Viper alarm battery life

[My imp]

Does anyone have a Viper alarm on their car? If so, how often do you need to change the AAA battery in the fob? It seems that I'm only getting a little less than a month, whether I use it or not. I know fob's with the 3032 batteries get considerably longer life. Thanks, Larry

 

[NoCar340]

I used to install those, but nothing with a AAA battery. You should definitely be getting more than a month out of it. Are you using a standard alkaline? Even if you were, I'd think you'd get 4-6 months out of it if not more. Realistically, you should be getting more life from it that the button cells. The best thing I can tell you would be to split it open and give it a good solid cleaning. Use a Q-Tip and rubbing alcohol after cleaning any heavy grime off traces & such with a pencil eraser. You may also want to get a battery rated for use in a digital camera (NiMH or such) to see if your results improve.

 

[My imp]

Have tried all but re-chargeable, which it tells you not to. The unit was only a year old when I got the car. I haven't split the case , however the outside is like new, as is battery compartment. I doubt if I even use the fob twice a month in winter. And, as stated, it's not a daily driver in summer. So it's definitely not going dead due to use. It doesn't matter whether it's locked, or not. I know it constantly monitors a signal, could anything be draining the battery in it?

 

[NoCar340]

The only thing that really comes to mind is dirt in the traces of the remote or a stuck button. You'd be surprised how much crud can get inside one of those things. I can't think of any defect in the receiver that would cause it to kill the remote battery; it's rolling code but even if the code kept regenerating, the remote would just fail to operate the system eventually. Generally the DEI stuff is really primo equipment. From an installer's standpoint, it was a dream with which to work, and virtually every problem I ever encountered as a "complaint" was user error, usually from Ford owners with their much-loved combination door locks.

I would think a non-rechargeable lithium cell should give you a couple of years' service.

 

[slant6billy]

My 1997 SS/T Ram has the 4 button viper alarm. It was installed in August of '97. I've changed the batery 4 times since new. Last June (2013) I brought it to Atco Raceway for the yearly Run what ya brung with guys from work. I made my initial pass with the Hypertech disengaged and ran 15.59 seconds. Back in the staging lanes I went to plug the Hypertech box in. This is not a hand held tuner, it is a piggyback device that gets plugged to the PCM on the firewall. To do this, the truck's battery (pos+) was disconnected. When I reconnected, the Viper went fully armed and both key fobs died at that instant. Mine does not have AAA, it has a smaller 12volt type. So my truck sat in the staging lanes unable to move. Luckily one of my coworkers had cold feet about running his 69 cougar that night, so he ran me out the gate to a drugstore to buy new batteries. This was not the first time I got stranded. Previous was with my infant daughter in 90 degree heat. Sucks of an inconveinence. Other than that I get some length of life, but when they go , they go.

 

[My imp]

Split the case, immaculately clean! Billy made me think of something. Whenever I work on the car, or have the hood up for any length of time, I have one of those knob style battery disconnect. I always kill the power. Do you think that may be affecting it? I wouldn't think so, but you never know. First time for a problem like this. Thanks, Larry

 

[NoCar340]

Have you tested the batteries to make sure they're actually dead? Perhaps the remote just needs to be reset when the alarm is.

 

[My imp]

There dead. Is the "unlocked" icon supposed to be lit At all times when the doors are unlocked? Or, should it go out after a period of time? I can see if the "locked" icon stayed lit when the doors were locked. If they weren't, you'd set off the alarm all the time assuming they were unlocked.

 

[slant6billy]

I tried to jumper across the truck's duralast battery. and the signal lights would not flicker more than once and then nothing. It was like it knew I was cheating.

 

[NoCar340]

Icon? On the remote? If anything on the remote stays lit/on, there's your problem. I'm not familiar with those types of remotes as far as problems; I primarily did remote starters. None of their remote starters at the time had a display of any kind, though the alarms had LCDs. Anything showing on the LCD is draining the battery.

 

[My imp]

Yes, the bat life display & lock or unlock LCD stays lit. The backlight doesn't, only if a buttons pressed.

 

[NoCar340]

Well, they're minor and probably designed to do just that. I really can't see any other reason why the batteries die so often, especially with a cell that large. Has this been the case since new?

 

[My imp]

No, I've only had the car 1 1/2 yrs. the first bat lasted a few months, then the next less, now it's down to about a month for each bat. As stated, I've used all name brand bat's, but no measurable difference in life. The only constant, is where I've bought them (Home Depot).

 

[NoCar340]

Strange. I guess I'm back to suggesting Li-ion or NiMH batteries. You may want to put an ammeter across the power connection to see what the alarm is drawing with the system armed/disarmed. It shouldn't be very much at all, since the control unit really only starts to draw once the alarm is tripped (if it's anything like their remote starts, all the relays are on the PCB inside the unit). The only other thing I guess I'd try would be removing all power to the alarm and the remote, and letting them sit for a day or two to totally power down. During that time, you could always split the case and see how much, if any, filth has accumulated inside there. How that would affect the remote, I don't know but you've already determined nothing in the remote itself looked suspect.