Alarm Goes Off When Maintaining Battery

[QtheGenius]

I have a basic Noco battery tender on my '98 M3 since I only drive the car once a month, at best. All windows up, I have a board on the trunk seal so when I close the trunk, the light turns off, and the cable isn't crimped, and the car IS NOT LOCKED. When I want to drive the car, i'll unplug the charger, and when I open the drivers door, the alarm goes off. The charger is just a tender, so it's just making sure the battery stays topped off, but again, I never lock the car. Why would my alarm go off? Also, the alarm sound isn't crisp, it sounds all 1970's bad digital, like a dial-up modem.

[Braymond141]

What alarm is installed on the car?

[RBNetEngr]

I have a basic Noco battery tender on my '98 M3 since I only drive the car once a month, at best. All windows up, I have a board on the trunk seal so when I close the trunk, the light turns off, and the cable isn't crimped, and the car IS NOT LOCKED. When I want to drive the car, i'll unplug the charger, and when I open the drivers door, the alarm goes off. The charger is just a tender, so it's just making sure the battery stays topped off, but again, I never lock the car. Why would my alarm go off? Also, the alarm sound isn't crisp, it sounds all 1970's bad digital, like a dial-up modem.

I connect my battery maintainer under the hood, to the ground post and battery post in the back corner of the engine compartment. Then I run the wires out the front of the engine compartment, tucking them in the gap between headlight and parking light, so the hood can fully close without pinching the wires.

My car is in a private garage. I keep the doors locked, but do not enable the alarm. Are you sure there isn't an auto enable function enabled on the alarm? On my car I need to "double lock" the doors for the alarm to be enabled (press the Lock button on the key fob twice).


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[QtheGenius]

What alarm is installed on the car?

Factory alarm.

I connect my battery maintainer under the hood, to the ground post and battery post in the back corner of the engine compartment. Then I run the wires out the front of the engine compartment, tucking them in the gap between headlight and parking light, so the hood can fully close without pinching the wires.

My car is in a private garage. I keep the doors locked, but do not enable the alarm. Are you sure there isn't an auto enable function enabled on the alarm? On my car I need to "double lock" the doors for the alarm to be enabled (press the Lock button on the key fob twice).

I don't use the fob or key to lock the car. If it isn't on the charger/maintainer, then I don't have this issue. In fact, I NEVER had it before I started using this maintainer. The tender I have, unfortunately, uses loops to go through a bolt to connect. It doesn't have clamps like a normal charger, so I'd have to modify the cable to connect under the hood.

[Braymond141]

Factory alarm.



I don't use the fob or key to lock the car. If it isn't on the charger/maintainer, then I don't have this issue. In fact, I NEVER had it before I started using this maintainer. The tender I have, unfortunately, uses loops to go through a bolt to connect. It doesn't have clamps like a normal charger, so I'd have to modify the cable to connect under the hood.

There is no such thing as a factory alarm on North America E36. They are all dealer / port / after purchase installed and an OEM Alpine product... either A269ZUA110 (2-button Remotes) or A269ZUA070 (3-button Remotes). No E36 destined for here came with anything installed in the car, period.

So again. What alarm system do you have and are you sure it is OEM? You have the Alpine siren, but the LED is missing from your interior. It could have some aftermarket integration, but I can't tell. You also have a pretty big mess of wiring on that car so who knows what has been done, undone, and/or redone.

[blckstrm]

This tomfoolery with the board on the trunk light switch and whatever weird tender you're using has got to go.

"I'm doing weird stuff and it's causing OTHER weird stuff I didn't expect" is always going to be near impossible to troubleshoot.

Go to Walmart, get a cheap $20 tender with NORMAL clamps, hook it up under the hood on the factory posts like normal, and then let us know if you're still having issues.

[QtheGenius]

Braymond, I applaud your research for scouring the forum for a picture of my engine bay. I have the two button remote, and I did install it after I bought the car since it didn't come with any fob or alarm. The "mess of wires" are for the angel eyes (yellow on the left, white in the back), and I do have LED headlights (the wiring behind the headlights). None of that has to do with the alarm.

blckstrm, I will try that approach.

[Braymond141]

Braymond, I applaud your research for scouring the forum for a picture of my engine bay. I have the two button remote, and I did install it after I bought the car since it didn't come with any fob or alarm. The "mess of wires" are for the angel eyes (yellow on the left, white in the back), and I do have LED headlights (the wiring behind the headlights). None of that has to do with the alarm.

blckstrm, I will try that approach.

I know what the wiring is for. The point was there is some inappropriate work there which typically means there is more going on with the car.

What you are describing isn't typically an issue with the ZUA110 module. If the system was never armed, it shouldn't go off unless there is a low voltage situation that is happening as that really screws with electronics.

[sfcarguy]

NOCO tenders are good products. I know for a fact that they come with both the eyelets and clamps in the package.

Also, eyelets connected directly to the battery are totally standard. That's how I have my CTEK hooked up. Closing the trunk as normal on the lead is totally fine, no crimping or damage to the paint or seal.

If someone is reading this thread wondering what tender to buy, the answer is Deltran Battery Tender Plus. I think both NOCO and CTEK's theorectically better battery maintaining tech is totally overkill for simple a E36.

[RBNetEngr]

I used to have a Battery Tender but it died after ten years of use. I now have a pair of these, from Harbor Freight. Two of them for a little more than the price of one Battery Tender.

https://www.harborfreight.com/4amp-f...ner-63350.html


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[jeyjey]

I think they all die eventually. I've had two CTEKs go at around 15 years of age.

[MauiM3Mania]

I think they all die eventually. I've had two CTEKs go at around 15 years of age.

And when one dies, in due time, so does the battery it was 'maintaining'.