Eircom Phonewatch Batteries

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Squonk

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Is it possible for one's self to replace Eircom Phonewatch batteries on the sensors, or must I call in Phonewatch to do it? If the former, where can I buy such batteries? Thanks.
 
I was wondering the same myself, and one day just decided to give it a go.

I popped the cover off the sensor, which caused the alarm to go off -"tamper alarm" - whoops. I do not have the alarm covered by monitoring (in fact it's no longer even connected to the phone line) so no problems there. I ran back to the panel and put in the "off" code as normal and it silenced it.

Of course the correct way to do this is probably to put the panel in "maintenance" or "engineer" mode or some such. I do not have that code, and since I have no contract with Eircom, I seriously doubt they will give it to me.

The battery inside the sensor was a regular 3 volt camera battery, widely available, although prices vary from one or two euro to ten euro or more! The code on my one was CR123A - I have a photo of the sensor with battery in place if you would like to see. You can get these batteries in a camera shop, or B&Q, or online (e.g. eBay)

I put in the new battery and replaced the cover. In my case, this didn't fix the issue, I think the sensor itself is probably broken (it keeps going off with SENSOR ALARM MEMORY alerts). But if you know your battery is failing, perhaps the above is of some help. Might be worth a try before you pay 100 euro plus for an Eircom callout.
 
Thanks for that Hazard. I had got as far as popping the lid of the sensor to see the battery. Yes, the alarm did go off but I deactivated it at the panel. I haven't physically removed the battery just yet in case there's something I was missing...hence the post on AAM! I think I'll buy a new battery tonight in B&Q and give it a shot. It would be crazy for me (or anyone) to be calling Eircom everytime a battery went low.
 
Incidentally, how do you know the battery is low? Does the panel specifically report "sensor battery low" or something?

Good luck.
 
hazard said:
Incidentally, how do you know the battery is low? Does the panel specifically report "sensor battery low" or something?

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Exactly...the panel speaks to me and tells me which sensor has a low battery
 
We don't have a contract with Eircom P.W. but I got the engineer code from them recently because we moved to a house with a wired E.P.W. system in it and I wanted to change the alarm code so maybe ring them and say that you want to change your code and you might get it that way? No way, would I pay Eircom P.W. the prices they're charging. As it's a Secure watch system I got a crowd called Direct Secure in Lucan to come out and check the system for us, a lot cheaper than Eircom plus I made it very handy for them as I had the engineer code.
 
HAd to get Eircom phonewatch engineer out before xmas as the alarm was acting up and we didnt have a monitor contract, he told me that the batteries in the system are only available from them and no substitutes would work. In fact he said they were a rip off and would need replacing every 3-4 yrs, cost 45euro each i think..
 
Wow.

I think I have 12 sensors... that's a whopping 540 euro (plus 100 at least for callout) for a full set. Nice profit there.

Packet of 12 Panasonic CR123A batteries from eBay - 15 euro including shipping.


Let's see how Squonk gets on.
 
The batteries used in my Phonewatch system are " SAFT Lithium 3.6V LS14250C". These are small batteries the diameter of AA but half the length. I can't seem to find these anywhere. The closest I've seen has been CR2 3V Lithium batteries which are used for cameras (~€14 for two). My concern with these is that the phonewatch sensors might not operate with 3V rather than 3.6V. Any thoughts?
 
Google throws up loads of results. Plenty available on EBay, or this UK . Seems they are used as backup batteries in Macs, so should be easy to come by.
Leo
 
They are on radionics.ie too... if you search for "saft"...

(I have never ordered anything from them but at least they seem to be available for reasonable money)
 
Just an update: I got the batteries from the site recommended by Leo (http://www.cellpacksolutions.com). I got the batteries delivered in a week (You'll need to email them to say your in Ireland as they usually only deal with UK customers). They cost ~GBP£4 each. Changing the battery on the sensors was simple but you'll need to be ready to deactivate the alarm system as it will go off as you 'tamper' with the sensor. Thanks everyone for your help....this is definately better than paying Phonewatch a fortune for the batteries and the service call.
 
Does anyone know where I can get these in Dublin? I am waiting on them to come from batterycity (which is in Denmark btw, despite having a .ie address) and am going away tomorrow for the weekend, so would like to have my alarm working.
Thanks
 
Bumping this post to see if anyone has any idea where I could get the battery back up for inside the system itself, it is less than a year since we last replaced and we cancelled monitoring since? It is a lead acid battery 6V 3.8Ah, produced by GE?
Appreciate any help,desperately trying to avoid paying e phonewatch.
 
Mammyto2 said:
Bumping this post to see if anyone has any idea where I could get the battery back up for inside the system itself, it is less than a year since we last replaced and we cancelled monitoring since? It is a lead acid battery 6V 3.8Ah, produced by GE?
Appreciate any help,desperately trying to avoid paying e phonewatch.
Click to expand...

They are pretty easy to find, and alarm suppliers will stock them, as do [broken link removed].
Leo
 
Mammyto2 said:
Bumping this post to see if anyone has any idea where I could get the battery back up for inside the system itself, it is less than a year since we last replaced and we cancelled monitoring since? It is a lead acid battery 6V 3.8Ah, produced by GE?
Appreciate any help,desperately trying to avoid paying e phonewatch.
Click to expand...

The system would only go on battery when the mains power is out. Don't see why you would need a new backup battery after just 1 year - sounds like an underlying problem (or a faulty battery of course...).
 
thanks Leo...contacted GE direct and they got me contacts but most only want to deal with trade, they wanted to know what it was for and gave precautions about doing it yourself in the end they agreed to order one from GE from me but very reluctantly so lets see if they do... Maplins dont do the exact one but I found a few suppliers on line so going to send off for one, dimensions of battery a couple of mm off but think it will fit,
dragon..think your right there, we have the system 7 years and every couple of years battery has had to be replaced, we asked for it to be reviewed and they replaced all the baterries and tightened screws etc now cancelled monitoring and low and behold!
 
Mammyto2 said:
Bumping this post to see if anyone has any idea where I could get the battery back up for inside the system itself, it is less than a year since we last replaced and we cancelled monitoring since? It is a lead acid battery 6V 3.8Ah, produced by GE?
Appreciate any help,desperately trying to avoid paying e phonewatch.
Click to expand...

This is a common problem with the alarm you have installed.The simon alarm system you have needs to be put into walk test to remove the low battery fault you have. Alot of people just end up getting them to replace the battery but 9 times out of 10 this will solve your problem. Hopefully This is all you need to do the next time it happens.
 
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