I purchased five PowerG PG9936 units in 2021. Recently, they started beeping, and I received low battery emails.
For the first unit, I replaced the batteries with Amazon-branded ones, and it has been working fine. During the replacement, I noticed that the unit itself recommends using Energizer E92 batteries. So, for the remaining units, I bought and installed new Energizer E92 batteries.
However, after just a few days, two of them started beeping again, and for one of them, I received another low battery email.
Does anyone know why this might be happening with fresh batteries?
Also, it could be super useful to get the emails about low batteries 10 hours before it beeps. It tends to beep in the middle of the night.
A common potential issue that can occur when replacing batteries is actually replacing them too quickly.
Some sensors require about 60 seconds or so to allow the sensor to detect the new power level upon adding new batteries.
For any detectors where you replaced the batteries but are reporting low again, take the batteries out and leave them out for 2 minutes, then pop them back in, minding polarity.
Does that resolve the low battery?
You can enable or edit nighttime mode settings on the panel under Photo Frame Settings section, which lets you control whether the display, voices, and or chimes/beeps play at night, as well as define the hours of nighttime mode.
I’ve set it up to disable the chimes at night. I also removed the batteries for a few minutes before putting them back in. Now, I’ll have to wait a few days to see if it works. Last time, it took about five days before it started beeping again after a battery replacement.
If you’ve left the batteries out for 2 minutes and the low battery alert occurs again, there is possibly an issue with the batteries. Try a different set to be sure in that case.
Unfortunately, it woke me up again at 5:30 AM, even though I set it up as described above. Please see the attached screenshot—does it look correctly configured?
At 5:30 AM, it started beeping, but there was no email notification or any activity logged in Alarm.com regarding a low battery. So, I’m not sure why it beeped.
The same thing happened last time - two sensors beeped (in gap of days), but I only received a low battery email for one of them. Any idea what might be causing this?
There are no low battery conditions currently for any of your sensors, however I do see a Smoke Detector tamper trouble condition for the one labeled Smoke Detector Living Room.
A fire device trouble signal will beep until the underlying condition is resolved.
Check to make sure that sensor is securely attached to the backplate and that its mounting plate is flat, sometimes a smoke detector mount can be bowed a little on a textured ceiling for example and might make it harder to twist the detector on.
If it is firmly attached but still throwing a tamper, double check those batteries and the polarity of them. Make sure you replaced all of the batteries in it at the same time for any sensors that take multiple. A tamper that doesn’t resolve after changing battery may indicate the device just hasn’t powered back up and communicated with the panel again yet.
I apologize for not clarifying this earlier. When I woke up at 5:30 AM, I grabbed both sensors to avoid waking anyone up and moved them to the other side of the house. The sensors were “Smoke Detector Living Room” and “Smoke Detector Office.” However, the “Office” sensor was the one that actually beeped, while the “Living Room” sensor was fine.
I assume that because I removed a functioning sensor, it triggered a tamper alert. I’ve now put it back, and the “tamper” message is gone.
So, the issue is specifically with the “Office” sensor. It didn’t send any email notification, and Alarm.com doesn’t show any related activity or issues. I verified that the polarity was correct, and the batteries were brand new. I also replaced all of them at the same time after waiting a few minutes.
Additionally, when I check the “Devices” page on Alarm.com, the “Smoke Detector Office” status shows as “OK,” even though it currently has no batteries.
How can I determine the actual issue and why it beeped?
The beeping pattern was identical to a low battery warning—one beep approximately every 40 seconds. However, there was no notification or warning indicating a low battery.
How can I determine the actual issue and why it beeped?
The beeping pattern was identical to a low battery warning—one beep approximately every 40 seconds. However, there was no notification or warning indicating a low battery.
Ah, I see thank you for the description. The detector will beep every 48 seconds when a trouble condition is present on it, but this can indicate one of a few things. To identify the issue watch the LED on the detector.
If the yellow LED flash occurs every 4 seconds, that indicates an internal fault and in general the device should be replaced.
If the LED flashes every 8 seconds, that indicates the detector is dirty and needs cleaned, see the manual linked below for instructions.
If the LED flashes every 12 seconds, that indicates a low battery.
Yesterday, I put the batteries back in, and everything seemed fine—the green LED flashed every 60 seconds, and there were no beeps.
However, tonight it woke me up again at 12:45 AM. The beep occurred approximately every 48 seconds, and the LED flashed yellow at the exact moment of the beep. I checked the manual, but I couldn’t find any mention of this pattern. As you noted, there are intervals of 4, 8, and 12 seconds, but nothing about a yellow LED flashing every 48 seconds.
Once again, there were no low battery notifications.
That is very odd. There is no matching behavior which explains beeping and flashing the way you have described.
If the PG9936 is beeping and flashing at an interval not covered in instructions I would recommend replacement. Just to be sure, did you power it off again? I see an offline malfunction for it at the moment but that came in later than the time you mentioned having the issue, and I am guessing it was powered off so that would be normal.
I took out one battery at 12:45 AM, and by 4:55 AM, I received an email stating that it was offline. It seems that with two out of three batteries, it can still somehow connect to the panel, but I’m not entirely sure.
In any case, I assume that after three years, it’s no longer under warranty, so I’ll likely need to purchase a new one.
I took out one battery at 12:45 AM, and by 4:55 AM, I received an email stating that it was offline. It seems that with two out of three batteries, it can still somehow connect to the panel, but I’m not entirely sure.
Just to clarify, offline is not a status the sensor sends.
Offline means that the panel has not received the supervision signals from the sensor that it expects recently based on the supervision interval. The status is inferred and means that there appears to be signaling trouble. If the sensor is powered off it would be expected to see an Offline status later after the next supervision interval.
The Loss of Supervisory Signals for Emergency Sensors setting should be 4 hours by default on Qolsys panels.
Removing a battery would not allow the sensor to power on.
In any case, I assume that after three years, it’s no longer under warranty, so I’ll likely need to purchase a new one.
Yes, unfortunately warranty would have expired on that one.
I just got another smoke detector in the guest room that started beeping. The LED flashes yellow every 12 seconds, so I assume it’s a low battery issue. However, this time, I didn’t receive an email notification a few hours before the beep, like I did previously.
What’s interesting is that I replaced the batteries in this detector just a few weeks ago using the same new Energizer E92 batteries recommended on the sensor. Meanwhile, the first sensor I replaced (master bedroom) had Amazon-brand batteries, and I haven’t had any issues with that one.
I’m wondering if this particular pack of Energizer E92 batteries is faulty or just doesn’t work well with this detector. I’ll try swapping them with the Amazon ones to see if it makes a difference.
My only concern is the warning on the sensor:
Use only batteries specified in marking. Use of a different battery will have a detrimental effect on smoke heat alarm operation.
Do you think this is something I should be worried about?
What is the expiration date on those E92 batteries? It’s possible that pack was old or just had bad/dead batteries.
It is best to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines, though I think that is mostly to ensure a quality battery is used. In this case using a different AAA battery with the same spec as the E92 should be fine to test if those particular batteries are bad.
My PG9936 also specifies Duracell Procell AAA as a replacement model. Not that there should be a difference between E92 and it, but its another option to try if those E92s are bad.
The expiration date is 12-2034, so that’s not the issue. I tested them with a multimeter, and they show 1.5V. I also tried them in other device, and they worked fine.
In the end, I just used Amazon-branded batteries, and so far, no issues.
I also noticed the device recommends Duracell Procell AAA as a replacement model. When these eventually run out, I’ll likely go with Duracell.
