How do I change transmitter batteries in my AT&T 8000 System?
We will tell you how, but please take a few moments to read the procedure all the way through before you touch anything. It could save you from an embarrassing incident and potential fines!
Preliminary information and advice:
With one exception, the devices described here are all low-voltage units. You should not get a shock from any of them. The one exception is the low voltage transformer, where the prongs go into the 120 volt power outlet.
There is no substitute for safety. Some subscribers will need to stand on or near stairways or use stepladders to carry out these instructions. Use common sense and please don't put yourself at risk of a fall. A sturdy ladder is always recommended. If you are not able to maintain good balance during these procedures, it would be wise to ask us to provide service or get someone else to help.
Generally speaking, most AT&T 8000 Systems will go a year on a set of batteries. However, devices that get a lot of use may need new batteries every nine months or even less. Here are some specific points that are important to know:
1. The Wireless Remote Keypad (Model 8440) (especially the one at the door where you set the system) and the Passive Infrared Motion Detector (Model 8561) will typically need batteries most often. If you have only one Wireless Remote Keypad, do not delay replacement if its battery gets low, or you may suddenly find yourself unable to disarm the burglar alarm! (If this happens, and you have no spare batteries on hand, you can borrow one from a smoke detector to rejuvenate the Wireless Remote. (Remember to repay the smoke detector battery promptly!) Be sure to put the system on "No Action" at the Central Station before you do it.) Also, because Wireless Remote Keypads do occasionally fail outright, consider adding a second one somewhere in the system as a backup. (Please note that we might be able to provide new units for system expansion, but this is not assured. Most likely, the ones we can make available will be traded in or repaired units.)
2. Our observation, and it's just our opinion, is that the Model 8561 Motion Detector gets increasingly prone to false alarms when its pair of batteries get into the last third of their life expectancy (typically beginning around eight or ten months of use), even though they have not yet reported being "low." If a motion detector registers "low battery," don't arm that detector (that is, you should only use the "Home" mode and not the "Away" mode to set your system) until you can get fresh batteries into it, because of increasingly imminent false alarms! If you elect to change the nine volt batteries on your own, and you follow a policy of changing them "one by one as they register low," rather than "in a clean sweep when the first battery registers low," then put your new batteries in the Motion Detectors and Wireless Remote Keypad units, and move the partially used ones to other devices like UT's, which are generally more tolerant of partially used batteries (or move them completely out of the system to calculators, toys, stereos, etc.). To know for sure which ones are partially used, mark them promptly and carefully!
Never install a questionable battery in your security system!
AT&T Smoke Detectors (Model 8520) require Duracell alkaline batteries only (either the black and gold consumer type Duracells or the black Duracell "Procells"), because the detectors are only UL Listed when used with Duracells, and because many other batteries, particularly "The Energizer," will not fit the battery compartment properly and may warp or crack the case. You may use any reliable brand of alkaline batteries in the remainder of the system.
Warning! Read the battery labels. Some ordinary (non-alkaline) carbon batteries that you might inadvertently buy are labeled or packaged to resemble alkaline batteries. They will not do the job.
Many AT&T 8000 systems were originally supplied with lithium batteries. We have not installed any 9-volt lithium batteries in AT&T 8000 systems since 1990. In fact, our predecessor installed all of those, and we never installed a single one. Whether or not our conclusion was scientific does not matter, but we developed a feeling they were unreliable, unpredictable and at the root of many unnecessary service visits, in part because the terminals were frequently loose-fitting in the AT&T 8000 devices, and in part because we were having difficulty forecasting the remaining battery life by reading their voltage and installation dates. I knew that lithium batteries were well adapted to long term, very light current demands like memory retention, but I also knew first hand from experiments with two-way radios, that they are not able to deliver the heavier current needed by radio transmitters, even though the AT&T transmitters only send short bursts. It was also our opinion they were not as cost effective as the installers had expected. Replacing all the 9-volt system batteries in a clean sweep was rather expensive to boot. Add to those ideas the concern over their heavy metal content and its potential effect on the environment, and it was an easy decision to go exclusively alkaline. In the early 1990's, 9-volt lithium batteries virtually disappeared from the market, causing us to rely all the more on alkaline batteries. Lithium batteries have since reappeared. They may or may not have improved since then, and may also be more affordable than before, but you'll be trying them at your own risk until we have some success stories on which to depend.
Invitation to do-it-yourselfers: If you take it upon yourself to experiment with any newer types of battery, please pass your findings along to us via feedback. We are always interested in using better materials, but we have a policy not to use our subscribers as guinea pigs.
We are particularly interested in knowing if anyone is having success with the new rechargeable Nickel-Metal-Hydride 9-volt batteries that are appearing in retail outlets like Walmart, Best Buy, etc. They retail for over $7 a pop, but should last many years if the manufacturers' claims are to be believed. We would like to know:
"How long will they run the system between charges?"
"Do they create 'No Checkin' beeps more or less often than alkaline batteries?"
