked the doors.

I will double check all chassis grounds, I last inspected them about a year ago.