How do I know if my Verbatim battery needs replacing?
This FAQ addresses specifically the batteries in the Verbatim and Verbatim Gateway autodialers, but the testing and evaluation of the 6-volt gel cell backup battery will apply to any of our autodialers.
General
The backup battery is a 6volt, 4.5 amp hour (4.5 ah) gel cell battery, which you may be able to obtain locally. You can always order one from RACO, as we generally have them in stock. They should be changed every three years, regardless of the results of testing. You should not stock them on the shelf as you might, say, an alkaline flashlight battery, as they will deteriorate rapidly without being on a trickle charger (as in our dialers). Note that our dialers have to be plugged in and turned on in order for the trickle charger to work. When buying from sources other than Raco, be sure the battery has not been sitting on the shelf for more than a month.
Verbatims have an additional battery, the silver Lithium battery in the upper left hand corner of the main board.
- It is a 3 volt #2430 battery
- should last about ten years.
- It should be changed when it dips below 3.0 volts.
- Measure the voltage from the top of the battery (plus) to ground (use �c� on the TS1 terminal strip in the lower left hand corner of the main board).
Changing this battery, even with power on, will scramble the memory,
- You will have to clear the memory after replacing the battery by shorting the pins of JB3 together with a screwdriver while the power is on.
- Hold the short for 3-4 seconds, then let it boot up.
- You are then at factory defaults and can reprogram the unit.
LoBat Light
The LOBAT light activates whenever the charge or discharge current for the rechargeable battery exceeds a certain level. If the battery is not fully charged (as following installation or following a power failure), then the charging current will activate the light, and if the battery is currently being discharged (as during a power failure) the light will be activated. Since the detection circuit is fairly sensitive and since there is substantial variation in how much current a given battery continues to draw from the charger when it is fully charged, it is not unusual for the light to remain on for a day or more after any discharge, and in some circumstances it can remain on indefinitely without there being any problem with the battery or charging circuit. It does not necessarily warn of a battery wearing out. It should be considered at most a secondary indication of battery and charger activity.
- The LoBat light comes on generally within a few seconds of removing AC power.
- After removing AC power, it may take anywhere from a minute to a couple of days to charge the battery enough to turn off the LoBat light.
- The LoBat light will be off if no battery is installed, or the battery is dead, or the battery is fully charged.
- For Verbatim main boards version 5 and below, the LoBat light goes out when the battery charges to 6.85v, measured while the unit is on, attached to AC and the battery connected.
Low Battery Messages
RACO dialers do not, and cannot, call on a LoBat indication. There is simply no programming to do this. If you get a call with a reference to �Battery Power is Low� the call was caused by some other fault, such as a power fail or a channel alarm. The LoBat message is appended to such call outs. Note that LoBat refers only to the gel cell; there is no monitoring facility for the silver Lithium battery.
Battery Check
A new battery off the shelf will generally read about 6.4vdc or more with nothing connected to it. The autodialer will charge it up to 6.8 � 6.85vdc. The best way to check your battery is under load, that is, connected to the autodialer with the AC disconnected and