Thread: Interior car alarm

I have a small white dog in the back of the car in a metal cage.

When I leave him in the car I remember to turn off the interior alarm scan.

When I forget to do this the alarm has never been triggered.Is that because of the metal cage that interferes with the interior scan perhaps?

Define "scan". What type of alarm is it that you have?

I have a ford focus.On the dash I run through to settings and it goes down to alarm ,allowing me to choose between full guard or "reduced."

Choosing "reduced" allows me to turn off the "Interior scan"

If I don't do it the car will detect movement inside the car and set off the high pitched alarm.

Obviously traumatic for any pet......

Looking it up, it appears the sensor is in the overhead console. I can't find any specific information about what type of sensor it is, but I would guess it's a typical motion sensor like what is available in home security systems. These detect motion through infrared heat sensors. So my guess is that it's a combination of your dog being small and the cage blocking just enough that he doesn't set it off.

It's probably not a very sensitive sensor anyways because they would want to limit the range to just within the car and not out the back window. Although most motion sensors won't work through glass because not all infrared waves go through glass.

Falconer already covered what I was going to say, its most likely not a strong sensor and the placement of the crate (on the rear of the car?) blocks the body heat of the puppy from it.

Thanks. I hadn't realised it might be a heat sensor. Our last dog used to set it off but wasn't in the cage (on the rear seat)

Perhaps I will do a careful experiment leaving him inside without the cage(you can turn it off very quickly if you have the remote in your hand)

You're welcome. Glad to be able to help. I learned a lot about motion sensors when we replaced our security system last year at my work.

That would be an interesting experiment to see the results of, I bet that without the cage he would set it off.

Originally Posted by Paleoichneum

Falconer already covered what I was going to say, its most likely not a strong sensor and the placement of the crate (on the rear of the car?) blocks the body heat of the puppy from it.

Car alarm sensors do not detect body heat.

Originally Posted by billvon

Originally Posted by Paleoichneum

Falconer already covered what I was going to say, its most likely not a strong sensor and the placement of the crate (on the rear of the car?) blocks the body heat of the puppy from it.

Car alarm sensors do not detect body heat.

So the interior alarm sensor for a Ford Focus is not a PIR sensor?