Last night we were watching TV and all of a sudden we heard a strange beeping sound coming from somewhere in our house. My first thought was that perhaps we were being poisoned by carbon monoxide since we had just started up our fireplace for the first time in a while. It turned out to be our alarm system, which had a low battery. It uses a large 12 volt, 4 amp hour sealed lead acid (SLA) battery for backup for AC power. I looked for it online and had a little bit of trouble locating the exact battery that we have (a “Rocket ES4-12” from Global & Yuasa), but eventually found one that seems to be compatible, with a slightly different model number, a Yuasa NP4-12. I just ordered it.
Fry’s (at least in Campbell) has ’em on the shelf.
Interesting. I didn’t even think of checking Fry’s. I guess my first instinct these days is usually to go online.
Yeah, me too. I just happen to know they stock ’em. It could have something to do with the fact that I have one of those, 2 1.2Ah, 1 7Ah, 3 12Ah, and 1 18Ah all sitting on my “charging shelf” right now. 🙂
With batteries, it’s sometimes cheaper not to ship ’em unless you’re an Amazon Prime member or whatnot.
I used to work for a UPS manufacturer and it’s more of a CYA thing for the manufacturers. If they put this on the manual, their lawyers are happy. Even though they know that 99.9% people could do it themselves. What’s really funny is that the connectors on the batteries are called “Faston’s” (fast on), and you’re not exagerating when you say 10 seconds, and that probably includes snapping the cover back on!
Let me know when you need another battery and I’ll hook you up with an extended runtime battery for a good price. I’m in the battery industry now – http://www.replacementupsbattery.com. The name implies “UPS” batteries, but these batteries are used for everything, including alarms.
Note: Be careful on buying batteries from Fry’s. By the time these batteries get in to your hands, their shelf life is probably used up (china factory to retail shelf) and they have already had the effects of permanent damage from not being charged. SLA’s have a 4-6 month shelf life without being charged.
Sorry for being long winded, but I live – eat – and breath SLA batteries.
Thank you for the battery info. I had the exact beeping and ADT Security wanted to charge me $149 to change the battery. Went to ACE and Home Depot and they did not have any similar batteries. I just ordered the es4-12 from Pacific Battery.