Emergency Lights

[k0ua]

These are the batteries that I found. I have not seen this type of battery used for anything other than emergency lights.
6-Volt-Lead-Calcium-Battery

Lead Calcium grid plated batteries are often used as PBX backup for long life. They typically cost more than a regular lead acid gel cell, but typically last for several years. In the case of the flooded wet cells used in PBX service they can last up to 20 years if not run all the way down too many times. I have never seen them in this form before.

 

[Gem99ultra]

These are the batteries that I found. I have not seen this type of battery used for anything other than emergency lights.
6-Volt-Lead-Calcium-Battery

Good lead Mendonsy - $18.xx from Home Depot, $32 from Amazon. Interesting?
Only problem, they're physically too large for my fixture. I'll need a 4" x 2 3/4" x 5" max. May have to buy another fixture, with battery, after all...

 

[RNeumann]

I don't know if I would seek out AGM. Lead acid would work fine. I would pull one down and bench test it. Figure out what it is doing with regards to charging etc before I purchased batteries.

 

[aczlan]

Good lead Mendonsy - $18.xx from Home Depot, $32 from Amazon. Interesting?
Only problem, they're physically too large for my fixture. I'll need a 4" x 2 3/4" x 5" max. May have to buy another fixture, with battery, after all...

You can get a whole new fixture made by Lithonia Lighting for $25, stop messing around with these and just replace the whole fixture: Lithonia Lighting EU2 LED M12 Emergency LED lighting Unit - Ceiling Pendant Fixtures - Amazon.com
The time you will spend troubleshooting is probably about the same as going through and replacing the old fixtures...

Aaron Z

 

[k0ua]

You can get a whole new fixture made by Lithonia Lighting for $25, stop messing around with these and just replace the whole fixture: Lithonia Lighting EU2 LED M12 Emergency LED lighting Unit - Ceiling Pendant Fixtures - Amazon.com
The time you will spend troubleshooting is probably about the same as going through and replacing the old fixtures...

Aaron Z

I am thinking this is good advice at this point.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I used to replace untold hundreds of these things. If the batteries were unconventional or any other issue, we would just replace the whole unit.

Traditionally, most had gelled lead or flooded batteries.

Most junky little consumer E-Lights are just Nicad powered with all the issues associated with a Nicad. So no, they never work!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Thanks k0ua for your condolences. I'm not so much worried about fixing the ones I have as to finding one that someone has purchased and works. For $20 each, they're hardly worth worrying about too much except that when I need them to work, they do work. So far the ones I've bought in the past have been disappointing, leaving us in the dark when we needed them to shine.

What I do know is that I do have 120 volts coming in to the units and 8.6v on the battery, fully charged. The units are keeping the batteries charged but no allowing the batteries to keep the lights on more than a few minutes at best. Must be some weak condensers in them, or something mystical as such. Hopefully someone has bought some that work as advertised. If so, I'm hoping they can give me the brand and/or model number.

Look into commercial em's that cost more like $50 a piece with real batteries. They can last up to 10 years.

 

[Gem99ultra]

You can get a whole new fixture made by Lithonia Lighting for $25, stop messing around with these and just replace the whole fixture: Lithonia Lighting EU2 LED M12 Emergency LED lighting Unit - Ceiling Pendant Fixtures - Amazon.com
The time you will spend troubleshooting is probably about the same as going through and replacing the old fixtures...

Aaron Z

That 'would' have been good advice except that replacing fixtures is much more work than just replacing batteries; some are 12' ceilings all hard-wired. So, at this point I've ordered a set of 6AH batteries and will give the current fixtures one more go. This is the second set of Lithonia fixtures that I've installed. If these even act like the might not hold up, I'll go with the Lithonia LEDS like you mentioned. Having emergency lights is an absolute requirement.

Thanks for all of the investigations and suggestions.

 

[Gem99ultra]

That 'would' have been good advice except that replacing fixtures is much more work than just replacing batteries; some are 12' ceilings all hard-wired. So, at this point I've ordered a set of 6AH batteries and will give the current fixtures one more go. This is the second set of Lithonia fixtures that I've installed. If these even act like the might not hold up, I'll go with the Lithonia LEDS like you mentioned. Having emergency lights is an absolute requirement.

Thanks for all of the investigations and suggestions.

As another note on the 6v, 6ah batteries, I did receive new batteries yesterday and installed them. The voltage as received was 9.2 volts! Very strange being that high to me but that what they read on my Greenlee volt/ohm meter. And the meter seems to be reading correctly on all other checks.

 

[k0ua]

As another note on the 6v, 6ah batteries, I did receive new batteries yesterday and installed them. The voltage as received was 9.2 volts! Very strange being that high to me but that what they read on my Greenlee volt/ohm meter. And the meter seems to be reading correctly on all other checks.

Mmmmm... That meter on that range is very very suspect. Lead acid batteries are 6.3 to 6.4 volts at rest 2.1 volts per cell is set in stone...You can't change chemistry.. That is why I have several meters 2 analog and 3 digital. Trust but verify!

 

[Mendonsy]

That 9.2 volt reading sounds high so your charging circuit could be damaging the batteries. Some charging circuits do not have good regulation which will produce higher voltage when there is no load (battery fully charged).
Some of the "battery maintainer" type chargers have an AC signal riding on top of the DC voltage which many digital meters will misinterpret as higher DC voltage. You can usually detect this by switching the meter to an AC voltage scale.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Mmmmm... That meter on that range is very very suspect. Lead acid batteries are 6.3 to 6.4 volts at rest 2.1 volts per cell is set in stone...You can't change chemistry.. That is why I have several meters 2 analog and 3 digital. Trust but verify!

Dead on correct k0ua! Meter was reading 25% high on all ranges. Low battery. Old batteries now read under 6v. Thanks for the tip.

 

[k0ua]

Dead on correct k0ua! Meter was reading 25% high on all ranges. Low battery. Old batteries now read under 6v. Thanks for the tip.

Aha!... man it really sucks when your test equipment is not working right. It can really throw your troubleshooting for a loop..

 

[EddieWalker]

Instead of relying on an emergency light when the power goes off, I use my Makita LED flashlight with an 18 volt battery from my cordless tools. I've put it on the counter and left it on for 6 hours while we sat around playing cards. I have no idea how long it will last, but that was the longest I ever tried. I have several batteries always charge in my truck, and the amount of light that flashlight gives off is amazing.