People with Alarms, specifically the Clifford 650

Do you guys have loads of wires connected to the +ive terminal of your battery? I think I counted 7 fused lines. Just spent 2 hours sorting out the rats nest and making it all a LOT neater. Just wondering if this is for the alarm? I can't think of anything else it would be but I can't see why there would be 7 seperate wires connected to the battery.

Cheers

Had that same alarm on my UK, didn't have any additional wires if I remember rightly though dude... But I had no end of issues with my alarm and took it somewhere to be told it needed ripped out and re-installed properly.

Being a Cat 1 alarm, don't all the wires need to be hidden and ain't they all black? What colours are they?

Had that same alarm on my UK, didn't have any additional wires if I remember rightly though dude... But I had no end of issues with my alarm and took it somewhere to be told it needed ripped out and re-installed properly.

 

Being a Cat 1 alarm, don't all the wires need to be hidden and ain't they all black? What colours are they?

Yeah, they are black, with cat 1 they all have to be.

I can't think of anything else it would be, it just seems like a strange way to install the alarm from an aesthetic point of view.

My brother had the Concept 650 on his Integra and i have an intelligard 950 on the Supra, no additional wires on the terminal.

Was it fitted by an approved fitter?

My brother had the Concept 650 on his Integra and i have an intelligard 950 on the Supra, no additional wires on the terminal.

 

Was it fitted by an approved fitter?

Yeah, I have the certificate etc.

Surely you must have at least 1 extra terminal though? Where is the alarm drawing its power from?

If im not mistaken, mine is taken from the fusebox. I cant say about the 650 on my brothers Teg as its long gone.

If im not mistaken, mine is taken from the fusebox. I cant say about the 650 on my brothers Teg as its long gone.

Either one terminal direct from the battery or 1 connection into the fusebox is what I would have expected.

Apparently cowboys fitted it, I can't say I'm surprised though.

My brother had the Concept 650 on his Integra and i have an intelligard 950 on the Supra, no additional wires on the terminal.

 

Was it fitted by an approved fitter?

I have the 950 with intelistart. Just the one wire to the +ve. Mine was installed by an approved company. I had loads of issues with the initial install. Luckily my brother is an auto electrician and wa able to do a decent job and sorted the mess out. Four years on and no issues

i have a 950 with the intelistart and have no extra wires going to the battery and all looks nice a tidy around the fuse box

Lazy feckers, looks like I have just done their job for them then

i have a 650 and no extra wires dude im just trying to repair it as i threw 24v throu it

The Clifford 650 (original or MkII) has one black +ve alarm power supply wire which should be fused at 5 amps. Personally I wouldn't run that back to the battery.

The Clifford 650 (original or MkII) has one black +ve alarm power supply wire which should be fused at 5 amps. Personally I wouldn't run that back to the battery.

WTF are all these wires then

I think once I am finished I will take them all off and see what works/doesn't work lol.

WTF are all these wires then

 

I think once I am finished I will take them all off and see what works/doesn't work lol.

Just a thought, but have you got 'SmartWindows' on your car? That can have two +ve supplies that could be taken from the battery; one fused at 5 amps, and the other at 30 amps.

IntelliStart perhaps? That has 2 x 30 amp fused +ve supplies and another 5 amp one for the unit itself. These three could be run back to the battery.

Just a thought, but have you got 'SmartWindows' on your car? That can have two +ve supplies that could be taken from the battery; one fused at 5 amps, and the other at 30 amps.

 

IntelliStart perhaps? That has 2 x 30 amp fused +ve supplies and another 5 amp one for the unit itself. These three could be run back to the battery.

Phew, now we are getting somewhere lol.

Yeah I have the intellistart module on there. I don't think I have the smart windows but I think I did on the previous alarm (Clifford 600), possibly left the connection there for some reason. I'm thinking they possibly just spliced the 650 in place in the cabin and left most of the 600 wires as they were.

Is there anything stopping me from removing all the wires and putting them on one at a time to see what does what?

I'm hungover just now but when I go out I'll take note of all the fuse values

Is there anything stopping me from removing all the wires and putting them on one at a time to see what does what?

Disconnecting the wires one at a time won't certainly won't cause any problems as far as the Clifford alarm is concerned. Whatever state it's in when you disconnect it, it will still be in when you reconnect - for example, disconnect it in valet mode and it'll still be in valet mode when you reconnect it.

Disconnecting the wires one at a time won't certainly won't cause any problems as far as the Clifford alarm is concerned. Whatever state it's in when you disconnect it, it will still be in when you reconnect - for example, disconnect it in valet mode and it'll still be in valet mode when you reconnect it.

Good stuff, thanks for your help. I have wired all of them in in a permenant way so I will just pull the fuses on them one at a time.

Right, I had a little go at this while I was out finishing off my battery install bit.

There are 3 30A fuses, 1 20A fuse and 2 5A fuses.

I removed all of the 30A fuses and had no alarm, so I put them in one at a time until the alarm worked. I figured out which one the alarm was powered off and then tried the remote start... it didn't work so I found out which one that was working with and put that in. The last one didn't seem to stop anything working in my car so I just left it out. I also did the same with the 20A fuses. I took out 1 of the 5A fuses and the alarm again didn't work so I just left both of them where they are.

I have the clifford 650 alarm (Mark1) with the G4 Intellistart module. Previously I had the G4 installed which AFAIK had all the toys, smart windows etc. Would I be right in assuming that the 30A fuse or the 20A fuse would probably be for that? Any ideas what the other one would be for? It has all been part of the original installation IMO so would be a G4 comparison.

