# Panel Van alarms - Which is best ?



## 105062

Hi All,
I am in the process of evaluating an alarm system for my Tribute which is Trigano's conversion based on a 2007 Fiat Ducato Panel van.

Has anyone any experience / preference / lessons learnt on such an alarm system please ?

I see 3 main options...

Fiat's Ducato alarm that may plug into a socket or plug on the van. This should be the easiest to fit and utilise all the Ducato bits like key fob, zone central locking (cab doors or rear & side doors unlock separate) immobiliser etc etc. I guess this will be the most expensive option.

An alarm designed specifically for a motorhome with zones which can be set with us occupying the habitation area, medium cost.

General purpose car alarm such as a Falcon Predator, cheep and cheerful.

The last 2 would need to be grafted into the Ducato's wiring harness or alarm plug if one exists. Does anyone know where the alarm socket is on the Ducato please?

Any Thoughts from DIY Panel Van Alarm Fitters / owners out there on these or any other options please?

Cheers 
650


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## chrisjrv

The quick answer is talk to Van Bitz about a Strikeback alarm. These can be tailored to your requirments, ours sends me a text if it is triggered and I can find out by text the battery state, internal temperature, etc. etc.(usefull if you have it in storage) Considering the cost of a motorhome I would not risk a cheap alarm that is easily bypassed.
Regards,
Chris V


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## rowley

I had my Twin, (same base vehicle as yours) fitted with an alarm to give a Cat 1 upgrade. It was an Autowatch system, fitted by a mobile fitter JT Security, and it cost £250. He also wired in my Toad Alert. This was the second time that I have had an alarm fitted by him so very satisfied.


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## DABurleigh

I never know what people are after when they ask for the "best". Is it the most expensive, most bells and whistles, cheapest, best value for money, simply fit-for-purpose, etc.? What's the "best" car?

FWIW on my PVC I have:
> Laserline Cat1 <
with tilt sensor and rear alarm loop to secure rear box or scooter. Have added exterior deadlocks.

It serves us well.

Dave


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## 105062

Hi all, Thanks for the replies, please keep them coming.

"Best" I would think would be Cheapest, known name not some "no name" China import as seen on ebay, easiest to fit ie plugs straight into the Ducato's alarm socket (if it has one) and has basic cover like all doors, tilt / impact, sonic or microwave volumetric protection for the inside. I would prefer it to use the Ducato's remote as I do not want to be cluttered on the key ring and the existing remote is the key so I can not take that off ( I could use the spare I guess as that is just a key, thinking out loud now :wink:} 
Not bothered about certified installation for insurance company as I get cat 2 immobiliser discount which the Tribby has as factory fit and there is not enough extra discount to warrant costly installations, saying that Rowley's sounds good value is that a certified installation mate?


Example : I have just fitted a Falcon Predator to the Lads Corsa which gave him remote central locking, doors, bonnet and boot cover, tilt and 2 stage impact protection all for less than £30. I had to cut open the wiring harness to fit but the supplier gave me an info sheet showing where to find the wires and their colours as the Haynes manual was not much good on locating them, very tempted to fit one to the Ducato but I have the same sentiment as Stickey, its too cheap !!!

Please keep your ideas coming as there is not much else going on at the moment!

Ta 650


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## Zebedee

DABurleigh said:


> Have added exterior deadlocks.
> Dave


Hi Dave

*Which exterior deadlocks did you fit?*

For info, "best" to me means a reasonably priced item which will do everything I want it to do, will not break within the month, and will have good dealer backup if it does.

Buy cheap and you get cheap - but not for long as you will soon have to spend the additional cash on a decent one. :!:

Cheers


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## 105109

*alarms for Tributes*

Hello Tribute_650,

We had a Cobra alarm fitted to our 550 before we got it from the dealer, ie dealer organised with alarm company. It is a Thatcham 1 category, it cost us £500 to be fitted, we did get a refund from our insurance company for this when we sent them the certificate.

