Fire Alarm Panel Battery Trouble

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big john

Senior Member
Location
Portland, ME
I just put in an FSC series fire alarm control panel made by Edwards. When I first turned it on I got a "Battery Trouble" signal. I figured this was because the panel needed to charge the battery to the proper voltage. Left it overnight, and I came back to the same trouble condition, and the battery was also significantly warm.

Only three zones on this panel, running 4 smokes. Nothing fancy at all. The battery polarity is connected right. 12V 5AH is the recommended size for this system.

The instruction manual simply says that "Battery Trouble" will show up with low or no voltage. This battery has a 13.5 volt charge. I've also swapped a battery from a different panel and had the same problem.

I keep trying tech. support but they keep putting me on hold for ages. Any ideas here?

-John
 

nhfire77

Senior Member
Location
NH
I just put in an FSC series fire alarm control panel made by Edwards. When I first turned it on I got a "Battery Trouble" signal. I figured this was because the panel needed to charge the battery to the proper voltage. Left it overnight, and I came back to the same trouble condition, and the battery was also significantly warm.

Only three zones on this panel, running 4 smokes. Nothing fancy at all. The battery polarity is connected right. 12V 5AH is the recommended size for this system.

The instruction manual simply says that "Battery Trouble" will show up with low or no voltage. This battery has a 13.5 volt charge. I've also swapped a battery from a different panel and had the same problem.

I keep trying tech. support but they keep putting me on hold for ages. Any ideas here?

-John

Are you sure its a 12 Volt not a 24 Volt system?

5AH is small BTW, I have never used less than 7 on a fire alarm, but that's not important right now.

Did you try a new (brand new) battery?

Did you meter current under load under a normal condition?

Does the panel continue to work with AC power off?

Are their any ground faults on the panel?
 

nhfire77

Senior Member
Location
NH
I just looked at Edwards site the DSC panels are 24 Volt. You need two 12 volt batteries in series.

Thats probably why the battery is WARM. Its been pumping 24 V into a 12 V cell. Eeeek, scary. I didnt read the manual but most systems require two 12V 7AH at a minimum. Sounds like you could use a fire alarm contractor (just supporting the boys, no offense)
 
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big john

Senior Member
Location
Portland, ME
I just looked at Edwards site the DSC panels are 24 Volt. You need two 12 volt batteries in series.

Thats probably why the battery is WARM. Its been pumping 24 V into a 12 V cell.
I was just coming back to amend my post to try and hide my stupidity; I'm reading the specs more carefully and that's absolutely what's wrong.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll fix 'er up in the morning when I've got more functional brain cells.

-John
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
No offense taken: I'm a fire alarm rookie, if I weren't I wouldn't have made that mistake.

Just out of curiosity do any FA systems run on 12V standby?

-John

I believe that current production panels for commercial fire, by and large, are 24VDC only due to the requirements in the 9th edition of UL 864 which governs fire panels. Older panels from both Silent Knight (5204) and FireLite (MS-4012, MS-4812, MS-4412B, MS-5012) came in both 12 and 24VDC and are still in service.
 

MichaelGP3

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco bay area
Occupation
Fire Alarm Technician
Somewhat off topic

Somewhat off topic

I once worked on a 6 volt DC panel. I think that Kidde made it; I've never seen another.

I also once saw an IBM fire alarm panel that operated on 24 volts AC (no fire alarm during a power failure). I was looking for something printed on a label to date it. The wiring inside the panel had cloth insulation, also vacuum tube relays. It was obviously installed prior to IBM selling off that division to Simplex Time Recorder. The "B" key that technicians think of as a Simplex key was originally an IBM key.

Radionics also had some 12 volt DC fire alarm panels.
 
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