Had a DSC alarm panel completely freeze up on me this morning in an apartment building in Columbus

Got a call from a property manager saying their system wasn't arming. I got there and the DSC PC1864 panel was totally locked up, nothing on the keypad. Had to power cycle it three times before it came back, and then I noticed the backup battery was bulging and leaking. Anyone else run into this with these panels after about 5 years of service?

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veraw471mo ago

Man, that bulging battery is a classic sign. Those DSC panels are usually solid but around the 5 year mark the backup batteries start swelling up like crazy, especially in apartment buildings where the temp control is hit or miss. Had a similar issue last year in a complex near me, the panel was rebooting every time someone tried to arm it and it turned out the battery had leaked all over the board. Took me forever to clean that mess up without messing up the connections. Did you end up replacing just the battery or did the leak get onto the main board too?