We have never tried to set it when inside, don't think it would work that way as it should pick up anyone who tried to break in through the roof window. I works via the key fob you get with your van, hence our problems with getting a second electronic key fob.

There is a manual over-ride code should any mechanical problem occur.
The one problem we did have with this is that our fridge fan kept working, you may remember previous messages. This must have been caused by alarm being fitted as fan is also operated by door opening and closing.

Dealer fitted a new switch for the fan - free - so we can have fan on or off.

We are very pleased with the alarm, as someone else said, it is too expensive a vehicle not to have the extra.

Jacobite


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## rowley

Quote--Rowley's sounds good value is that a certified installation mate?

Yes this is a certified upgrade to Cat1. It works off the remote. if you do not want to set the alarm then you lock the door manually. If you want to lock the doors on the remote when you are inside you enter a code to override the sensors. The chap who fitted it is based at Nottingham and he has prices for various things on his website. [email protected]

I have no connection with him other than as a satisfied customer, thrice.
0115 9890406


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## LAZZA

Hi Tribute 650
I had an Alarm fitted as it was a condition of my Insurance cover.I used a mobile company,D C A vehicle security, based in sutton in ashfield,The fitter 'julian' came to my home, arrived on time and made an excelent job.I went with his recommendation of fitting a Gemini alarm,which upgrades the vans cat 2 alarm to a Cat 1 alarm.
It works from a seperate fob, it covers all doors and has movement sensors inside the van that you can isolate at night or like us if you have a dog that maybe sometimes you have to leave in the van,you can still set the alarm.He charged £300 which i thought was a reasonable price to pay,as it took most of the morning to fit, although it was the first time he had fitted one to the new shaped Fiat van,so he did encounter a few problems.Its been fitted for almost a year and has so far been problem free.
Cheers Lazza :lol:


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## 107925

A question springs to mind. The latest Ducato (and possibly older ones and quite possibly other types of base vehicle also) comes with an immobiliser, yes? Presumably, this is the first line of defence to prevent the engine being started. Can anyone tell me how well this works, for example, is it known whether the immobiliser is all too easy to circumvent, or is it rock solid?

If the immobiliser does its job, an alarm is predominantly a supplement to safeguard the van's contents. Also, some will welcome an alarm sounding if entry is attempted whilst people are inside, say, sleeping. However, I'm thinking of problems with people getting up in the night. Ideally, one would want an alarm which triggered if a door or window were opened by an intruder, but not if others moved about inside. So, my other question would be whether the fitting of alarms is sophisticated enough to cope with the aforementioned.

Shaun


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## DABurleigh

Dave (Zeb),

I didn't bother bringing my laptop to Shepton and this phone has its limitations for searching, so try searching MHF for dealocks using my name and peejay as author, and you'll soon get good deadlock options.

Dave


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## Zebedee

DABurleigh said:


> Dave (Zeb),
> 
> I didn't bother bringing my laptop to Shepton and this phone has its limitations for searching, so try searching MHF for dealocks using my name and peejay as author, and you'll soon get good deadlock options.
> 
> Dave


Thanks Dave - will do.

Deadlocks on the cab doors, and probably the Hab door as well, must be a sensible investment - not least for a sound night's sleep.

Cheers

EDIT. Yep - found plenty. Thanks again Dave.


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## DABurleigh

Ah. Something you will find when you search - you must balance safety and security. I only use external deadlocks when not in the van. When in it overnight the doors are locked normally, alarm set with interior sensors off, but doors are not deadlocked. 

You can get deadlocks which can be set internally too, but just think it through before you go this route.

Dave


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## Zebedee

DABurleigh said:


> Ah. Something you will find when you search - you must balance safety and security. I only use external deadlocks when not in the van. When in it overnight the doors are locked normally, alarm set with interior sensors off, but doors are not deadlocked.
> 
> You can get deadlocks which can be set internally too, but just think it through before you go this route.
> 
> Dave


Thanks again Dave.

