Is this issue still occurring? My first thought is to power it down, disconnect the battery for a min, reconnect it, and then plug the transformer back in.
The manual says to use a 5Ah battery whereas you have a 9Ah but I don’t think that is a problem. We can double check with Qolsys on Monday.
I tried what you suggested, but it did not seem to help. Once every hour (corresponding to the initial start up time) I get a sequence of either “Low Battery”, or alternating “Low Battery”/“End of Low Battery”, or “End of Low Battery” notifications, lasting about 5 minutes and with 15 -25 notifications per minute.
As for the incorrect battery specifications, I thought about it myself, but now I am not so sure, after reading on another website that up to 8Ah, and maybe even up to 12Ah, should be acceptable: https://www.alarmgrid.com/products/qolsys-qs7134-840
Please let me know what you find out
The link on AlarmGrid says:
The battery should be either 12VDC 5Ah Min or 12VDC 8Ah Max.
I don’t see anything that says maybe even up to 12Ah. The product manual says:
12VDC 5AH Max
I’m not clear on why the amp-hours would matter since that’s the storage capacity but I’m no battery expert. I’ll check with Qolsys when they’re open tomorrow and follow up here.
The reference to 12Vdc/12Ah battery was in an AlarmGrid video for the IQ Panel 2 Plus I can no longer find. They have a ton of them (very nice, but not so well indexed) and it is easy to loose them 
I can only think that a larger battery would take the charge rather slowly and so the voltage would change so slowly that the sensor inside the 16-F would get fooled somehow. But I may well be wrong. Please check with them and let me know. It would be good for all users to be aware of any limitations, with their reasons, so we can make better planning decisions.
I discussed it with Qolsys. They agree that more amp-hours doesn’t seem like it should cause a problem. But since they have only tested with 12V 5Ah batteries they say to stick with what they’ve tested and what’s in the manual. Are you able to easily get a 5Ah battery? I can’t guarantee that will solve the problem but it would be the best next step given what we know.
Just to cover all bases, you are connecting the battery before you plug in the transformer, right? It’s important to do it in that order.
I will have to find a 5Ah battery, possibly not so easy as most batteries for alarm systems are bigger.
Yes, I do connect the battery before plugging in the power module, as recommended.
My take is Qolsys did not design sufficient hysteresis in their voltage monitoring circuit for the charger. A smaller battery’s voltage may pass through the voltage threshold faster and not trigger all those notifications.
Thanks for following up with Qolsys.
On second thought, instead of me having to buy another battery that may not solve the problem at all, maybe we should ask Qolsys to do the testing with a larger battery. It is probably a lot easier for them to experiment with different size batteries, and they have knowledge about how their product should react in the various situations and can discern whether it is a compatibility issue or a defective Hardwire 16-F.
It would also make sense for them to clarify to their customers and dealers what size battery can really be supported, especially considering some of their re-sellers (see AlarmGrid) are already claiming that larger backup batteries are fine.
I agree. That’s what should happen. I’m also realistic and I want you to get your system working properly.
We’ll send you a 12V 5Ah backup battery if you’ll try it to see if it resolves the issue and reply here to let us know. They’re pretty low cost and we have them so it seems like a win-win. Whether it works or not, you’ll get a free 12V 5Ah battery. Deal?
Yes, of course. Thanks you for providing really good customer service.
Once I receive it and install it, I will let you know the results here.
Once the battery has been processed for shipment, customer service will reach out to you via email with tracking.
I received this morning your 5AH battery. At 11:07 AM, I completely powered down the Hardwire 16-F, connected the new battery and plugged the 16-F’s power module back in the wall outlet, in this order.
At 12:07 PM I started getting a rapid-fire sequence of “End of Low Battery” (EoLB) notifications from the “Hardwire Translator” and it continued until 12:12 PM, at about 8 -13 notifications per minute.
At 1:07 PM, the same EoLB sequence, until 1:13 PM.
At 2:08 PM, the same EoLB sequence, until 2:13 PM.
At 3:09 PM, the EoLB sequence, until 3:13 PM, then one minute of alternating “Low Battery” (LB) and EoLB notifications.
At 4:09 PM, the EoLB sequence until 4:14 PM, then one minute of alternating “Low Battery” (LB) and EoLB notifications.
For completeness, I measured the following voltages with a multi-meter, after the last sequence ended:
At the battery terminals: 13.01 Vdc
At the power input terminals (screw strip): 15.98 Vdc
At this point, it seems to me the new battery has not changed the situation, as I continue seeing these notifications, about once every hour, for about 5 minutes.
