Hi - I bought and installed Qolsys based alarm system. I installed two IQ Remote Secondary Panels. Everything has been working great, but I noticed that one of the secondary panels won’t power on. When I push the power button, the Android robot shows up, then after a second or two, an icon with an empty battery appears and the unit shuts off. Here is what I’ve done to troubleshoot.
I connected the working Secondary Panel to the power cord and brick for the panel that is not working and it looks like the working panel is charging correctly, so I think I’ve ruled out the brick and cord being the problem.
I connected the broken Secondary Panel to the power cord and brick for the panel that is working and let it sit plugged in overnight. When I tried to turn on the broken panel, I get a picture of the Android robot, empty battery, and then the unit shuts off.
Are there any other steps I can take to troubleshoot?
Did the IQ Remote never power on correctly or did it stop functioning?
Is the barrel connector plugged in all the way at the back of the panel? If you manually hold it in while powering up the panel, does the panel stay on?
When you press the power button to turn it on, hold the button down for a few seconds after the battery icon shows up then let go. Does the panel stay on?
Hi Tyler - The panel worked correctly and then stopped functioning. I went through the two steps you suggested below and it’s fixed. I held the power button down and held it until the battery icon went away. Everything booted up perfectly.
I am seeing a similar problem, my IQ remote panel (QW1902-840) has been working fine for quite sometime…but recently it randomly stops charging. Being that this barely connector is so small it is a bit difficult to get a voltage reading, but when I do it seems to fluctuate far more than I would expect (4.8 to 5.3VDC).
What I see happening is that I get an email notifying me that the remote panel has a low battery, when I go check it it has gone dead and is turned off…but still plugged in. I unplug the power brick and plug it back in and the panel initiates showing that it is charging, I eventually get it to power up and it is fine for “some time” and then it dies again. Rinse and repeat.
This demonstrates why it is bonkers to use proprietary power cords for a 5V device that could have been powered via USB power adapters, as I cannot find a single place that sells a Qolsys ANU-050200A and I’m not overly confident the other adapters are right correct type, as some have a very different barrel connector in the pictures.
I would try a different outlet if you haven’t already, just to rule that out.
Unfortunately, the power supply for the QW9102-840 is no longer in production (neither is the 9102-840). Qolsys changed the power supply slightly on a subsequent IQ Remote update (9104-840) from a 5V to a 7V.
The part number for the 9102-840 power supply is QR0024-840
QW9102-840 - Power Supply: Input 100-240VAC 0.3A/ Output 5V 2000mA
It is powered through a UPS and have moved it to a different outlet as well. It is odd, as it is currently working perfectly fine and the battery is at 99%…however sometime within the next few days it will just stop powering and run the battery dead, likely degrading the battery in the process.
No, I never got around to mounting the panel in the ideal location which would likely require splicing/extending the cable. The power cord is 100% as received at this point, power through a true sine wave UPS that powers my office equipment. I don’t know if this problem coincides with upgrading to 2.5.4 or not, I am currently updating to 2.5.5.
It appears that after some period of time the power adapter just stops sending power out at all. If I unplug it for a few minutes and plug it back in, it works for some period of time and then fails. So now I have a $200 panel that the vendor doesn’t support or offer a replacement power cord for and I am somehow supposed to find something that will work via the Internet with zero specifications for the barrel connector polarity from the vendor.
with zero specifications for the barrel connector polarity from the vendor.
Can you clarify what you mean by barrel connector polarity? The polarity is the same across connectors, or do you mean identifying which wires if you cut and splice it?
The barrel connector is not proprietary. It should be a standard size. I don’t have that model here to measure, but if it is the same size as the one for the QW04 I think it is the 4x1.7mm. Without access to that exact power supply replacement, another 5VDC 2000 ma power supply can be used, an adapter kit like this should be able to deliver the power via the barrel input.
So it turns out that kit doesn’t work, so here I am throwing money away at something because there are no details from Qolsys on the power supply that they abandoned for a product that apparently had planned obsolescence. I guess I am supposed to have a micrometer or a precise enough caliper to measure this ridiculous barrel connector and search the Internet endlessly to find the glass slipper that fits.
Qolsys likely never offered these as a replacement part, which isn’t inspiring confidence. Any vendor that elects to use a rare/proprietary power inlet and fails to offer a replacement should offer an option to replace this very expensive paperweight that I now have. Sorry, but I am a bit more than frustrated with this.
