Datatool problem

For some reason, my Datatool S4 has developed the dreaded problem. Every time I arm the alarm the 5 warning bleeps sound after 30 seconds and then 10 seconds later the alarm goes off. Last week for some reason I seemed to be able to stop this happening by arming the alarm, disarming and then re-arming... now that doesn’t work. If I set it to ferry mode it’s fine but, I can’t keep it in ferry mode constantly as this provides me with no alarm protection and the alarm does give me some peace of mind even though at the moment it’s being a pain in lé tackhole

Bike is hooked up to an Oxford optimiser 24 hours a day...could this be the problem? We’ve not had any power surges here that I know of and if I have disconnected the battery charger for whatever reason and reconnected it I’ve made sure the charger is powered on before connecting to the bike so that I don’t spike the charger in the hope of not spiking the alarm.

Pretty sure this is a common problem by all accounts. Has anyone had the same problem and fixed it or is it goodnight/see ya later time for the alarm?? Really don’t want to not have an alarm/immobiliser so I’m hoping this can be sorted by way of an alarm/electrical reset or something...?

Any thoughts appreciated..

Cheers

*edit... have just turned the bike ignition on, switched off and then armed the Datatool and it seems to have armed properly.. fingers crossed it holds without going mental.

[Flip]

Are you sure that is the correct way to put it on charge?

My optimates (I imagine they work in a similar way) should be coupled to the bike before being switched on so they go into ‘check mode’ before deciding on how to proceed in charging.

Aftermarket alarms in general though are a source of pain on most motorcycles eventually and personally I would get shot of it- unless it is you who hears it and can do something nobody else takes any notice of them. There is still the factory immobiliser to back up your choice of lock to stop the opportunist thief while out and about.

If it’s in a garage and you’re really worried, a ground anchor, a big lock and a baby monitor/motion sensing camera linked to a recording device when activated would be a better solution along with something baseball bat shaped to greet the ne'er do wells with for messing with your pride and joy.

I’m not sure that I’m hooking up the optimiser in the correct way. I just always thought that plugging something in and then switching the power on spikes the power? Am I wrong in this case then? Does an optimiser have spike/surge protection? Instruction manual doesn’t give instruction on the correct way to power on/off...

Main reason I want the alarm is because, out and about, while sometimes out of sight I’m never really out of earshot of the bike and not having an alarm last year on a previous bike allowed some c*** to sit on my bike and damage the paintwork which cost me to rectify. Having an alarm would have alerted me to that happening.

The datatool did reduce my insurance premium this year which is another reason I would like to have an alarm but the bike is chained and disk locked up to the nines in my garage with a massive van and a car blocking the main entrance. The alarm just at least alerts me to any wrong doing and buys me time in the event of a theft or someone sitting on it without permission. Even chains don’t seem to be much of deterrent these days as thieves are through them within a minute. Criminals have got so brazen it’s almost pointless spending money on security.. if they want it, they’ll have it... I just want to be there greeting them with a very nasty surprise. I considered a ground anchor but in my opinion it’s jist a fixing point and doesn’t really provide much more in the way of a problem for theives as you still have to chain/fix the bike to the anchor and a thief would just cut though the chain anyway??

btw in the time it’s taken me to write this reply.. the alarm now seems to be fine... I switched my ignition on, switched off and then armed the alarm and it seems to have sorted it. Maybe that’s the remedy??

Should I not be powering the optimiser first then? Should I connect it to the tether and then switch power on?

[Flip]

http://www.oxfordproducts.com/motorc..._instructions/

Scroll down to ‘Battery Care’ and hopefully your model charger will be listed but from what see it should be connected first then switched on as it states any interruption of power while connected will result in the charger not setting and can discharge the battery- is it possible that’s what’s happening and your alarm thinks the voltage drop is a Hotwire attempt?

[utopia]

As a general rule, I would always connect any electrical device before switching it on.
Otherwise you are substituting the manufacturer's chosen (and controlled) switching system for a haphazard manual connection of live conductors.

Originally Posted by Flip

http://www.oxfordproducts.com/motorc..._instructions/

Scroll down to ‘Battery Care’ and hopefully your model charger will be listed but from what see it should be connected first then switched on as it states any interruption of power while connected will result in the charger not setting and can discharge the battery- is it possible that’s what’s happening and your alarm thinks the voltage drop is a Hotwire attempt?

Stellar advice!... and thanks for sourcing that product info fella!! That’s most kind of you

I haven’t seen any warning light displayed on the optimiser. Bike battery seems good. It’s full and mostly always in a state of ‘maintenance’. Voltage is almost always a constant 12.7 - 13 volts. You could be right about a voltage drop tricking the alarm.. will see how things go over the next couple of days.

Originally Posted by utopia

As a general rule, I would always connect any electrical device before switching it on.
Otherwise you are substituting the manufacturer's chosen (and controlled) switching system for a haphazard manual connection of live conductors.

Yes as a rule I don’t plug in a switched device to an already live feed. Never have. In this case, the bike battery has no controlled switching system though..

I plug in optimiser to the wall socket, switch power on at socket so the optimiser now has power... then connect optimiser to the 2-pin battery tether on my bike. Am I doing this wrong?

I thought that if I connect the optimiser to the wall socket, then connect to the battery tether and THEN switch power on at the wall I’m potentially putting a surge of power through the optimiser to the battery and then potentially to the alarm. Or does the optimiser utilise surge protection?
Is there any right or wrong way? Either way, for tonight, turning ignition on then off then arming the alarm seems to have settled it. It’s been an hour or 2. No problems so far. Will see how things pan out..

Thanks for your advice fella.

[Darren69]

Connect it up first then switch the power on.

[Nickj]

Plug it into your flying lead, it pulls power from the battery which should put it into its battery diagnostic mode.
Switch the power onto the charger and it will start charging as it needs.

Some 'smart' chargers will remember the last mode they were in and just kick straight into that charging cycle, could be an issue as the lead acid / AGM / lithium modes are different

[utopia]

Originally Posted by Nickj

Plug it into your flying lead, it pulls power from the battery which should put it into its battery diagnostic mode.

Well there's interesting ... it had never occurred to me that the charger would take power from the battery before connecting up the mains input.
Makes sense though.