Keypad is beeping rapidly and saying BAT, but there's no battery?

[Brian Kendig]

The alarm system at my brother's house is a Vista 10SE, with a
6127/6128 keypad. The keypad is beeping loudly and rapidly and
constantly and we can't get it to stop. The keypad display also
intermittently displays BAT, which apparently means a low system
battery. I opened up the keypad, but I don't see any battery in
there, and we have no wireless zones; the whole thing is wired
together. Does this thing use a battery somewhere that I have to
replace? Or how do I shut the thing up?

 

[Jim Rojas]

The battery is located inside the main control box. Look for a large beige
metal box. If he has wireless sensors on his system, one of the transmitter
batteries may need to be replaced. Give me a phone call any evening after
6pm EST, for detailed step by step instructions on how to solve your
problem.

Jim Rojas
(813) 886-7850

 

[G. Morgan]

The battery is located inside the main control box. Look for a large beige
metal box. If he has wireless sensors on his system, one of the transmitter
batteries may need to be replaced. Give me a phone call any evening after
6pm EST, for detailed step by step instructions on how to solve your
problem.

Jim Rojas
(813) 886-7850

You get all the easy ones!! <jj>

 

[Jim Rojas]

It does seem that way sometimes...

Jim Rojas

 

[Brian Kendig]

The battery is located inside the main control box. Look for a large beige
metal box. If he has wireless sensors on his system, one of the transmitter
batteries may need to be replaced.

Thanks for the tip - we found the control box, and it has a lead-acid
battery inside, about half the size of a brick. The control box is
also plugged into the wall. (There are no wireless sensors in this
system.)

I guess the battery in the control box needs to be replaced? It
doesn't look like something Radio Shack would carry, and I don't want
to put up with the incessant beeping for a day or two while I wait for
one to be shipped to me, so I may as well call the company that
installed his home security system and have them come replace the
battery...

The home security system was installed when the house was built three
years ago. Do the batteries really go dead this quickly? The manual
says that a dead battery should make the control panel beep once per
minute, but this thing is beeping insanely quickly without stop...

Meanwhile - if the alarm system is disarmed and we disconnect the
keypad which is doing the beeping, the alarm won't sound, will it? Or
if we unplug the control box or disconnect its battery? We'd prefer
not to sound the alarm itself (unless there's really a break-in), 'cos
it would annoy the neighbors.

 

[Jim Rojas]

Radio Shack & Ace Hardware carry the battery. Bring the old one with you. In
the meantime, unplug the wall transformer to disable the alarm for now.

Jim Rojas

 

[Brian Kendig]

I could use some more help figuring this out...

Yesterday morning I was able to get the keypad to stop its insane
beeping by keying the system into Test mode and then keying Stop. The
beeping started again this afternoon; I put the system into Test mode
again and stopped it, and that again stopped the beeping.

I noticed that BAT appears for a second or two on the display then
goes away. This happens a couple of times every minute, even after
I've gotten it to stop beeping.

I removed the battery from my control box. The battery is 12V and my
voltmeter says that's how much it's putting out, so the battery
appears to be good. (It's three years old.) However - oddly - the
keypad is still occasionally flashing BAT, even with the battery
completely removed from the system. Maybe this is because the control
box is still plugged in - is this normal? (When I then unplug the
control box, the keypad goes blank, of course.)

Does the occasional BAT display mean I need a new battery even though
this one's still putting out 12V? Or does the fact it appears even
when the battery's removed mean there's something else wrong with the
system?

 

[R.H.Campbell]

I haven't been following this thread so I don't even know what type of panel
you have. However, with the panels I deal with (Paradox and DSC), just
because the battery reads 12 Volts doesn't mean it's up to the job. Most
panels do a load test on the battery once a minute and if they determine the
battery can't hold a charge (in spite of the fact they may show a surface
voltage of 12 Volts), they will indicate a battery trouble (correctly so...)

If your battery is three years old, it may well have given up the ghost.
Most batteries today simply don't last as long as they used to, due to
manufacturers cheapening things at the front end to keep costs down.....

RHC

 

[Frank Olson]

I could use some more help figuring this out...

Yesterday morning I was able to get the keypad to stop its insane
beeping by keying the system into Test mode and then keying Stop. The
beeping started again this afternoon; I put the system into Test mode
again and stopped it, and that again stopped the beeping.

I noticed that BAT appears for a second or two on the display then
goes away. This happens a couple of times every minute, even after
I've gotten it to stop beeping.

I removed the battery from my control box. The battery is 12V and my
voltmeter says that's how much it's putting out, so the battery
appears to be good. (It's three years old.) However - oddly - the
keypad is still occasionally flashing BAT, even with the battery
completely removed from the system. Maybe this is because the control
box is still plugged in - is this normal? (When I then unplug the
control box, the keypad goes blank, of course.)

Does the occasional BAT display mean I need a new battery even though
this one's still putting out 12V? Or does the fact it appears even
when the battery's removed mean there's something else wrong with the
system?

Enough already!!! Buy yourself a new 12volt 7AH battery. They're readily
available at most electronics and electrical wholesalers for a whole lot
less than what you'd pay at Rat Shack. Heck... drop in at your local alarm
company and ask them to sell you one...


--
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

 

[Mark Leuck]

I haven't been following this thread so I don't even know what type of panel
you have.

The poster apparently has an Ademco panel