My main concern is the (IMHO) rather silly system on the new Fiat/Peugeot whereby the remote zapper locks and unlocks all three doors at once. This makes it very easy to unlock with the zapper when returning to the van, then lock the habitation door at bedtime - forgetting that the cab doors are still unlocked. (_OK - I admit to being a bit dozy after a couple of little tasters_!)

I think I shall get a Strikeback fitted, and a few of the £2 rape alarms for the plastic windows, as suggested by Grizzly. We like fresh air at night, and it would feel a whole lot safer with the windows open a little bit if there was an alarm to warn us at once if they were pulled open further. (_The dog is an unknown quantity as yet (only 5 months old) and will not always be with us anyway.)_

As many others have said, if you are away from the van and some toerag really wants to get in, then they will!

Sorry to blither on, but others might be interested?

Cheers


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## DABurleigh

"OK - I admit to being a bit dozy after a couple of little tasters!"

When you find a gizmo to compensate for that, please post it here 

I have this image of big gruff blokes being woken in the middle of a breezy night screaming "RAPE! RAPE! HELP!"

Dave


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## UncleNorm

Good morning 650 et al.  

I looked for someone with product knowledge and a belief in good aftersales if ever needed. I liked the idea the Mr & Mrs Van Bitz are motorhome owners and users. I decided in my own mind that they might have a good idea as to the needs of other motorhomers when it comes to securing a MH that cost more than my house!

From the Van Bitz website, I printed off the 18 page document about the Strikeback alarm and perused it intently. It read extremely well and certainly made a point of AVOIDING car alarms.

So we drove a 600 miles round trip to Taunton to have the Strikeback fitted. 

It was done very neatly. All doors, all lockers, the bonnet, the security loop for bikes and loungers... The internal sensor that can be isolated at night or for animals... The extra LEDs that show when the alarm is armed or has been triggered...

By ordering through Outdoor Bits, we also had fitted the Battery Master, designed to alleviate the flat battery problems.

Using the homesales expression - we spent about 1% of the value of the MH on the alarm. If you read the reports on this MHF site about Van Bitz, you'll see where I'm coming from.

BTW On our X2/50, we have a couple of switches on the dash for locking and unlocking the three doors whilst inside. 

Whatever you decide, be happy, don't live to regret...


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## Zebedee

UncleNorm said:


> BTW On our X2/50, we have a couple of switches on the dash for locking and unlocking the three doors whilst inside.


 Mods please note  I may have hit the "Report this post" button by mistake. Never reported anyone so don't know what to expect, but please ignore it if I did - obviously no probs with unclenorm  

*Hi Uncle*

Thanks for your high opinion of Eddievanbitz. I had come to the same conclusion and shall not hesitate to let him loose on my van with his big hammer!  

We also have the switches you mention, but there are two problems. They sometimes seem to have a mind of their own and have to be re-set by using the keyfob zapper. Curious??

Also you have to remember to check as you turn in for the night - preferably *before *the third glass of single malt.

Cheers

*P.S.* Do you need a Battery Master with vans like ours? Mine has the option of charging either of the batteries on the main control panel - *when it's working properly!* :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:


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## jacket

A BIG Hello to everyone & please forgive any mistakes I am going to make.
Regarding the Tribute 650's I have just bought one of the flood damaged ones from Simpson Salvage in York (they are keeping it for me until March) & they are minus the base vehicle (Fiat) handbook. Can anyone tell me if:
The standard fitting is a cat 2 immobiliser?
Are they supplied with just 1 flip keyfob & a normal key?
There is no Radio in mine are the speakers already in the door?
Thanks very much.


