How to Properly Test Fire Alarm Batteries

In this video I show how to load test fire panel batteries. This particular panel is a Notifier NFS2-640 which had its batteries fail the past two years. The charger had not been turned on in the program after the panel was replaced so the batteries just sat there without a charge. It’s important to test the charging voltage, the voltage without the charging circuit, and load test them. As in this case, the panel saw the battery amperage as normal probably because there had not been any considerable power outages. I forgot to do it here, but I also like to check the voltage of both batteries in series after the load test. This way you know if they’re maintaining the proper voltage during the load test. Always make sure you disconnect the batteries from the panel BEFORE you load test!