"Are they cost effective?"
"Do they have any special problems like leakage, terminal compatibility, etc?"
Please note: We are told that their nominal voltage is only a little over seven volts, which means they are already working close to the "low voltage" limit of most AT&T transmitters when installed.
Keep some inventory. We recommend that you always have a few new batteries on hand. Batteries are generally known to have a longer shelf life when stored in a cool place, such as a refrigerator. Do not save used batteries unless you have a digital multimeter to check all batteries the moment you install them. Incidentally, it is a good policy to test every battery the moment you install it. We occasionally find a dud in a batch of new batteries, and it is also very easy to get mixed up and reinstall an old battery, thinking it's the new one.
We don't like the strip-type testers that are built into some battery packages, because they drain far more precious power during a test than a digital multimeter would.
Rules of thumb: A reading of 9.5 volts or greater on a digital multimeter is excellent for a new alkaline battery. Anything under 9.3 volts suggests there has been some usage or loss of shelf life. I personally would not reinstall a battery in my system that reads under 8.8 volts, but hey, that's just me. Just to help you get a feel for it, we are most often called out on a battery change and system check when either the Wireless Remote Keypad or a Motion Detector have a known low battery condition. The majority of the remaining Procell batteries that we remove from the system are still performing satisfactorily, and typically fall in the range of roughly 7.8 to 8.8 volts. The batteries that we remove from Wireless Remote Keypads that registered "low battery" are usually under 7.5 volts and are frequently as low as 6.1 volts. In most of those "under 6.5 volt" cases, we are there because the system has misbehaved. Don't let your batteries get that low.
Mark every battery with the date of installation. Use a small screwdriver, scriber or other pointed instrument to scratch the install date onto the battery. If the battery label is suitable, you could use a "Sharpie" or other magic marker, instead. This practice can also save you from inadvertently reinstalling an old battery.
Forecasting battery use. Those "low battery" trouble beeps always seem to occur at an inconvenient time. You can develop a simple usage profile to estimate when particular units will need batteries again, and thereby pre-empt many of those trouble beeps. If you have a voltmeter, read the voltage on each used battery and keep a simple chart of the findings. (For greatest accuracy, we recommend a digital voltmeter. They are readily available and inexpensive.) This can also help identify transmitters that are what we call "battery eaters" (see below).
"Battery Eaters." Unless extremely heavy traffic is constantly exercising a device, you should expect to get nine months or more out of a full set of new batteries. Our definition of a battery eater is a unit that runs down its battery in less than six months. Note that the problem could actually be excessive battery drain, but also, the transmitter's voltage sensing circuit may be too touchy, so it reports batteries that are still good as being low. The only real cure for this nuisance is a replacement unit, but if the system is otherwise behaving well, and if you can put up with it, and if you are willing to take the risk that something may not work when called upon, you could get by with one of these until our next regular service visit or even indefinitely.
Disposal of old batteries. There used to be various collection points here and there for old alkaline batteries. A few years ago, the story goes, manufacturers were under pressure from the E.P.A. to get the heavy metals out of disposable batteries. (We heard around the water cooler that in the process of doing that, they accidentally improved them substantially.) We understand from our suppliers that the current generation of alkaline batteries can safely be thrown into your household trash. Accordingly, we stopped gathering them for recycling.
The lithium batteries, as their name suggests, presumably still have lithium in them. Lithium is a heavy metal, which concerns me personally, although most people don't seem to care or they just plain don't know the difference. I therefore recommend that you not dispose of them in household trash. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to identify the existence of any specific local channel for actually recycling them. Battery supply houses sell them, but they always have a blank look when asked if these really get recycled or if there is even a place to forward the used ones. Interestingly, a few years ago, I took a bucket of used alkaline batteries and a smaller box of used lithium batteries to a local hazardous waste collection drive. As I drove the lane into the midst of a thousand old paint cans and oil drums, they steered me over toward a mountain of old car batteries. "The battery guy" took the bucket of alkaline batteries and dumped it into a large barrel. Then after I pointed out that the others were lithium batteries, he picked up the box and without hesitation, dumped it straight into the barrel, too. Now, I don't know what the ultimate fate of that barrel was going to be. Perhaps it was going to be buried in an abandoned mine next to the reactor rods I dropped off the same day. Perhaps it was going to a larger contractor who would carefully sort everything out after the collection. Perhaps the guy knew that they weren't the kind of hazard I perceived them to be. But the point is that there seemed to be no distinction over what seemed to be a higher degree of hazardous material, and no separation to suggest they would be reclaimed.
The sealed lead-acid battery inside the Central Controller unit must not be thrown away with household trash. You are required to recycle it through a qualified collection point. We will dispose of them for you if we supply the new ones.
Device Cleaning. While you're at it, the individual units of the AT&T 8000 system can be wiped with a damp cloth and mild detergent. Do not immerse any parts in water! Be sure they have time to fully dry before you put them back in service. Be forewarned that some of the malfunctions we see are attributable to excessive moisture.
