# Problem with emergency light fixtures and battery....



## Introyble

cshady143 said:


> Hey i have a parking garage at the casinos i work in and in the garage we have Lithonia emergency light fixtures CAT# IND12150 and the Lithonia batteries (ELB 1255)were going bad because of the cold weather and them freezing you can see the batteries swelling. So we purchased battery heat blankeds a few years back and have been gradually installing them when we have time to do so. Someone in the department ordered replacement batteries for these fixtures but they are not the (ELB 1255) battery they are called Power Patrol CAT#1165 12V55Ah Sealed Maintenance Free Rechargeable Battery AGM, Non-Spillable. we installed some of these batteries in the emergency light fixtures and the self diagnosis shows a solid red light which means its charging the battery when fully charged should turn green but they have been charging for 3 days and still solid red and when you press the test button the lights do not come on the diagnosis flashes red and green meaning insufficient charge. Are we not able to use the batteries in this fixture or what seems to be the problem? I checked the fuses on the lights and they are good all the power is good. Help?


You see that little board inside the fixture. Are the wires coming off that board the correct ones for the voltage your supplying?

Are you sure your polarity on the batteries are correct? Positive to positive, negative to negative

How about those little numbers on the battery with the VDC and AH after it. 
Correct battery voltage?
How about the AH size ~ that correct?


----------



## Shockdoc

cshady143 said:


> Hey i have a parking garage at the casinos i work in and in the garage we have Lithonia emergency light fixtures CAT# IND12150 and the Lithonia batteries (ELB 1255)were going bad because of the cold weather and them freezing you can see the batteries swelling. So we purchased battery heat blankeds a few years back and have been gradually installing them when we have time to do so. Someone in the department ordered replacement batteries for these fixtures but they are not the (ELB 1255) battery they are called Power Patrol CAT#1165 12V55Ah Sealed Maintenance Free Rechargeable Battery AGM, Non-Spillable. we installed some of these batteries in the emergency light fixtures and the self diagnosis shows a solid red light which means its charging the battery when fully charged should turn green but they have been charging for 3 days and still solid red and when you press the test button the lights do not come on the diagnosis flashes red and green meaning insufficient charge. Are we not able to use the batteries in this fixture or what seems to be the problem? I checked the fuses on the lights and they are good all the power is good. Help?


I recently corrected simular problems at a local synagogue, ended up changing 4 outdoor units that the pc boards proved to be defective. Whenever possible I convert the outside heads to slaves from an interior emergency pack. The best system is a central battery back up and head units down the line.


----------



## JackClay

cshady143 said:


> Hey i have a parking garage at the casinos i work in and in the garage we have Lithonia emergency light fixtures CAT# IND12150 and the Lithonia batteries


I think your battery is not charging properly Or you had connected with wrong polarity. You can check once polarity. If still not working check your cord. I am sure there is little bit fault. You can check your this battery with another fitting. Once you can exchange battery with another fitting.


----------



## knowshorts

Did you connect the lead from the board to the battery?


----------



## LARMGUY

Sounds like a voltage discrepancy to me. Use your meter to check the battery outputs.


----------



## Navyguy

Shockdoc said:


> I recently corrected simular problems at a local synagogue, ended up changing 4 outdoor units that the pc boards proved to be defective. Whenever possible I convert the outside heads to slaves from an interior emergency pack. The best system is a central battery back up and head units down the line.


The only concern is the distance your heads are away from the battery pack. You have to up-size the wires fairly substantially (compensate for voltage drop) when running 12 or 24 volt that it becomes cost prohibitive quickly.

Cheers


----------



## sparky.jp

So wait a minute here - you're saying that the original batteries were wet-cell (flooded-cell), and the replacement batteries are AGM (absorbed glass mat or gel-cell)? If this is indeed the case, the manufacturer may have set up different charging voltage/current thresholds for what determines a full charge for each battery type, and this could explain the behavior of the charging status light. Is there a switch or jumper of any kind on the circuit board for selecting the battery type?

I also seriously doubt that the batteries were freezing in Las Vegas. The electrolyte in a fully-charged wet-cell battery has a specific gravity high enough that it should not freeze unless well below zero degrees F, so my suspicion is that the bulging was just an indication that those batteries were old and needed to be replaced. The battery warmers probably were a complete waste of effort.

I concur that a centrally-located battery system is far preferable to the standalone units, but these are only used in facilities where the added installation cost can be justified, and let's be honest here, most building designers never even think about this kind of thing, they just slap up an emergency light wherever the fire/life-safety engineer/inspector tells them one is needed.


----------



## Jlarson

sparky.jp said:


> So wait a minute here - you're saying that the original batteries were wet-cell (flooded-cell), and the replacement batteries are AGM (absorbed glass mat or gel-cell)? If this is indeed the case, the manufacturer may have set up different charging voltage/current thresholds for what determines a full charge for each battery type, and this could explain the behavior of the charging status light. Is there a switch or jumper of any kind on the circuit board for selecting the battery type?
> 
> I also seriously doubt that the batteries were freezing in Las Vegas. The electrolyte in a fully-charged wet-cell battery has a specific gravity high enough that it should not freeze unless well below zero degrees F, so my suspicion is that the bulging was just an indication that those batteries were old and needed to be replaced. The battery warmers probably were a complete waste of effort.
> 
> I concur that a centrally-located battery system is far preferable to the standalone units, but these are only used in facilities where the added installation cost can be justified, and let's be honest here, most building designers never even think about this kind of thing, they just slap up an emergency light wherever the fire/life-safety engineer/inspector tells them one is needed.


Yeah, lead acid and AGM are different chemistry and need slightly different charger settings. Pretty much every e light I have ever seen was set up for lead acid.


----------