I question whether this is the correct operation of the 16-F, now with the recommended battery.
Therefore, I would like to ask you to review again these results with Qolsys better technical support and determine with them whether this situation is normal or it may be a symptom of a defective Hardwire 16-F. (However, except for this battery charging and monitoring issue, everything else appears to me to operate as expected). Please let me know the outcome and your follow up decisions.
Sure, we’ll get you an update ASAP or let you know if we need to replace it.
Sorry for no update today. This is an unusual problem. If we can’t get it figured out by Monday morning I we’ll probably just replace it but I’d really like to understand what’s happening as I imagine you do too.
Something I’m finding odd. I don’t see any low battery events in your system history or any record of those notifications being sent. Working with Alarm.com on that one.
I assume it’s wired properly since you said it’s working. But since we’re running out of troubleshooting options, can you upload a detail pic of the 16F so we can see how it’s wired?
I am attaching four pictures, hoping they will help.
I have the older version of the hardwire 16, but looks like your tamper jumper is still connected?
Hi @Giovanni_L
I got a super helpful and promising tip from Qolsys! Hopefully this resolves the issue.
The 319.5 MHz wireless sensor protocol is, of course, designed for battery powered wireless sensors. It wasn’t designed for devices like the Hardwire 16F that have wall power. There is only 1 bit in the communication protocol that’s related to power, the “low battery” bit. So the Hardwire 16F uses the low battery bit to signal either low battery or loss of wall power.
Since we’ve tried 2 batteries and one of them was exactly to the 5Ah spec, the problem is more likely caused by the wall power supply. From your pics, I see that you have the wall power transformer outside the box and connected via the wire labeled Power #2. How long is that wire? We need to troubleshoot that wire and any connections between the transformer and the Hardwire 16F.
First, can you try powering the 16F just using the transformer and wire that came with it? Let’s temporarily remove the wire in the wall from the equation. Use an extension cord to get AC power close to the 16F if needed.
Potential issues could be:
Let us know what you find. I hope this helps!
I am afraid this is not the cause of my problem:
I am using the original power adapter/cable and just soldered to it an extension of ~ 30’ wire (18, or 16, AWG) that goes through the wall and to the 16F (it is the same wire that powered the old security system panel, which was drawing far more than the 16F). The soldered splice is protected by heat-shrunk tubing.
This was considered acceptable by Qolsys, per previous chat. My question: Should I not be able to install the IQ Hardwire 16-F near an AC outlet, would a cable run (from its power adapter to the unit itself) of about 36 feet be acceptable and what wire gauge would be required? Answer by Kyle Ottesen: We recommend using 22/4 gauge wire up to 100 feet doubling up the wire, but 36 feet shouldn’t give you any issues pertaining power.
Also, I tested the wire/power adapter end-to-end, before connecting it to the 16F, with a load at 700 mA at the end opposite the power adapter, and was measuring a constant 15.98 Vdc at the load (just as I measure now, with the 16F connected).
To actually bypass the in-wall portion of the wire and go directly from the power adapter to the 16F would require some rework at this point. Based on the above reasons, I don’t think it would be worth my effort. However, if you really want me to, I will do it, but I am afraid it is going to be another futile attempt.
Is that really the best suggestion that Qolsys tech support can come up with?
Have they been in touch with whomever is most familiar with their hardware/firmware design for the new 16F?
I am sorry to push back a bit, but I am a degreed Electrical Engineer (albeit retired, and I hope I will not end up embarrassing myself by saying this 
) and don’t feel this issue is being addressed with sufficient data analysis by Qolsys.
Just a bit more info, for what is worth.
I was able to catch the 16F while it was sending out its very long sequence (about 5 minutes) of LB-EoLB notifications and measured the voltages:
A few minutes after the sequence stopped, the same voltages were 15.97 Vdc steady and 12.98 Vdc steady, respectively.
It is still connected, as it should be in normal operation. You temporarily open it when the Hardwire 16-F needs to be registered at the IQ Panel 2 +, or for connection to a tamper switch (which I don’t have).
Here is another odd fact I just noticed: after a while (could be an hour or two, I am not sure), all Low Battery notifications disappear from the Status/History list in the Panel 2 Plus, but the End of Low Battery notifications remain in the list until the display buffer gets full and rolls over.
Is this intended by Panel 2 Plus design?
