Replacing HKC battery

Young Pretender

Hi, I have an HKC House alarm. The panel was flashing amber and now red advising of a battery replacement.

Firstly am I right in assuming that the battery that needs replaced is in the main alarm box? Secondly is it relatively easy to replace these ?

Any advice would be great.

altor

Young Pretender wrote: »

Hi, I have an HKC House alarm. The panel was flashing amber and now red advising of a battery replacement.

Firstly am I right in assuming that the battery that needs replaced is in the main alarm box? Secondly is it relatively easy to replace these ?

Any advice would be great.

Do you know which HKC system you have?

Needles73

Do you know the engineers code or just one for alarm/disarm ?

Young Pretender

The keypad looks like this one SW-RKP Slimline.

There are no markings on the central alarm box that shows which model I have, apart from HKC on the box. Systems is around 6 years old. And I do have the alarm/disarm code which I think may be the same as the engineer's code. There may be a way of using the keypad to determine the model number so let me know if that can be done.

Looks like it could be a HKC Securewatch from checking on line ....

altor

Young Pretender wrote: »

The keypad looks like this one SW-RKP Slimline.

There are no markings on the central alarm box that shows which model I have, apart from HKC on the box. Systems is around 6 years old. And I do have the alarm/disarm code which I think may be the same as the engineer's code. There may be a way of using the keypad to determine the model number so let me know if that can be done.

Looks like it could be a HKC Securewatch from checking on line ....

Standard 12V 7 Amp battery is what you need.
Have a look for supplies here.

When you open the main control panel you simply put in your user code to silence the alarm activating.

Young Pretender

Thanks so much I'll take a look... much appreciated.

altor

Young Pretender wrote: »

Thanks so much I'll take a look... much appreciated.

No problem, always happy to help

Young Pretender

Altor/Needles 73 - Thanks so much for your help and advice.
Got a new battery which arrived this morning and removed the old one.
All sorted now and delighted.

altor

Young Pretender wrote: »

Altor/Needles 73 - Thanks so much for your help and advice.
Got a new battery which arrived this morning and removed the old one.
All sorted now and delighted.

Brilliant, glad you got it sorted

1983ish

Same situation here myself. I had the control panel open to look at the battery, system went into tamper mode and my normal code silenced it
Is it just a straight swap out(when I get a new battery) or what way did you do it OP

altor

1983ish wrote: »

Same situation here myself. I had the control panel open to look at the battery, system went into tamper mode and my normal code silenced it
Is it just a straight swap out(when I get a new battery) or what way did you do it OP

Yes, remove the old battery and replace with a new one.
12V 7Amp

1983ish

altor wrote: »

Yes, remove the old battery and replace with a new one.
12V 7Amp

Thanks

altor

1983ish wrote: »

Thanks

You're welcome.
Any other problems come back to us

mhtc

Hi all, apologies for piggyback on this. When replacing the battery, should you cut the ac power (at the breaker) to the alarm control board itself? Or is it safe to just swap the battery without cutting the power?
Many thanks, mhtc

altor

mhtc wrote: »

Hi all, apologies for piggyback on this. When replacing the battery, should you cut the ac power (at the breaker) to the alarm control board itself? Or is it safe to just swap the battery without cutting the power?
Many thanks, mhtc

If you don't feel safe working around electricity then its always safer to turn it off.
In saying that, the mains is usually terminated in a fused location away from the battery so your usually safe doing this with mains on.

mhtc

altor wrote: »

If you don't feel safe working around electricity then its always safer to turn it off.
In saying that, the mains is usually terminated in a fused location away from the battery so your usually safe doing this with mains on.

Great, thanks for the reply

altor

mhtc wrote: »

Great, thanks for the reply

No problem, always happy to help

ck999999

Hi guys, Im trying to replace HKC back up battery but when I turn mains off there are still a couple of red lights lighting on the motherboard above the battery so I don't know it its safe or what is powering these small lights? One of the lights says 'status' the other is under a black plastic cover in the top left section. Any help much appreciated. Thanks

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118000323#Comment_118000323

If the old battery is connected it would be power from that that is keeping the board powered, unless there is a power supply connected to the system which would also keep it powered.

If you disconnect the old battery you can swap out the battery regardless.

ck999999

Thanks Altor. So it's safe as long as the mains are off as in house lights and plugs with no power?

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118001182#Comment_118001182

Yes it should be but its up to you to use caution if you think it is on.

Meeoow

Hey. Going to replace battery on hkc today. I'm going to knock off power at fuse and change out.

I'm assuming that there is no need for eng code, just my own code?

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244080#Comment_118244080

That would depend on the alarm you have in place.

On older versions of the Quantum 70 you would need to go into engineer mode to reset the battery timer.

Any other HKC its just a matter of changing the battery and the user code is all you should need.

