New alarm battery run down after a week

impracticaldogg

impracticaldogg

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We installed a small solar setup with a 3kW inverter a couple of months ago. Now all plugs (except in the kitchen) are on the inverter.

The alarm battery had been signalling low for months. It ran down completely two weeks ago - no power whatsoever to the alarm pad. A blank display, could not activate anything.

I replaced the old alarm battery with the exact same model bought from Geewiz. Checked the voltage before replacing it. After a week the green light on the alarm pad has gone orange - low battery again.

Have checked the polarity of the leads to the battery. All ok. What should I do now?
 
impracticaldogg said:
We installed a small solar setup with a 3kW inverter a couple of months ago. Now all plugs (except in the kitchen) are on the inverter.

The alarm battery had been signalling low for months. It ran down completely two weeks ago - no power whatsoever to the alarm pad. A blank display, could not activate anything.

I replaced the old alarm battery with the exact same model bought from Geewiz. Checked the voltage before replacing it. After a week the green light on the alarm pad has gone orange - low battery again.

Have checked the polarity of the leads to the battery. All ok. What should I do now?
Click to expand...
Maybe list the alarm model so people can assist better.

Maybe the battery was a dud?
 
The keypad says DSC. I'll post more details when I get into the roof again because the manual is up there with the alarm.

Fortunately I bought a multimeter with the battery. Can I just measure the voltage across the terminals and compare to the rated figure on the side? The only way I have of charging it is by opening an old UPS and leaving it in there to charge for a couple of hours.

I replaced the UPS batteries at the same time so I know the electronics still work, as even with the inverter my desktop sometimes still goes down
 
@krieg Not sure what you mean? The alarm shows power and can set the alarm. Whether it is charging the battery I don't know.

I should be able to take the multimeter and measure the the voltage across the leads to the battery
 
The manual that came with the keypad says PC1616/PC1832/PC1864

EDIT: Here are pics including the keypad manual
 

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impracticaldogg said:
@krieg Not sure what you mean? The alarm shows power and can set the alarm. Whether it is charging the battery I don't know.

I should be able to take the multimeter and measure the the voltage across the leads to the battery
Click to expand...

I mean the alarm is not running solely from the battery but the AC plug is on, the alarm should work then even without a battery. To measure the charging you would need take one pole off and put the multimeter inbetween to measure the trickle charge in milliamps. I don't think it's the charging circuit.
 
if its being charged the batter should get ~14v if its being discharged the voltage will be less than 13v. The battery only lasts a few hours so a week means its getting some power
 
The transformer is behind an old freestanding cupboard, but I can see a red light on. Given that the alarm went completely dead and could not be set I suspect the transformer is wonky, powers the battery only just enough so it keeps going for a while but cannot keep the alarm going when the battery finally gives out.

Will a. check the voltage and trickle charge to the battery (how much should the trickle charge be?) and b. switch off the transformer and see if the alarm keypad keeps going.

One of the old UPS batteries still had a bit of life in it. Can also swap that one in to the alarm system so the new battery can be recharged
 
impracticaldogg said:
The transformer is behind an old freestanding cupboard, but I can see a red light on. Given that the alarm went completely dead and could not be set I suspect the transformer is wonky, powers the battery only just enough so it keeps going for a while but cannot keep the alarm going when the battery finally gives out.

Will a. check the voltage and trickle charge to the battery (how much should the trickle charge be?) and b. switch off the transformer and see if the alarm keypad keeps going.

One of the old UPS batteries still had a bit of life in it. Can also swap that one in to the alarm system so the new battery can be recharged
Click to expand...
the voltage from the psu should be around 16v ,some ac some are dc .if thats ok check the fuse on the alarm board .the old battery may have popped it ,on the leads going to the battery you should be getting around 15 volts dc ,disconnected from battery .
ps some chinese batteries only last a week irrespective of charging .
 
Thanks, will check it out. It's a Forbatt LA Gel like the one ADT put in previously - but I suppose they all come from China these days..
 
impracticaldogg said:
Thanks, will check it out. It's a Forbatt LA Gel like the one ADT put in previously - but I suppose they all come from China these days..
Click to expand...
weve found over the last year that the S-Andowl batteries (accumulator)have lasted quite well ,have a look at the date stamp on the battery it should be 2023 at least .if older than that ......well! i wont install a battery thats older than 6 months ,it will give a comeback .it also doesnt help measuring the batteries voltage as when the battery packs up the internal resistance rises and the volts stay at around 13 volts so volts yes ,amps no.
 
soulie said:
the voltage from the psu should be around 16v ,some ac some are dc .if thats ok check the fuse on the alarm board .the old battery may have popped it ,on the leads going to the battery you should be getting around 15 volts dc ,disconnected from battery .
ps some chinese batteries only last a week irrespective of charging .
Click to expand...

The DSC is definitely AC power from the transformer.
 
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