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| Seco-Larm Enforcer 630 www.seco-larm.com |
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| The Enforcer 630 offers users a number of advanced, adjustable features. | |||
| by Barnet Fagel | |||
| Don’t confuse the name Seco-Larm with the watch producer Seiko — one’s on your arm while the other is armed. Although both companies deal with alarms, they do it in entirely different ways. Through their years of development, Seco-Larm have reduced the size of their automotive protection components to the point where they could almost be worn on your wrist, but preferably they should be strapped to a hidden spot in a vehicle. Seco-Larm’s new control module for their Enforcer 630 system is small (3-1/4-inches x 2-1/2-inches), and, in turn, it can do its job much better because it can be mounted in many secluded places — under the dash, cozy in a kick panel spot, hidden behind the glove compartment liner, etc. Instead of telling the time of day, Seco-Larm’s Enforcer 630 tells you, your neighborhood, and a potential thief the moment when an aggressive action has been detected at your prized four-wheeled possession. Detection is accomplished by a number of input triggers in the Enforcer 630. The first and foremost input trigger in any alarm system is the door input. Each door on most cars comes from the factory with a switch installed to turn on the interior lights when any of the doors are opened. Traditionally called “pin switches,” they get their name from their long pointed profile. These spring-loaded switches are mounted in the door or doorjamb, positioned in such a way so that when the door is closed, the switch’s contacts remain open. When the door is opened, the spring pressure forces the pin switch’s contacts to close, completing an electrical circuit to ground and tripping the alarm. One of the switch contacts is connected to its body and grounded to the vehicle chassis. The other switch contact is configured to accept the circuit wire it controls. In this case, the switch not only turns on the interior lights, but the alarm-input trigger is attached also, thereby serving a double function. In most cases, even if the dome light circuit stops working, the switches will still trigger the alarm. Since each door gets a switch, all the doors are said to be wired in parallel so that any door can trip the alarm. Most of these switches are negative in terms of their polarity to the vehicle. Many Ford-produced vehicles use a positive switching arrangement, meaning that both of the switch contacts are insulated from chassis ground. In which case the Enforcer 630 has a dedicated wire for either switching method. The second important intrusion trigger is the shock sensor. The Seco-Larm Enforcer 630 comes with a separately mounted dual-stage model. This sensor is mechanically mounted to the vehicle so that vibrations induced into the vehicle are “felt” by the shock sensor. The dual-stage shock sensor responds progressively in terms of the level of shock it perceives. If, for example, someone innocently lightly bumps your car with their door, the Enforcer 630 will cause the siren to emit three siren chirps calling attention to the incident without making a big deal of it. On the other hand, if the contact is violent enough to dent the car, the second stage of the shock sensor would most likely kick in and trigger the alarm for its entire 30-second sounding period. Should an intruder leave a door open after being scared away by the initial siren blast, the Enforcer 630 will recognize that the door is open or ajar and continue to sound the alarm for three 30-second periods. After this time, the door zone will be automatically ignored until such time as the door is closed and the circuit returns to normal. If any of the other sensors create a false alarm problem, the Enforcer 630 will limit all these incidents to a total of five triggers within a 30-minute time period. If after 30 minutes the cause has curtailed, the alarm will reinstate all trigger inputs for increased electronic protection. Whether the Enforcer 630 is sounding or not, the engine’s starter remains disabled from the moment it’s armed. Unlike most of the security systems I’ve seen and written about over the years, the Enforcer 630 gives the installer the choice of starter disable relay configuration. The choice is for a passive (normally closed) or, the preferred, active (normally open) engine interrupt. This should be discussed with your installation technician, not the sales person. I refer to the preferred active interrupt because it provides a higher level of protection in my opinion, than the passive version. In the passive approach, if the power is cut to the alarm, the interrupt circuit remains closed due to the lack of power to open the relay contacts — the thief can steal the car. The active interrupt keeps the relay contacts open at all times until the alarm is disarmed and the engine is started. With this arrangement, when the power is cut to the alarm, the relay contacts remain open and prevent operation of the starter. The Enforcer 630 has a feature that gives users the choice of using channel three for remote starting with an optional module or to honk their car’s horn. I think honking the horn is a sound idea, forgive the pun, but it’s a great asset for saving time because of stupid reasons. Seco-Larm has also come up with a new alarm acronym — ASD — which stands for Automatic Starter Disable. ASD is included in the Enforcer 630 and if it’s programmed for active (manual) arming, ASD will automatically engage the starter disable 10 minutes after the ignition switch is turned off. So if you’re making repeated trips to load or unload your vehicle, your engine can’t be started even though you didn’t actually arm the Enforcer 630. When you enter the car to drive, you’ll be notified that ASD is engaged by the steadily glowing LED. Pushing transmitter button one will turn off the ASD and enable the engine to be started. Feature trends in alarms tend to regulate the prevention of audible alarms for the sake of convenience and the environment — that’s as it should be. The alarm should live with its owner, not the other way around. To this end, the Enforcer 630 provides you with the elements to have your installer program channel two to pop the trunk remotely without having to first actively disarm the alarm. When channel two is programmed to bypass all the sensors this way, the driver is not required to first disarm the alarm before popping the trunk lid — it’s done automatically by the Enforcer 630. This means that when the trunk lid is closed, the alarm will re-arm automatically. This feature has an alternative process and, instead of zoning out all the sensors, the Enforcer 630 can be programmed to completely disarm the alarm when you pop the trunk lid so you can get in the car and go when you’re done in the trunk. You have your choice, so it’s tailored to your normal habits. All in all, Seco-Larm’s Enforcer 630 encompasses too many features to cover in one article, but it can be fully appreciated by having one installed in your own automobile. |
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| Price & Contact: $249; 800-662-0800. Web: www.seco-larm.com |
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