Meeoow

It's a secure watch keypad, so hopefully it'll not require eng code, as I don't have it!

Meeoow

Hey, thanks altor. Changed battery no problem.

Didn't knock off fuse, just opened panel. It alarmed as tampered with. Put in my code. Changed battery. Replaced panel cover. All good!

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118246918#Comment_118246918

Brilliant, glad you got it all sorted

comfort

Hi there,

I remember asking this question a long ti e ago and totally forgot all about it. My HKC alarm still has the amber light on and on the Panel it says Panel Battery Fault. This is like easily 5 or so years later and has been like this all this time.

Anyway I noticed (and this I now remember as being the reason for not getting it done) reading the chats here that you say you need to change the battery 12v 7amp in the panel - but that battery is not in the panel. It’s in the big box where all the circuitry is and it’s the backup battery which is sitting on the base of the metal box. Would this be correct ?

I need to go get this battery at long last while I remember it now.

so no need to open the actual control panel with the keypad.

many thanks in advance.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118330111#Comment_118330111

It's not the keypad you open. On the battery the voltage and ah should be listed. Measure the width length and height and check that the one you order will fit and has the correct connection type. Warn neighbours etc that alarm will go off. Turn off main power before opening. Be careful to not damage any wires or parts

comfort

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118330467#Comment_118330467

Yes as I thought. Many thanks for confirming for me. The key pad is the panel is the point I was making. So when some comments were referencing the battery in the panel it’s not the panel it’s the metal box as when you open it the tamper will go off.

do I need to turn off the power to change this battery ?

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118330481#Comment_118330481

Yes, you should remove power from the panel. Beware you may have a different model hkc as they have various models possibly with different size or shape batteries.

trigger78

Hi ive a HKC that had a battery fault light on. I've changed the battery but the fault light and warning is still on. Any ideas anyone?

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119521285#Comment_119521285

If the system is an 8/12 it may be a fuse that's blown.

KoolKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119521285#Comment_119521285

Check the battery fuse and check that there is voltage on the battery lads.

Also is the fault referring to panel battery and not a different device

fl&sh

Does anyone know if there's a battery in the alarm panel. My one had a replace battery warning for a few weeks and now the panel is completely dead.

Or does the main battery in the control panel (Metal box) supply power to it?

thanks for the tread

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119697034#Comment_119697034

There is one in the main control panel, not the keypad.

If its an 8/12, then you would replace with a 12V 7Amp.

Leaving a low battery on the main system can pull it down and the keypad can go dead.

If you down power by the mains, then remove the back up battery, then turn back on mains it should come back online.

If all good, then replace the battery.

fl&sh

Cheers altor. I'll give that a go the weekend and see how it goes.

fl&sh

Hey altor. You were incorrect when you said there's no batteries in the keypad. I ended up having to open the keypad panel to have a look and see what was going on as I was on my own doing the job and the alarm was ringing once I opened the main panel. With the keypad being dead I couldn't turn off the alarm so just powered down the house and re powered it which unset it, no idea why?

Anyway I opened the keypad and there are 4x CR123 batteries in there. I replaced them but I still have the "rf battery fault" showing so I'm going to go ahead and replace the main panel 12v 7a battery now and hopefully that'll solve that issue.

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119721086#Comment_119721086

I was incorrect as you supplied the wrong information 😅

Older panel as you described above would have a metal control panel.

The newer panel is polycarbonate which can have wire free devices, including the Keypad..

CASHUB

Got the same battery issues, but as the battery is rechargeable, I was wondering if I can take it out, unplug, charge it and connect it back charged. That should get it going for some time.

I think the thing I worry the most is that the alarm will be constantly ringing or that all the settings on the key panel will reset...

What do you think?

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120646583#Comment_120646583

If you are taking about the back up battery in the control panel then once it shows a low battery it will need to be replaced.

Ghost01

@altor Just encountered the same issue with my alarm. It's old, possibly HKC 8/12 or even older. The system indicates that the panel battery is faulty. When I opened the front panel, I couldn't locate any visible battery. Where should I look for the battery? Thanks in advance.

altor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121492886#Comment_121492886

The Battery is located in the control panel, not the keypad if that is what you opened.

Bawner70

Hi, looking for some help.

I have a Hkc1070 that says device battery needs replacing. The app log says "battery flt" every couple of hours and then a few minutes later says battery OK. I assume it's referring to the battery in main box. I put it on a charger (motorbike setting) but it said it's full. I put on trickle anyway a couple of weeks ago but getting the replacement notification again. Is it just the battery or could it be something else?

Also getting low battery notifications on RF wireless units, but when I open them they seem OK. The units were installed less than 2 years ago and have Duracell 2450 coin batteries. Anyone know the expected battery life on those units?

Finally, does the 1070 panel (the one where you put in the code) have a battery and if so, could that be the problem?