IQ Panel Bricked

IQ Panel purchased 4 years ago from Surety. Worked flawlessly during that time. Last night during perfect weather and no storms the buttons turned red and it won’t respond. I emailed customer service and went through the troubleshooting steps. Disconnected power, unplugged battery, waited several minutes, plugged battery back in then power. It is still bricked. Is there a manufacturer warranty on this thing? This panel was not cheap. Thanks in advance for any help.

Happy to help! It does sound fairly terminal based on the description. We’ve heard of a couple reports of similar behavior but there has never been a definitive cause. Does the screen turn on at all?

Do you have a multimeter that you could use to test the power supply output at the panel to make sure it is the requisite voltage? Insufficient power may cause similar issues.

Were you on the last available firmware, 1.6.3?

Manufacturer’s warranty is 1 year from purchase on the IQ Panel.

Note the IQ Panel is discontinued and has been replaced by the IQ Panel 2 (and Panel 2+).

I had it set to auto update so I’m sure it was the latest software. The screen tries to come on and is still a blank screen just a little brighter than completely dark, and then it goes back to black again. The buttons remain red. It does this every minute or so. I do not know how to use a multi-meter.

Multimeters can be found pretty cheap and they are a great tool to have around to test electronics and low voltage supplies.

Most multimeters will be fairly self explanatory in terms of using the dial, but they will come with instructions and you would just select to measure DC voltage, then test with the two lead prongs between the + and - terminals on the power supply wire (easiest to typically press the pointed leads on the tightening screws for the terminals in the IQ Panel.)

What voltage is showing?

Also, check the battery inside the panel, is it swollen at all?

The screen tries to come on and is still a blank screen just a little brighter than completely dark, and then it goes back to black again.

This sounds like it is just failing to boot, which likely signifies internal hardware failure. This would unfortunately necessitate a new panel if that is the case.

Yes the battery was swollen pretty bad when this first happened. I had a brand new replacement battery on hand and replaced the swollen battery before going through the other troubleshooting steps. So it currently has a new battery. I went and bought a multi-meter and measured the voltage at 12.08.

What does this tell you. Thanks for your help.

Are you there? I measured the voltage at 12.08. Thanks.

Looking back through other reports for patterns or other troubleshooting options, unfortunately I think that is the extent of what is possible now.

12.08 VDC confirms that the issue is not voltage loss/underpowering the panel. With proper power, a boot-up failure suggests internal hardware failure on the panel.

Out of curiosity did the battery leak at all inside the housing or was it just pillowed out?

It was just pillowed out. No leakage.
Can I send the panel in for repair? Less than 4 years before a panel just bricks for no reason sure does leave a poor taste in a customer’s mouth. If it cannot be repaired, will Qolsys work with me on a decent price for a new panel? I’m sure Surety customers would like to know they will get more than 4 years out of a panel before it is totally useless. These things are expensive. Thanks for your help.

I mean, you mentioned there were others that bricked just like mine. So it’s a known issue. I would hope Qolsys would want to take care of their original customers like me who were willing to give a new company a chance with a new product from the beginning. I do sincerely thank you for your help.

Can I send the panel in for repair?

We have reached out to Qolsys to see what next steps or repair, if any, can be done in this instance. Will follow up here with more information.

will Qolsys work with me on a decent price for a new panel?

The Qolsys Gen 1 panel has been discontinued, the current model is the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 +.

Currently, we offer the Qolsys IQ Panel 2+ that includes six months of the Surety Home plan with monitoring at no additional charge if purchased through the previous link.

Thanks for reaching out to Qolsys. I’ve been a Surety customer on auto billing for a long time. I’ll wait for a follow up. Thanks again.

Cope -

If you are interested, I have a my old IQ panel that I am no longer using. There is nothing wrong with it, I just wanted the IQ panel 2 for all the new features. Email me at jrad433@yahoo.com if interested.

Any word yet from Qolsys?

Qolsys suggests a longer power down. Powering down completely for a full ten minutes and then powering back up to see if it recovers.

Unfortunately, Qolsys can no longer perform repairs on the Gen 1 panel.

I tried the power up after it sitting for 24 hours. It’s still bricked. So I can’t even pay to have it repaired? They just want me to pay full price for a new IQ2 Panel after this experience? This doesn’t give me much confidence in the product or the brand.

I would think Qolsys would want to offer some form of compensation for a known issue that they won’t even repair.

So I can’t even pay to have it repaired? They just want me to pay full price for a new IQ2 Panel after this experience?

Unfortunately a diagnosis and repair on an out of warranty and discontinued product would have fairly high expense. The issue is likely hardware failure integrated with the main board, and the cost of repair labor would in most cases easily eclipse the cost of a new panel.

In general this is not unusual or unique to Qolsys. The original panel did have a shorter lifespan than normal as far as when it was discontinued, but Qolsys does seem to bet people will want the latest models if a new panel is needed.

Keep in mind while we have seen a few similar failures over a few years of time, there is not a known cause affecting the panels.

We always forward user feedback to manufacturers and we consider it ourselves to influence our sales options.

While we have a current deal for new customers to receive a 6 month free trial of service with the purchase of an IQ Panel 2+, I know we would be happy to extend that to your existing service plan should you wish to replace with that model, with your next 6 months of service fees being waived.

Just let us know if you are interested in this option via email or secure message and our team can assist with directing you to the right products!

As a heads up, note that CDMA modules (like the ones in the original IQ Panel) cannot be newly registered to accounts in ADC Starting in late June. This is due to the impending 3G sunset in a few years. All new activations will require 4G modules. So if you replace with an original IQ panel found from another source like ebay, there is a limited window to activate and it would have a shorter natural span of use.

In this instance we may have an alternate option for you. I’m going to have customer service email you shortly.

I received the email. I sincerely appreciate Surety stepping up and finding an alternative solution to my problem. I’ll respond via email shortly. This will go a long way in retaining me as a customer for both Surety and Qolsys. Thank you for all your help.