Batteries

Weak Batteries cause False Alarms

Batteries are either a  primary power source or a secondary source of voltage needed by alarm protection devices.  Any device that requires power has minimal amount of power that it needs to operate properly.  In residential alarm systems most of the alarm devices requires 12 vdc. 

Batteries for alarm panels may look very similar to what you see below.

When batteries begin to lose their ability to hold a charge then the voltages needed to run external alarm devices becomes unstable. Unstable voltages in alarm circuits will cause the alarm system to go into a false alarm condition. Even if the alarm system is not armed a low battery could generate a false alarm condition if a protection point is a twenty four hour zone and it loses power. Batteries need to be replaced and the no two systems are the same. A general rule of thumb is every 2 two five years it will need to be replaced. Areas where frequent power outages occur usually require that batteries are replaced more frequently.

Most alarm systems will report a low battery condition a few days before the actual battery fails. If you allow the battery to fail then you could end up with an alarm system in a alarm condition with no way of shutting it off. Don't wait until it fails to have it replaced. 

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