Checking the current with my clamp ameter I am seeing a 1.0A draw with the ignition off and the alarm off. I don't get any more or less draw with the alarm on. Seems pretty high for me, I was expecting half that at most, I'm no expert though so will bow to experience. Next thing for me to check is going to be the powercap in my audio install, it is the only thing I have left to check for a draw... everything else is stock electrically.

My thinking is that the 30A fuses run the Siren, the Intellistart and the power windows. Would that be normal? No siren = no alarm hence why it didn't work. The alarm core will run off a 5A fuse, hence why it also didn't work when I pulled that. Just theorising of course.

...There are 3 30A fuses, 1 20A fuse and 2 5A fuses...

The sounder itself should be separately fused at 2 amps.

Forgot about this one, but there is a 20 amp fused supply which is used to flash the indicators when arming/disarming and when the alarm goes off.

So you've probably got:

2 x 5 amp fuses (one for the Clifford 650 control unit and one for the IntelliStart control unit).

1 x 20 amp fuse for the indicators

2 x 30 amp fuses for the IntelliStart (starter, a/c, heater and accessory 12v +ve supplies)

So that leaves a 30 amp fuse for something else.

If the drain on your battery is really 1 amp with the ignition off (no interior light on?), then your car probably wouldn't start after being parked up for a day or two.

The sounder itself should be separately fused at 2 amps.

 

Forgot about this one, but there is a 20 amp fused supply which is used to flash the indicators when arming/disarming and when the alarm goes off.

 

So you've probably got:

 

2 x 5 amp fuses (one for the Clifford 650 control unit and one for the IntelliStart control unit).

 

1 x 20 amp fuse for the indicators

 

2 x 30 amp fuses for the IntelliStart (starter, a/c, heater and accessory 12v +ve supplies)

 

So that leaves a 30 amp fuse for something else.

 

If the drain on your battery is really 1 amp with the ignition off (no interior light on?), then your car probably wouldn't start after being parked up for a day or two.

Ok that sounds spot on. I'll check the indicators to see if they flash or not now that the 20A fuse has been removed.

If that is the case then the leftover 30A fuse is most likely from the G4 power windows.

TBH I'm taking the current reading with a pinch of salt. As the current draw is so low when the car is idle do you think I would be OK disconnecting the battery and putting the multimeter in in series? I'm thinking there may be a spike when the battery is first connected so don't want to blow my multimeter but can't think of any other way of checking the draw. At the moment I am using a clamp ammeter which I don't have any faith in at such low current.

TBH I'm taking the current reading with a pinch of salt. As the current draw is so low when the car is idle do you think I would be OK disconnecting the battery and putting the multimeter in in series? I'm thinking there may be a spike when the battery is first connected so don't want to blow my multimeter but can't think of any other way of checking the draw. At the moment I am using a clamp ammeter which I don't have any faith in at such low current.

There's no problem in putting your meter in series with the battery on amps - or at least there shouldn't be as long as you don't try to start the car! That's the way I test mine and I seem to recall that the current draw with the alarm armed was something in the region of 50mA.

Mine is way higher than that. I am seeing 190mA.

I'm wondering if the capacitor is drawing power. It's one of those ones that lights up with the voltage of the battery, now I know that won't use a lot of power on it's own but it's a cheap ass one lol.

Also, do you have the microwave detection thingy mabob? I know that will use a little bit extra juice. My alarm has the proximity sensors, would that explain the extra current draw?

I'm thinking of pulling the fuses on the alarm one at a time with the multimeter connected in series, seeing if I can spot one that is pulling the current. If not I'll pull the capacitor and see if that stops the draw. Capacitor is a pain as it's under my boot build lol.

Again, thanks for your help

When I mentioned 50mA, that was just from memory. It could have been more, but certainly nowhere near the 1A you originally mentioned. 190mA does seem quite a lot though, and I would estimate that you'd probably struggle to start the car if it was stood for a week or so with a 190mA drain on the battery. I've always got my car battery connected to an OptiMate trickle charger to make sure that the battery doesn't go flat, as my car isn't used for weeks (or even months!) at a time.

I do have one of the dual-zone microwave proximity detectors and also a dual shock sensor, a tilt sensor and a glass break sensor - all of which will consume some current with the alarm set.

Yes, pull the fuses and disconnect additional circuits (stereo gear etc) to see what's contributing the most to the 190mA drain.

I also have a 650 and no additional wires.

When I mentioned 50mA, that was just from memory. It could have been more, but certainly nowhere near the 1A you originally mentioned. 190mA does seem quite a lot though, and I would estimate that you'd probably struggle to start the car if it was stood for a week or so with a 190mA drain on the battery. I've always got my car battery connected to an OptiMate trickle charger to make sure that the battery doesn't go flat, as my car isn't used for weeks (or even months!) at a time.

 

I do have one of the dual-zone microwave proximity detectors and also a dual shock sensor, a tilt sensor and a glass break sensor - all of which will consume some current with the alarm set.

 

Yes, pull the fuses and disconnect additional circuits (stereo gear etc) to see what's contributing the most to the 190mA drain.

With the alarm off I was seeing 165mA drain. I pulled all the fuses on the alarm, 1 at a time, and the biggest change I saw was around 20mA. I take it that it is normal for the system to use 20mA when not armed? I know the immobiliser is still in play and obviously the brain will use some power.

Next I moved to the capacitor which feeds my entire stereo system (3 amps and a carPC), the current instantly dropped to 80mA drain. Bingo I'm thinking.

With the capacitor disconnected and with the alarm armed I am now seeing 115mA drain. Does that sound a bit more like it or is something else still chewing away my power?

I'm hoping that it is the capacitor that is chewing up the current. I'll remove it from the loop soon and see what I get. There is a possiblity that it is the CarPC power supply as it has lots of clever features that may require constant power.