2014 V60 - Alarm System Malfunction, Help!

[seamusmcginley]

Originally Posted by GrahamHR

Let us know how you get on please. I removed and dismantled mine in the Spring, alarm battery voltage seemed fine. Main battery on the car went flat when it was off the charger for about 5 days. God, I wouldn't leave it at an airport if I was on a business trip like I used to do with my 2006 Mondeo. When I used a jump start, the siren went off. If I disconnect the main battery and reconnect, it seems to reset the alarm service required message for a few days. The electronics on these cars are very strange and unreliable!

So got the unit opened up and the battery had leaked all over the circuit board and corroded the components. Some of the pins coming out of the microchips had broken/corroded away.

Fitted a new battery after cleaning up the board but it was no use, the malfunction was still on the dash. Ordering a new complete unit now from Volvo as it’s damaged beyond repair. If you get it on time before the board gets corroded then it’s easily fixable.

[Deck1ng]

Originally Posted by seamusmcginley

Fitted a new battery after cleaning up the board but it was no use, the malfunction was still on the dash. Ordering a new complete unit now from Volvo as it’s damaged beyond repair. If you get it on time before the board gets corroded then it’s easily fixable.

But of course this will be the unknown until you have committed to cutting and stripping the unit down.

[GrahamHR]

So ? What was there to lose ? The wheelarch liner had to be removed in any case, the alarm unit had to be taken off.. Dismantle it and repair the siren if possible. Dismantle and it's unrepairable, buy a new one. Why on earth were automotive OEMS using old tech NiCads in the mid to late 2010s when NiMH batteries were readily available ?

[horsey]

Originally Posted by GrahamHR

So ? What was there to lose ? The wheelarch liner had to be removed in any case, the alarm unit had to be taken off.. Dismantle it and repair the siren if possible. Dismantle and it's unrepairable, buy a new one. Why on earth were automotive OEMS using old tech NiCads in the mid to late 2010s when NiMH batteries were readily available ?

NiCd's work better in low temperatures. House alarm boxes use them for much the same reason I think.

This leakage problem has ruined a lot of old electronic test equipment too, and it's more serious when it's retaining decades old calibration data for the instrument too, you have to swap out the battery while applying a few volts to the circuit

This issue is well known and should have been foreseen by Volvo by isolating any battery leakage in a separate compartment, but I guess they just saw it as a replaceable item rather than a serviceable one.

[GrahamHR]

Re batteries in home alarm systems, I fitted an alarm to our house in 1996; with a back-up sealed lead/ acid 12V batteries in the control box and alarm siren box. One lasted until 2006, as a precaution I changed both. All seems OK with both some 15 years later ! A dual cell 2.4V lead acid battery might have been a better option for Volvo ( and Ford, Landrover, it's a Ford alarm siren after all), than these troublesome NiCad ones.

[GrahamHR]

Originally Posted by GrahamHR

Re batteries in home alarm systems, I fitted an alarm to our house in 1996; with a back-up sealed lead/ acid 12V batteries in the control box and alarm siren box. One lasted until 2006, as a precaution I changed both. All seems OK with both some 15 years later ! A dual cell 2.4V lead acid battery might have been a better option for Volvo ( and Ford, Landrover, it's a Ford alarm siren after all), than these troublesome NiCad ones.

I meant a single cell 2.1V lead acid battery !

[seamusmcginley]

The battery that was in this siren box was a 2.4V Ni-MH (two 1.2V cells in series) 550mah.