Hi, I have a 10 year old First Alert FA-210 panel which shows LO BAT off and on, but there is no zone number info. Sometimes the panel will keep beeping until I press any key on the keypad to turn the beeping off. According to the manual, it says it is due to low system power condition. But I checked the AC power and it seems to be feeding the correct voltage to the control box. Any clue?
Thanks Dennis
Sounds like the main battery usually a 12 volt 4 amp lead acid is bad. you can get them from numerous places. battery should be in main control box. normally 3-5 yr life.
Good systems have backup batteries so a thief cant just disable the power, or come by during a power outage, mine has a 12v lead acid battery I can get at Ace, open the panel and see, and google for an instruction manual.
So does the board in the box run off the battery even when A/C power is functional? I always thought the board is running off the A/C power and the battery is used only when A/C power is disabled.
Thanks again for all your help
By the way, I used a voltmeter to measure the voltage on the battery and it seems OK. I measure the battery voltage with A/C power adapter connected to the wall outlet. Just wondering how the battery may be bad if the voltmeter indicates an acceptable battery voltage at its leads.
You may read ie 12V up on the battery but it cannot provide the apropriate current (amperage) in order to keep the panel alive. You can test the battery by placing on the leads a 12V/50W spot light (lamp) and keep it ther for 1'. If the light is bright after 1' the battery is propably ok. This is a simple test.
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By the way, I used a voltmeter to measure the voltage on the battery and it seems OK. I measure the battery voltage with A/C power adapter connected to the wall outlet. Just wondering how the battery may be bad if the voltmeter indicates an acceptable battery voltage at its leads.
I suspect bad capacitors in the supply section. Replace them.
The battery is for no AC and the board is DC, the power to the panel is DC from a wall wart, the panel keeps the battery charged.
Ok , what ok, 12.2 v is 25% charged, 12.8 is 100% for most set ups and thats not connected.
There is so much humor in this thread............... Did anybody see it???
Les
C'mon guys...
Put a meter on the battery, disconnect the AC, monitor the battery for one minute. At no time should the battery voltage drop below (preferably get anywhere close to) 12 volts.
The panel periodically checks the battery. If you replace it, you may have to wait quite a while before the LO Bat goes away.
the indicator should be reading "lo brain" not lo batt.
Ah, Gmail. The sources of spam, and LO BRAIN.
I'm LMAO!!!!!
Jeeeez !!!!!!!! There are no "bad capacitors" for cripes sake. Don't confuse him any more than he already is.
In the old heavy relay panel days pre80's the battery was just stand by duty no low battery indicator most panels.and 120 vac was taken to box to a heavy wound transformer which could run several sirens. When electronic boards came about the battery became integrated to the board to provide the energy needed to run the sirens. and 120 runs to a small wall transformer. after changing battery it could take up to 24 hr till battery is floated to proper voltage and panel sees it. aprox 13.5 most panels.
Dennis Dennis Dennis.
You're asking questions and making assumptions and getting answers by the hunt and peck method and you're not going to solve your situation without the full understanding of what you're dealing with.
The panel is powered from a plugin transformer that supplies the board with somewhere around 12 to 18 volt AC. The board operates on 12 volts DC. The battery is being charged all the time but is actually in the circuit full time. This is so that when you have a power failure, there is no "switch over" time-lag where the panel may not have any voltage for a brief second during a power failure or a brown out situation. That is, the board always sees the battery voltage. So .... even though the battery is called a "standby" battery, it's .... in effect .... powering the board all the time. When you put in a new battery, your standby time is at it's maximum and the time it will be able to keep your system operating without AC power is determined by the size/capacity/Ampere hour rating of the battery and the amount of current your system needs to operate during an alarm condition. As the battery gets older ( usual life expectancy is 3 to 5 years... but some go for much longer) the standby time gets less and less. When the battery gets down to a pre-ordained level of standby capability, you will get an alert at your keypad that it's time to change the battery. The system will still function with a "low" battery, it's just that you will only have a very short standby time before the panel goes dead.
