Swift alarm activation

The stinger 310 isn't the best of alarms. I bought my 2013 Coachman  nearly 2 yrs ago with a 310 alarm that turned out to be faulty, Sargent were very good to deal with and repaired it. It's to be hoped though that Sargent don't start making car alarms.

Phone Sargent, there have recently sent me an updated version for diy fitting, takes around 30mins to remove and refit replacement.

Apart from adjusting sensitivity I can only assume yet another unit is required.  I think at this stage my confidence in the alarm would be very low.

The one I had on the Unicorn was very reliable over 6 years, tilt was good as it did detect if I removed a wheel or tilted up via the jockey wheel, the swift one doesn't appear to be as sensitive, yet is problematic.

Makes one wonder if Sargent have the necessary skills to produce a reliable alarm, or their PCB supply/maker is using sub standard materials.

I have a problem with my motorhome alarm but the Company that fitted it have a mobile call-out. Perhaps Sargent do the same?

Correction.  I had in my mind that three beeps was the tilt alarm causing the triggering but on re-reading the handbook this is the PIR that has activated the alarm, not the tilt.

This was still a puzzle as to why it went off as there was no-one in the caravan on the last two occasions. What has just occurred to me is that I was working at the front of the caravan at the time and that the door into the washroom was open. Looking through the front windows of the 'van I can see a reflection of the PIR in the washroom mirror. Would this be sufficient to trigger it? I have now closed the door and also made sure that no direct sunlight can strike the PIR and will see if it goes off again.

If the mirror is the cause it may be a similar reason for others affected. Watch this space for results. Hopefully I won't need to write again.

That could be the reason, when I fit PIR at home I always fit them where they don't get any sun, its also mentioned in the fitting instructions.

one of the main reasons for alarms going of is the sun. the PIR picks up body heat so when the sun moves across anything in line of sight it sees a heat source and sets of the alarm. I think the sergeant system can turn of the PIR via the remote control so the rest of the system will still be activated. worth a try to turn it of and see if this is the reason for activation.

I wondered about this..but then it started going off in the middle of the night as well.  It is being replaced so let’s hope!

I've had several issues with the Sargent Command. My leisure battery ran flat due to me using the battery isolate switch on the Fiat Ducato unit.

The solar panel will charge the vehicle battery for four hours before switching to charging the leisure battery (design specification). In the winter months when there could be less than  four hours sunshine the leisure battery may never be charged up hence a flat leisure battery.

Sargent were oblivious to this problem with the vehicle and it's configuration and were surprised when I told them about it. They wouldn't be making any changes to the system despite being advised of this serious issue, customer input is not welcome and on this occasion resented.

This caused me to lose total connectivity with the Sargent unit, Sargent thought it was because I stored my vehicle near an airport which conflicted with the telephone signal (an excuse?). Sargent assured me that the monitoring company could still contact the unit regardless of the flat leisure battery, though this was never proven. 

Then a week ago (Sept 18) with many motorhomes being stolen, fitted with tracker units and not being subsequently recovered, I contacted Sargent regarding signal blocking and how they were dealing with this growing problem. Sargent responded by arrogantly stating that if "I was unsatisfied with Sargent Command tracker" then go and find another tracking company, clearly not helpful.

Sargent are also unable to add an alarm system that can link to the Sargent Command and notify you that there has been an attempted theft on the vehicle. This apparently is due to the duration of the alarm ring, a 20 second ring is the "industry norm" before switching off, Sargent Command needs a 30 second ring to trip the system and identify a theft attempt, but his causes other issues with the Sargent Command system. Sargent stated that they would not make any changes for one affected customer. Clearly other customers who have this system installed do not know about it.

I have had several false alarms with calls from the monitoring service which I don't mind at least someone is watching for any unauthorised movement. On two occassions these have been with legitimate key entry and after 30 minutes of driving ample time for a thief to find and disconnect the tracker or block the signal.

The bluetooth connectivity with the Sargent Command is sketchy at best it often takes several attempts to become connected. It also disconnects frequently making the use of the bluetooth connectivity frustrating.

In my experience Sargent as a company are not good to deal with, they appear to think that their system is flawless but are unwilling to take customers views into account. I have used the Command system for a year now and I am not impressed with it.

Just to unit was changed back in July.  No false activations since so seems the new units are working