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LED scanner to clifford alarm

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Old Apr 7, 2014 | 03:47 PM
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Default LED scanner to clifford alarm

Hello,

I have an alarm system from clifford and i'm trying to add a LED scanner light strip to the alarm active side of the alarm..... I was told to get a relay and now i have it.... So what i was hoping to get a little help on how to connect it to my car and alarm.... Wires red,white,blue,black,yellow.... Thanks for any help

Also i forgot to add.... I'm trying to get the LED strip to power on with the alarm is armed and off when the alarm is disarmed or when the car is started....Thanks

Last edited by ToyotaCorolloaS; Apr 7, 2014 at 04:03 PM.
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Old Apr 7, 2014 | 04:28 PM
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A little Knight Rider envy?

The LED strip should have come with instructions identifying the wire colors. Generally, those strips only use the red and black wires and leave the other three wires unused. It's simple enough to test... open the hood, touch the red wire to the battery positive and the black wire to the battery negative - you should see the LEDs in the strip sequence back and forth.

Once you've established how to power the light strip, you want to connect the power (red) wire to constant (battery) power and the ground (black) wire to the alarm system wire that is "ground when armed". All alarm systems made by DEI have that wire but the color may vary between different models. It's usually orange but check your manual.

Those connections will make the light strip active whenever the alarm is armed and turn it off when the alarm is disarmed.
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Old Apr 7, 2014 | 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
A little Knight Rider envy?

The LED strip should have come with instructions identifying the wire colors. Generally, those strips only use the red and black wires and leave the other three wires unused. It's simple enough to test... open the hood, touch the red wire to the battery positive and the black wire to the battery negative - you should see the LEDs in the strip sequence back and forth.

Once you've established how to power the light strip, you want to connect the power (red) wire to constant (battery) power and the ground (black) wire to the alarm system wire that is "ground when armed". All alarm systems made by DEI have that wire but the color may vary between different models. It's usually orange but check your manual.

Those connections will make the light strip active whenever the alarm is armed and turn it off when the alarm is disarmed.
Let me make sure what you are saying.... U say connect the red side of the led strip to a constant from the car's constant power? and then you say to plug the negative side of the led to the negative side of the wire coming from the alarm's brain... the side that when armed is negative? right

OK i wanna make this clear... What i wanna do is make the LED strip go on and off without a switch.. i wanna use the alarm some how to turn it of and on.. i have played with this for a week now and still no luck...

Last edited by WhiteBird00; Apr 8, 2014 at 10:45 AM. Reason: Merge consecutive posts
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Old Apr 8, 2014 | 10:47 AM
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Yes, connect the power wire for the LED strip (probably red) to an always on power source such as a fused wire to the battery. Connect the ground wire for the LED strip (probably black) to the "grounded when armed" wire on the alarm system (probably orange but check your manual).

The light strip will be on whenever the alarm is armed and off when it's not.
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Old Apr 8, 2014 | 04:25 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
Yes, connect the power wire for the LED strip (probably red) to an always on power source such as a fused wire to the battery. Connect the ground wire for the LED strip (probably black) to the "grounded when armed" wire on the alarm system (probably orange but check your manual).

The light strip will be on whenever the alarm is armed and off when it's not.
OK, just spent 2 hours on this and nothing the ground side does nothing to the strip when activated...i was told i need a relay.... i bought a 5 pin....would you know how to wire the relay to turn on when the car is off and off when the car is running?
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Old Apr 8, 2014 | 04:39 PM
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You do not need a relay unless your alarm doesn't have a "grounded while armed" wire (which I find hard to believe).

Have you started with making the light strip work just using the positive and negative terminals on the battery? You need to ensure that the thing works and that you have the right wires for power and ground.

Then you need to confirm you have the right wire from the alarm system that will provide a ground when the alarm is armed and not when the alarm is disarmed.

Once you have confirmed those things, it is electrically impossible for it not to work.
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Old Apr 9, 2014 | 05:40 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
You do not need a relay unless your alarm doesn't have a "grounded while armed" wire (which I find hard to believe).

Have you started with making the light strip work just using the positive and negative terminals on the battery? You need to ensure that the thing works and that you have the right wires for power and ground.

Then you need to confirm you have the right wire from the alarm system that will provide a ground when the alarm is armed and not when the alarm is disarmed.

Once you have confirmed those things, it is electrically impossible for it not to work.
Found the proper ground wire, i was trying to use the one from the factory led, but i have it working and now have a new problem that kept me up all night... The alarm after about 5 mins will be set off i guess from the light being connected... any ideas why this would happen?
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Old Apr 9, 2014 | 08:40 PM
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Who installed the alarm and when? If it was recent, it's quite possible the installer neglected to disable the factory alarm and it is showing the common problem of a faulty shock sensor. The quick fix is to unplug the factory shock sensor on the right quarter wheel well in front of the spare tire (photo in Monsoon FAQ sticky). The better fix is to program the factory alarm off since it is redundant with an aftermarket alarm.
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Old Apr 9, 2014 | 09:49 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
Who installed the alarm and when? If it was recent, it's quite possible the installer neglected to disable the factory alarm and it is showing the common problem of a faulty shock sensor. The quick fix is to unplug the factory shock sensor on the right quarter wheel well in front of the spare tire (photo in Monsoon FAQ sticky). The better fix is to program the factory alarm off since it is redundant with an aftermarket alarm.
Well how does this happen when it started after the led was added?

If so the aftermarket which i don't think it has... it's a 2003 toyota corolla s..
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Old Apr 10, 2014 | 07:12 AM
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Originally Posted by ToyotaCorolloaS
If so the aftermarket which i don't think it has... it's a 2003 toyota corolla s..
You're kidding right? You are aware that this is a GM LS1 site? You put an LS1 engine in your Corolla? There aren't any Toyota sites that might have more knowledge of your car?

Originally Posted by ToyotaCorolloaS
Well how does this happen when it started after the led was added?
If it had been a GM F-body, that would be what is known as "coincidence". The factory shock sensors are susceptible to moisture and will exhibit exactly the symptoms you described even with an aftermarket alarm installed.

In this case, it is still possible it's a coincidence. Since you mentioned connecting to the factory LED, the car must have come from the factory with an alarm system that may not have been properly disabled when the Clifford alarm was installed.

Adding the LED light strip (assuming it's properly connected - which is a big assumption considering how this conversation has gone so far) should not cause the alarm to sound regardless of circumstances. It might be something as simple as you inadvertently moved the sensitivity adjustment when you were working on it or it could be some connection that got pulled loose. Another possibility is that something is incorrectly wired.

It's pretty difficult to diagnose something like that when it's an aftermarket accessory being added to an aftermarket alarm system that's being installed in a car for which we have little information.
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