Canopy door alarm

IF your rear vision mirror looks through the canopy front and rear glass, stick an easily visible shape card/ sticker or even a cross of Gaffa tape to the inside of the rear glass. That way you WILL see it everytime it is closed, IF you use your mirrors. There are electrical/ microswitch and light or Led options, which can be wired to indicate OPEN/AJAR with Ignition ON.

Hi Paul. You can get a gas strut switch which clamps onto your gas struts and is for turning on your lights automatically when you open the canopy door. Instead of a light you could run a wire into the cab and hook up a piezo buzzer! Just make sure when ordering it matches the diameter of your gas struts sliding shaft and outside of the fixed section. Also that you have enough free space on the sliding shaft when the door is closed.

We fit switch's to the canopy doors and wire them to the vehicles doors switches so the vehicles door ajar alarm and indicator lamp work when the canopy is open

I’ve got some on my ex Telstra vehicle, I’ll get some pics tomorrow. These work too well, on some remote corrugated roads I’ve had to tape them up as the vibrations can make them come on. Still rather have them though.

Having witnessed quite a few doors being ripped off and left a few open myself the only way is with an alarm and a red light easily seen in the front dash. I damaged one on a tree when the noise alarm failed (didnt have the light as backup). I was a remote Telstra tech and plenty of the guys damaged their doors. Telstra installed lights and buzzers and this cut down the damge rate significantly.

You could use momentary switchs which you can still buy on eBay,the same as used to be on frig doors and car doors as well,cheap just hook up to buzzer or light.

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Undoubtedly, the switch plus audible alarm is the best way to go. You need to search for indicator lights but the audible alerts you even when you are not observant.
A standard switch such as door switch is possibly the cheapest and easiest way to go. Be sure that the metal body of the switch is well grounded, possibly by the fixing screw, or by running a wire to ground. The switch connection pin then connects to a piezo buzzer (Jaycar) and other piezo terminal to ignition +12v.
I have such devices on my van, on the vent and the step, and there is no way to ignore the piezo!!!

Thanks all for the advice. I’ll work out a plan.

I did similar as above. Switches on each door hooked up to a loud annoying buzzer in the cab. Saved me a few times...

I got all my bits from Jaycar, you will just need to adapt to whatever lock style you have.

Paul

What about putting a hook on the inside of the canopy door to hang your car keys on when you are camped up ?

That way when it's time to move on you can't drive off unless you grab the keys from the hook that is attached to the canopy door that is still open - which will remind you to close the canopy door !


Cheers
Gazz

Hi Paul,

The simplest solution is to walk around your vehicle before you get in. Do you tow a van? If you do, do you do a walk around the van before driving off?

As far as hanging the keys from the open canopy tail gate, that could be an invitation for a dishonest person to avail themselves of the keys while you are distracted, and drive away.

Macca.

I just hide the keys in the canopy when doors are open. The key is not visable, after wrecking a door twice this method has worked. Just have to remember where you hid the keys! David.

We use the keys in the canopy technique but it’s not failsafe. When we are rushing around loading stuff in the car sorting out my Son things get forgotten. We live out of the car so there is always something going on which creates a distraction.

Had my ex Telstra canopy for 13 years.

Were it not for the often irritating & very loud alarm on the doors I am certain those canopy doors would have been long gone when I sold it recently.

Many a time I considered an inline switch to disable the alarm, but I never did it.

Yes corrugations could make the alarm ‘chirp’ & adjusting the switches was a ‘black art’ involving trial & error, a torch & the video capability of a mobile phone but I never ripped a door off accidentally!

A length of yellow and black flagging tape 1/2 way down the door, slightly shorter than 1/2 with a small weight works for me. Hard to miss them hanging down if a door is open.