I didn’t expect that a $250 alarm remote would require me to engineer my own power solution, especially when I was previously chastised on this forum at the suggestion of modifying the power cord. So I guess I will waste my time in trying to fix this without vendor support, and I will share my experience widely as everyone should avoid any device from Qolsys that doesn’t accept bare power inputs and uses crappy proprietary connectors and power bricks.
Sorry, but I am a bit more than frustrated with this.
I understand the frustration when a component fails out of warranty. This model is harder to source even a used one because they produced it for a short time with the 5VDC transformer. It was replaced with the QW03 then quickly the QW04 model, which now uses a 7VDC transformer.
especially when I was previously chastised on this forum at the suggestion of modifying the power cord.
I’m not sure if this may be referencing other equipment, (cutting into a cable may void warranty, but for a lot of equipment it is still viable as far as electrical requirements go) but for the QW02 especially, generally you should try not to alter/lengthen the power supply cable due to the fact that the QW02 power supply produces roughly the exact required power for the panel to function. There is very little wiggle room. That is why they updated and replaced the model.
In this case where we don’t have another good option, using a replacement power source with correct barrel or splicing on the old power supply barrel connector to another 5VDC 2000 ma power supply is the step I would try.
So it turns out that kit doesn’t work
Did none of the barrels fit, or did one fit but didn’t deliver power?
The kit indicated that it comes with a 5VDC 2000ma power supply as well as the adapters. Is the power supply included?
If none of the adapters fit, can you splice on the old barrel connector to the new power supply?
They do not fit, not in anyway. The jack on the back of the panel is too “close” to the back of the panel itself, so none of these would fit as they are too bulky to accommodate their pluggable design. The barrel diameter and internal pin size also seem to be incorrect to fit.
This kit is just taking 5VDC out of a USB port, it is entirely dependent upon the USB power supply to determine if that is 2000ma or 500ma rate. I wasn’t expecting to have to engineer my own power solution. There is no “plug and play” solution here, I will have to find a source power supply and determine wire polarity and solder up my own cord…and if I was to make an error it would likely fry my $200 remote panel.
I stand by my statement about Qolsys being rather shady on this subject as we can only judge a company based on their previous performance…and entirely abandoning a $200+ device months after a user buys them is beyond ridiculous. Sure, I am capable of fixing this but the point is that I didn’t buy into such an expensive solution in the expectation that I would have to engineer my own power solutions. Is the average Qolsys customer capable of building a power cord for this ridiculously overpriced otherwise throw away panel?
An additional detail, while this USB power adapter claims to be 5V it is actually 5.2V…but under load this could vary 4.75V to 5.25V. Without knowing the actual voltage tolerance on the panel it is pretty difficult to know what is actually safe to use without destroying this $200 remote panel. I can’t use the factory power cord as reference as the voltage is not stable, as it has clearly failed or I wouldn’t be having this discussion.
I’m trying to confirm the exact barrel specs from Qolsys, and I am checking again with their support on the possibility of a loose power supply being available or sourced from one of their old units. I’ll keep you updated, I’d expect to hear back today.
Out of curiosity, which of those barrels seem to most closely match? Is the QW02 barrel outside width narrower or wider than the 4mm plugs?
The QW1902-840 factory barrel connector is 2.45mm, within that kit from Amazon the smallest barrel connector is 2.50mm. I was able to force fit that barrel connector in, but it is definitely very tight and is surely straining the internal PCB that the connector is on within the panel as the outside of the barrel connector is forced against the recessed spot on the panel and angles the internal connector slightly. The cord protrudes directly outward which would prevent any wall mount without putting a hole into the wall that precisely matches up with the cord protrusion.
The 90-degree barrel connector requirement is what makes this challenging to source an off-the-shelf replacement, and the general tight tolerances around the barrel connector within this 29mm square recess (~1 1/8"). The overall length of the factory 90-degree power connector is <25mm and it is only ~2.5mm from the edge of the connector to the center pin.
I might have had some luck. I am waiting for confirmation but I might be able to get an extra power supply from a tech over there. I’ll send you a message when they confirm.
After inspecting this power adapter more closely, it seems that Qolsys should actually consider a recall…unless something is truly unique (unlikely) about my specific power supply, which has always been used on a surge protector& true sine wave UPS (aka conditioned power). The power adapter is unsafe, it appears that it likely failed due to a capacitor that gets so hot that it has melted the plastic case for the unit. I guess I should be glad that the adapter failed before it burned my house down. Perhaps he underlying reason they switched to a different power solution so quickly was due to this discovered problem and hoping no one would catch them in their coverup.