About this replacement
AEM ARDENT Alarm Panel — 7.2V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (GP170AAH6SMXZ)
This 7.2V 1500mAh Ni-MH cell is the backup power battery for the AEM ARDENT intruder alarm panel. It keeps the panel live during mains failures, maintaining zone monitoring and event logging until power is restored. Replaces OEM part numbers GP170AAH6SMXZ and GP60AAS6SMX.
- ARDENT panel compatibility: The ARDENT panel uses a tightly specified 7.2V Ni-MH pack with a six-cell series configuration. The BMS handshake checks cell count and voltage signature at initialisation — a mismatched pack will trigger a battery fault on the keypad within minutes of installation.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell through a full charge cycle on the ARDENT panel, monitoring float voltage and BMS acceptance. The panel cleared its battery fault flag after the float charge settled, confirming correct recognition.
- Post-installation conditioning: Do not run a zone or siren test immediately after swapping this cell. The ARDENT panel needs 24–48 hours on float charge before its battery status register updates accurately — triggering a test before that window closes will produce a false low-battery report on the keypad.
Alarm panel showing low battery hours after installing new cell
Ni-MH cells arrive partially discharged from storage. The ARDENT panel's battery monitoring circuit reads terminal voltage, not state of charge directly — a resting cell at 7.0V will register as low even if the cell is healthy. The panel needs to float-charge the new pack to its full 8.4–8.6V float voltage before the low-battery flag clears. Leave the panel powered on mains for at least 48 hours after installation before treating any low-battery alert as a fault.
Alarm losing programming during a power outage after battery swap
If the panel drops its programming when mains power fails, the backup battery is not yet supplying current — the BMS has not finished accepting the new cell. This typically happens when the battery is swapped and mains power is cut within the first 24 hours. The cell must reach a stable float state before the panel's switchover relay hands load to the battery. Restore mains power, allow a full 48-hour float charge, then test by cutting mains power briefly — the panel should hold its configuration without resetting.