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## UncleNorm

Hi Zebedee! Just a quick reply before the football starts... :roll: 

The Battery Master - apparently, by leaving the vehicle/leisure battery selector switch on the leisure setting, the leisure battery, whilst on HU, is kept charged. If the vehicle battery starts to sag, any excess power in the leisure battery is fed to the vehicle battery, thereby avoiding the "my engine won't start" syndrome! :lol:  

So, yes, you're right. I shouldn't need it but I do feel more comfortable by having it, and it was free anyhow! (Nowt's free in this world!) :lol:


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## LAZZA

Hi Jacket
In answer to your questions,you are right about the keys,the spare key does'nt have the central locking buttons on.The factory fit immobaliser is a Cat 2, also the van does'nt come with a radio as standard.My dealer fitted a radio for free,so although the speaker grills where there, i don't know if there were speakers fitted by fiat 
Cheers Lazza :lol:


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## jacket

Thanks Lazza most helpful!


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## oldenstar

> the remote zapper locks and unlocks all three doors at once. This makes it very easy to unlock with the zapper when returning to the van, then lock the habitation door at bedtime - forgetting that the cab doors are still unlocked. (OK - I admit to being a bit dozy after a couple of little tasters!)


Hi Zebedee (Dave)
That system must be down to Autosleeper.
On the panel van conversions the normal remote locks all the doors with one button, but there are separate buttons for opening the front cab doors, and for the side and rear doors (3 buttons in all).
Can be frustrating-the number of times I have got out to open the back or side doors only to find them locked. :roll: 
I really do like the internal locking button on the dash-I always check that we are locked in before settling down
Paul


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## 105062

Hi Jacket,
The Tribute should come with 4 front speakers.

Are Simos providing a warranty as CI state on their web site the following

Quote : 
"These vehicles involved became part of an insurance claim. On instructions from the insurance company, a series of inspections were carried out by the base vehicle representatives (Fiat, Renault and Ford) to ascertain the amount of damage involved. As a result of their findings, they could not guarantee their safety. Each manufacturer immediately withdrew the factory warranty and future support on these vehicles. Therefore, in respect of these vehicles:"

"All warranties, conditions or terms relating to the fitness for purpose, quality or the condition of goods or compliance with description, whether express or implied by stature or common law or otherwise are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law".

http://www.auto-trail.co.uk/content.php?display=newsdetails&id=33

cheers
650


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## oldun

I agree with Zebedee's definition of best but many probably have another definition.

This means that it is impossible to post a sensible answer to posts asking for the best.

In general it is much better to list the major requirements such as

reasonable price
good quality
reliable
does this that and the other.

Next time i am tempted to use "best" I will think again, that is assuming that I can remember to do so.


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## smick

*Which alarm*

Depends on what level of security you want or are comforatble with. Mate of mine had a large German Shepherd - never bought an alarm in his life.

We opted for Strikeback as we'd had it in the Hymer, and the key point here was that although we knew it worked for us, we also knew that if it went wrong, the people at Van Bitz could tell us how to overcome the problem.

Other alarms may have all the bells and Whistles, but unless you have the tech support, you're lost - or rather I am !

This is not an ad for Van Bitz - cos if I were being absolutely honest, I'd like to see lower prices - but imho, you tend to get what you pay for.

Smick


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## 110181

Hi Lazza , I can't believe the co-incidence here, I have tried PMing you but I'm not able to. I googled Julians name and company address as I am trying to contact him and was directed to this site and your comment above.
He is currently sorting out a van alarm for me but I have lost his number and can't chase him up.
Could you let me have his contact number please, it'll save me the journey up to S-in-A from Nottingham.

Thanks, Ralph.


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## sallytrafic

So what is wrong with what comes with the basic fiat vehicle isn't it class 1 thatcham?


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## LAZZA

*Van Alarm*

Hi Ralph
Here is Julian's phone number-- 07071 225047 and mobile 07967 823611 
Hope this is of help
Cheers Lazza


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## 110181

Thank you very much Lazza, I really appreciate that it has saved me a load of hassle.

All the best.

Ralph.


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