adt low battery won't go away on keypad

[mark]

I have an adt safemanager 2000 / safewatch 2000 (keypad) system in my
house. It's about 3.5 years old. Recently the power was off for a
long time and since it's come back on the low battery "bat" message
continually shows up in the keypad. I've checked the battery voltage
and the fuse with a multimeter. All is great. I even tried a new
battery (before the multimeter) and the problem persists.

The real trouble is that every so often the keypad beeps continuously
until some keys are pressed to stop it.

How can I reset this low battery message on the keypad?

 

[Frank Olson]

I have an adt safemanager 2000 / safewatch 2000 (keypad) system in my
house. It's about 3.5 years old. Recently the power was off for a
long time and since it's come back on the low battery "bat" message
continually shows up in the keypad. I've checked the battery voltage
and the fuse with a multimeter. All is great. I even tried a new
battery (before the multimeter) and the problem persists.

The real trouble is that every so often the keypad beeps continuously
until some keys are pressed to stop it.

How can I reset this low battery message on the keypad?

You probably have wireless devices on your system (door contacts, motions,
etc.). The message you're seeing relates to these, not the common control
battery.


--
Frank Olson
http://www.yoursecuritysource.com
Free listings for qualified dealers and industry professionals
You can read the ASA FAQ at
http://www.yoursecuritysource.com/asafaq.htm

 

[Joe]

I have had a hard time getting lo batt messages to go away on those
types of panels too.
I have had pretty good success making them go away by entering into
programming and then getting right back out.

You may try poering completely down for a few minutes, power back up and
see what happens... Couldn't hurt.

 

[G. Morgan]

On 30 Nov 2004 06:26:39 -0800 "mark"
used 11 lines of text to write in newsgroup: alt.security.alarms

How can I reset this low battery message on the keypad?

try [master code] +5

[master code] + 1 two times

 

[mark]

Everything in the system is wired. There are no motion sensors, just
glass break detectors apart from the normal door / window contacts.

 

[mark]

One more bit of info which may help ... the keypads no longer light up
when you press keys. I opened them up and they don't have batteries
in them.

 

[James B]

Panel takes a 16.5 Ac transformer, so the AC had better measure at least
that but between 17 and 18 ac is normal.. Sounds like the battery
needs to be replaced though.

James

code + off, code + off

and measuring the battery with a multimeter will tell you nothing real.
your panel is testing the battery under load and it is failing the test
that's WHY you are seeing a low battery...replace the battery!

a new battery may have to be in the system for an hour or so before it
charges. give it time...then;

code + off, code + off

if it still is displaying low batt after installing a new batt and won't
clear, measure the transformer voltage (AC) should be around 13 VAC but
anywhere from 12-19 is common.

if AC is ok and still have prob...it could be a number of other thangs..bad
charging circuit on main board would be my next guess...but haven't seen
that much in Ademco stuff.

my money is still on battery being bad

good luck!




| I have an adt safemanager 2000 / safewatch 2000 (keypad) system in my
| house. It's about 3.5 years old. Recently the power was off for a
| long time and since it's come back on the low battery "bat" message
| continually shows up in the keypad. I've checked the battery voltage
| and the fuse with a multimeter. All is great. I even tried a new
| battery (before the multimeter) and the problem persists.
|
| The real trouble is that every so often the keypad beeps continuously
| until some keys are pressed to stop it.
|
| How can I reset this low battery message on the keypad?
|

 

[mark]

Ok ... it WAS the battery. I installed a new one and waited an hour
or so and it went away.

So if I take a multimeter and measure the voltage while the battery is
in place what should I see? I measured it across the terminals while
the battery was installed and it was something like 13.5

 

[John O]

So if I take a multimeter and measure the voltage while the battery is

Even if the battery is bad, if you leave the panel powered up from the
transformer and the leads from the panel attached to the battery, while
you put
a meter on it, you're going to measure the output of the leads from the
panel,
not the voltage of the battery. Even if you take the leads off the
battery, and
measure the voltage of the battery terminals, you're not going to
necessasarily
be able to tell if the battery is bad. With nothing drawing power from the
battery, it can still retain a "surface charge" until you put a load
across the
terminals. That would be a relatively heavy load like one amp, or so.

That's a great procedure for *any* device that runs off a battery, except
maybe the load requirements. Just for grins, there's a great site out there
that explains all types of rechargeable batteries in more detail than
anybody really needs, and it's in layman's terms. Check out www.buchmann.ca

BTW, that surface charge problem is classic for NiCd cells that need
rejuvenated. I use 2000 uF charged to 50 volts, and discharge it through the
battery 5-10 times. If that--and an amp or two directly through the cell for
good measure--doesn't fix them, nothing will. And that fixes a lot of
supposedly-bad NiCd cells...

-John O

 

[Dave Bannerman]

The way we test batteries is by using a ELK-BLT Mhos Meter, by ELK
Products. It will show the voltage of the battery and then will put a
load on the battery and give a digital readout of the result. The
resulting number can be compared to the chart on the back of the
meter. Its a great way to check the health of your batteries. Voltage
alone just wont cut it.