About this replacement
Saflock A28980 — 3.6V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (DL-48)
This is a 3.6V 2700mAh Ni-MH battery built to the DL-48 specification for the Saflock A28980 electronic door lock. It fits residential and commercial access control installations where the original cell has depleted and the lock has stopped responding or begun signalling low power. Voltage and capacity match the original pack exactly.
- A28980 compatibility: The A28980 lock draws from a single 3.6V Ni-MH cell. The DL-48 format matches the original connector, physical envelope (50.60 × 51.00 × 17.00mm), and voltage rail. Substituting a different chemistry or voltage will trip the lock's internal protection circuit.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell through the A28980 lock's power-on sequence and confirmed the BMS accepted the charge state without fault codes. Motor engagement, keypad polling, and standby draw all registered within normal parameters.
- Post-swap access verification: After fitting this battery, test every access method — keypad code, Bluetooth app, and any programmed keycards — before closing the door. The A28980 may need to complete a firmware handshake after power interruption before all credential types are accepted.
Why the A28980 stays unresponsive after a fresh battery install
Ni-MH cells supplied in long-term storage can sit at 3.2V or below. The A28980 lock requires a minimum voltage threshold before it will initialise its control board. If the cell voltage is too low on first insert, the lock draws nothing visible and appears dead. Remove the battery, charge it externally to at least 3.5V, then reinsert — the lock should complete its boot sequence within 10 seconds.
Low battery warning persists immediately after fitting the new DL-48
The A28980 reads cell voltage at the moment of insertion. A new Ni-MH battery fresh from packaging may read lower than 3.4V due to self-discharge during storage. The lock interprets anything below its threshold as a depleted cell and continues beeping. Connect the battery to a Ni-MH compatible charger, bring it to a full charge cycle, then reinstall. The warning should clear once the lock reads voltage above 3.5V on next power-on.