Questions about burgler alarm and rechargeable backup batteries (Poss. B/W)

[JoeM]

I have a Visonic Powermax Plus home security system that I installed and it requires this backup battery to operate:



I have seen similar batteries for the Powermax Plus in the UK labeled as rechargeable but rated 2300mAH as opposed to 2200mAH:


and the cover of my units battery compartment is labeled:


I can't seem to find any rechargeable versions of the needed battery here in the States, only this one:
http://www.homesecuritystore.com/p-17-vi...ttery.aspx which costs $25.00 and they are tacking on $13 shipping. Also they list it as part# 9912H on the site but shipped 9912M. I'm going to contact them about it but their CS is pretty poor and responses are slow.

I'm guessing the one I have is like a cell phone or camera battery that holds it's charge via the system and ultimately looses the ability to hold a charge after some time. (mine lasted one year).

Does anyone know where I could find a rechargeable version and if so, how do you recharge it with that connector?

TIA

[OWC Jamie]

To try to charge out of the alarm system: something like this :http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tenergy-Smart-Universal-Charger-for-NiMH-NiCD-Battery-Packs-7-2v-12v-01005-/390379918378

or a 6 volt charger, red is +, should bring it up to test if it still holds a charge


The alarm system is not ( or does not ? ) charging the nimh rechargeable battery pack back up after a power outage ?

[Filliam H. Muffman]

I think any 7.2V battery pack that is within 10% of the listed capacity should be fine as long as the cover will close over it. You charge the battery by plugging it in to the circuit. Don't worry about charging it before installation unless you need it to work immediately.

It must not be a very smart charger if batteries get burned out from overcharging after only a year.

[GGD]

Some quick searching turned up this, which looks like the right shape, voltage and capacity, but has bare wire ends instead of the connector yours has.

http://www.batteryspace.com/nimhbatteryp...a2rx3.aspx

Here's one with a connector but not sure if it's the same as yours.
http://www.pololu.com/product/2225

It looks like 7.2 volts is common in radio controlled cars/planes, a lot of hits for different shaped packs at that voltage.

[Robert M]

Joe,

How did you contact customer service? Via email or telephone? I've contacted them several times about my Powermax Plus system but always via phone. Once was about installation. It turns out I needed a couple of special doojiggers since the wireless transmitters cannot be attached to a steel door. They guided me to the correct dojiggers, helped me reconfigure the system to account for them. No problems. Same goes for when I purchased a spare keyfob. They guided me to the correct model and, after I received it, helped me connect it t the system. Again, no problems.

Same goes for when I needed to change the battery in the original keyfob. Rather than sell me one from the web site, they told me exactly which model to buy at a local store and explained to me how to swap the batteries. I thought I might have to reconfigure the system but it was as simple as opening the keyfob, swapping batteries and closing it again.

My only issue with their customer service is the hold times. You cna be on hold waiting for someone to pibkup for just a few minutes to nearly an hour. But, the staff has always taken great care of me after they came online. So, if you haven't called them, then I'd make the call.

NiMH batteries do have a lifespan. Is that the original battery? If so, how long have you had the system?

Robert

[tenders]

You can find batteries just like that at Radio Shack - but maybe not the identical connector.

No worries. Clip off the wires on the old batteries and twist them onto the wires of the new batteries, matching red to red and black to black. They'll work.

You just need similar 7.2 voltage. Any milliamp-hours close to 2200 will work just fine; that's the capacity. In a pinch you can use rechargeable AA batteries and wire them in series. You'll see how this is done if you take off the wrapping from around the old batteries.

[JoeM]

Thank you all for the advice. There's a lot of good info posted here that will save me from having to purchase replacements at the prices homesecuritystore.com charges. I really appreciate the help.

Robert M: I agree with you on their CS. If you can get through to them they are helpful but I've called them several times and all times the hold time has been nearly an hour. Emails requesting a return were ignored until I threatened to call the BBB and my CC company. The RMA and their response came quickly right after that.

This is not the original battery and it was purchased in Jan of 2013.