Code 1368: Control Low Volt Shutdown

[MrGibbage]

(Also posted at the Elk Website)

I came home today and found my back door open and none of my keypads powered up (thankfully it wasn't a burglar). After troubleshooting and reviewing the logs, it would appear that we did not fully close the back door and it must have blown open while we were gone. The alarm did sound, and one minute after the alarm sounded, I got a code 1139, Control Low Battery Trouble. A minute after that, I got the code 1368 and the control shutdown. Even more strange was when I looked at the control, the power light was lighted, but the status light was not blinking. The control does have an electric connection and I have never had this problem before. The control and batter are about a year and a half old (it's the 8Ah battery). Does all this sound "normal"? Sure, the sirens sounding would use more voltage, but not off the battery. And there was an electric connection the whole time, so why would it shut down on the code 1368?

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[Spanky]

Several things could be at issue:

1. The battery is weak, possibly from drawing too much constant current from the system. Disconnect the battery and measure the voltage at the battery terminals coming from the M1. It should be 13.7 to 13.9 volts. If the voltage is less than 13.7 volts, the battery may not be getting a full charge and is slowly being depleated of its strength. It is probably good enough to pass the dynamic battery test each day, but not good enough to run a heavily loaded siren under alarm.

The system probably reached the low battery cutoff point and shut down.

2. Check to make sure you have full AC voltage at the transformer input terminals. If the transformer was overloaded, the PTC fuse could be activated and it has not reset yet due to system current drain. Disconnect the transformer or turn off the M1 and let it cool down to reset the PTC fuse in the transformer. You can still get an AC light on the M1 with the PTC fuse activated.