About this replacement
VIMAR 14397 / 19397 / 20397 / 30397 Series — 3.7V Li-Polymer Replacement Battery (00914)
This is a 3.7V 250mAh Li-Polymer cell replacing VIMAR part 00914 in the 14397, 19397, 20397, and 30397 emergency lighting units. These fittings are mains-monitored emergency exit lights and evacuation luminaires. When the internal cell fails, the fitting either trips a fault LED or fails its duration test — this battery restores both charge and compliance function.
- 14397 / 19397 / 20397 / 30397 platform: All four model numbers share the same cell footprint, connector pinout, and charge controller float voltage. VIMAR revised the housing reference across product generations but kept the internal battery circuit identical — one cell covers the full range.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell through charge acceptance and load discharge on the 14397 charge board. The BMS accepted the cell without fault flagging, the charge controller reached float within the expected window, and the load circuit drew current cleanly through the full discharge curve.
- First-cycle commissioning on emergency fittings: Within 24 hours of installation, hold the test button for the full rated duration. This confirms the new cell accepts load under real conditions and lets the charge controller register actual cell capacity before the fitting's next scheduled compliance test.
Charge indicator staying red after new battery installation
Li-Polymer cells can leave storage with a resting voltage that sits outside the charge controller's float acceptance window — typically below 3.5V on a cell that has been stored for several months. The VIMAR charge board interprets this low entry voltage as a fault condition and holds the red indicator rather than switching to charge mode. Leave the fitting connected to mains for a full 24-hour conditioning period. Most controllers will accept the cell once it climbs above 3.6V and switch the indicator to green.
Emergency light dims partway through a duration test
A new cell that has not completed one full charge cycle will not deliver its rated 250mAh on the first activation — the usable capacity on an unconditioned cell can be 30–40% lower than rated. This causes the luminaire to dim or cut out before the required test duration is reached, triggering a compliance failure. The fix is not a faulty cell — run one full charge cycle (24 hours on mains) before conducting any duration test. A fully conditioned cell should sustain output voltage above 3.4V through the complete test period.