The fact that you can put a meter on the battery terminals and read a good voltage, while it's connected to the panel is because you're reading the battery charge voltage being put out by the panel. The fact that you can disconnect the battery from the panel and get a good reading is because the meter doesn't put any load on the battery so you're just reading the "surface charge" of the cells. If you were to put your meter across the battery terminals while it's connected to the board, pull out the plugin transformer and cause an alarm condition with the siren blowing ( ie. put a load on the battery) you'd see the meter drop to some reading below 12 volts DC. This is what the panel is trying to tell you. That in an alarm condition, you're not going to have enough power to blow the siren, send a signal to central and keep your panel going for an length of time.
If you'd call in someone from an alarm company you'd be a lot better off than trying to futz with something that you don't have a complete understading about. This is security for your home and family. It's serious. It's important. How would you feel if you did something to the panel based on an "assumption" such as you've done with this situation and your system didn't work because of what you did or didn't do and your family suffered, were harmed or worse, or your home burned down?
I mean, I don't mind helping someone out but the questions you're asking and are confused about are very VERY basic and it's actually scary to think of what else you might have done or might do to your system. Like, do you know what kind of battery your system MUST have? Alkaline? Ni Cad? Lead acid? Lithium? Do you know what could happen if you put the wrong battery on your panel?
Dennis Dennis Dennis.
You're asking questions and making assumptions and getting answers by the hunt and peck method and you're not going to solve your situation without the full understanding of what you're dealing with.
The panel is powered from a plugin transformer that supplies the board with somewhere around 12 to 18 volt AC. The board operates on 12 volts DC. The battery is being charged all the time but is actually in the circuit full time. This is so that when you have a power failure, there is no "switch over" time-lag where the panel may not have any voltage for a brief second during a power failure or a brown out situation. That is, the board always sees the battery voltage. So .... even though the battery is called a "standby" battery, it's .... in effect .... powering the board all the time. When you put in a new battery, your standby time is at it's maximum and the time it will be able to keep your system operating without AC power is determined by the size/capacity/Ampere hour rating of the battery and the amount of current your system needs to operate during an alarm condition. As the battery gets older ( usual life expectancy is 3 to 5 years... but some go for much longer) the standby time gets less and less. When the battery gets down to a pre-ordained level of standby capability, you will get an alert at your keypad that it's time to change the battery. The system will still function with a "low" battery, it's just that you will only have a very short standby time before the panel goes dead.
The fact that you can put a meter on the battery terminals and read a good voltage, while it's connected to the panel is because you're reading the battery charge voltage being put out by the panel. The fact that you can disconnect the battery from the panel and get a good reading is because the meter doesn't put any load on the battery so you're just reading the "surface charge" of the cells. If you were to put your meter across the battery terminals while it's connected to the board, pull out the plugin transformer and cause an alarm condition with the siren blowing ( ie. put a load on the battery) you'd see the meter drop to some reading below 12 volts DC. This is what the panel is trying to tell you. That in an alarm condition, you're not going to have enough power to blow the siren, send a signal to central and keep your panel going for an length of time.
If you'd call in someone from an alarm company you'd be a lot better off than trying to futz with something that you don't have a complete understading about. This is security for your home and family. It's serious. It's important. How would you feel if you did something to the panel based on an "assumption" such as you've done with this situation and your system didn't work because of what you did or didn't do and your family suffered, were harmed or worse, or your home burned down?
I mean, I don't mind helping someone out but the questions you're asking and are confused about are very VERY basic and it's actually scary to think of what else you might have done or might do to your system. Like, do you know what kind of battery your system MUST have? Alkaline? Ni Cad? Lead acid? Lithium? Do you know what could happen if you put the wrong battery on your panel?
Now you went and posted all very good info and messed up the humor.
You only get "one attaboy" for that.
Les
Humor aside how many alarm techs do not understand how panels work either or how to use there meter properly I see it all the time. I have a whole collection of different meters and testers depending what I work on. Many of my meters have a cat II or higher rating as I work on 480- 3 phase. as well.
Humor aside how many alarm techs do not understand how panels work either or how to use there meter properly I see it all the time. I have a whole collection of different meters and testers depending what I work on. Many of my meters have a cat II or higher rating as I work on 480- 3 phase. as well.
Nick,
I agree, it is scary what others are out there.
When us ol' farts are gone, who will pick up the cause??
I have worked on 480/3 as well, but don't tell to many people since I kinda prefer the low voltage. It is fun to watch the Sparky's expression when you tell them that the alarm guy knows a good bit about why 3 phase motors spins one direction or another or the difficulty of pulling 500MCM cables. :-)
Les
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